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Article published In:
Information Design Journal
Vol. 24:3 (2018) ► pp.220–235

Compass

A personal organization mobile app for individuals with mental disorders

| Federal University of Paraná (UFPR)

Depression and anxiety are common mental health disorders worldwide. People with psychiatric disorders often lack the ability to deal with aspects/activities of daily life. This article describes the development of the Compass app, an app designed to help individuals suffering from mental health disorders. The app presents organizational and planning tools to improve the daily life of these individuals, and, consequently, their well-being. A user-centered design approach was employed in the development of the app, and design requirements were established based on the literature on Mental Health, Psychology, Information and Graphic Design. A functional prototype of the app was created for user testing, and a satisfaction questionnaire was conducted with potential users. The results showed that Compass was a useful and usable app, and that its interface design was easy to interact with and navigate. The results also showed that there were some problems with the design of the app. These problems were taken into consideration in the redesign stage and led to improvements.

Keywords: mental health, mobile app, m-health, user centered design
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Executive functions in mental disorder
    • 2.1Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
    • 2.2e-Health and m-Health
    • 2.3Ways to use mobile interface
  • 3.Developing the Compass app: An overview of the design process
    • 3.1The design requirements
    • 3.2The interface design
      • 3.2.1Buttons and icons
      • 3.2.2The mood scale
      • 3.2.3Prototyping
  • 4.Evaluating the Compass app with users: Interaction testing and satisfaction questionnaire
    • 4.1The interaction test
      • 4.1.1Participants and material
      • 4.1.2Procedures
    • 4.2The satisfaction questionnaire
  • 5.General results
    • 5.1Interaction testing
    • 5.2Satisfaction questionnaire
  • 6.Main conclusions and improvements
    • 6.1Improving the Compass app: Contributions from users
  • 7.Final comments
  • References
Published online: 23 September 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.24.3.02vie
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