Inner Visions
A user experience design thesis developed in collaboration with Professor Jay Yoon of the Meta Design Lab at Cornell University, and board-certified wellness coach JoPat Ozambela. A user-centered, Research-Through-Design (RtD) approach was applied to develop a self development tool called "Inner Visions". Focus groups with vision board users provided design criteria.
The tool itself can be presented in-person, but will not be included in this website due to patenting and research publication.
Research Motivation
The Mental Health Crisis
46% of Gen Z adults 18-23 reported worsened mental health after the pandemic, the highest of any generation (American Psychological Association, 2021).
In Response to this crisis...
many behavioral intervention technologies (BITS) have been created, but several factors make them ineffective:
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novelty wears off (Shin et al., 2019)
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a lack of personalized content (Balaskas et al., 2023)
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goals that are too high / unattainable result in diminished self-esteem and goal attainment (Hopfner and Keith, 2021)
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goals that aren’t challenging enough aren't motivating, reducing goal attainment (Locke & Latham, 2002)
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some tools restrict users’ autonomy (Lieder et al., 2022)
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inability to integrate into users’ daily lives (Knapp et al., 2021)
Our approach
Goal setting to enhance wellbeing
DESIGN CHALLENGE: not everyone is aware of and good at articulating authentic goals
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Having and working toward goals is a profound source of happiness (Lyubomirsky, 2007).
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goals provide: purpose, meaning, vitality, direction, structure, and develop our sense of self (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999).
Research Question
How can technology assist young adults in understanding and articulating personal goals?
Our approach to answering this question:
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Develop a self-administered behavioral intervention technology (BIT) to improve users' well-being by means of goal setting & self-reflection
STEP 1: User Research
conduct focus groups to investigate the barriers and enablers for communicating goals
Who we interviewed: young adult vision board users
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vision boards are a popular goal-setting tool for the demographic of interest
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22 emerging adults (ages 18-26), 18 female 4 male
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findings were used as design considerations for our tool via an affinity diagram
STEP 2: Co-Design
we applied focus group findings and collaborated with a board-certified wellness coach - my mom, JoPat Ozambela!
STEP 3: Test our tool
we evaluated our tool via interviews and surveys with young adults and wellness professionals
Results
our results were very positive; users agreed the tool would...
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help users produce higher quality goals than they would alone
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facilitate self-reflection
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help users understand motivations behind goals
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assist users in communicating goals
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help users make progress toward goals
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make users feel more motivated toward goals
“Sometimes people have been so mired in the struggle that they haven’t allowed themselves to even imagine what they want their life to look like. This tool could help them get more clear.”
“it was helpful to reflect on the things that make me smile, that was nice."
they also described novel interactions the tool facilitated...
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re-evaluating prior goals
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enhancing mood
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encouraging interpersonal interaction
“I would not think that it (AI) was used [...] it like felt very, I don’t know, like someone put thought into it, even though there’s no human involved.”
Research implications
how our findings contribute to the field of design and mental health:
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shows how positive design & experience design theories can be applied
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provides goal setting barriers & enablers
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integrates hedonic and eudemonic wellbeing
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demonstrates the importance of prioritizing individuality, autonomy, and flexibility
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shows how AI can be used to promote meaningful reflection rather than thinking for users
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provides ideas for AI prompt engineering
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example of prototyping with user feedback co designing with experts
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shows how specific tools (VBs) may serve as research tools for broader applications