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Susie is a highschooler living in San Marino, Susie is a popular trend setter in her social circle.
She struggles with depressive episodes and anxiety, something that she shares privately on her Finsta.
InquiryRx
Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects more than 16% of adults in the US, with the highest incidence in those age 18-25. MDD causes substantial disability burden and economic burden. Many patients do not achieve a full response despite adequate medical therapy. Access to in-person counseling is limited by logistics and cost. There is a clear need to manage residual symptoms over the long term for those on medical therapy.
In addition, antidepressant use, especially chronic therapy carries a safety burden. The ability to decrease dependence on anti-depressive therapy would be of value to individual patients and to the healthcare system as a whole.
Project Type: Design Research
Duration: Feb 2022 - Aug 2022
This project represents the collaborative efforts of Bryon Katie and Stanford University, resulting in a working prototype.
My role involved conducting in-depth research and developing detailed user personas to guide the design process
Reading Time: 10 Minutes
Our Personas
The following two personas are comprised of real data collected from multiple sources and represent significant user groups for InquiryRx mobile app. They provide meaningful archetypes for a variety of demographics and a range of meditation-based apps.
InquiryRx’s IBSR (Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction) app is a novel prescription digital therapeutic designed to decrease the symptoms of depression through the process of identifying and questioning thoughts that provoke stress and depressive symptoms. Addressing depressive symptoms via a fully automated program is expected to treat primary depression and depression associated with other disorders such as chronic illness or pain.
The IBSR program will be developed through proof-of-concept as a mobile application in a focused depression population. Subsequent studies will expand the clinical data supporting use in a variety of settings, including mixed anxiety and depression.
The IBSR program will launch into a market with a number of therapeutic options, including the currently approved conventional medical therapies, in-person counseling and a range of prescription digital therapeutics. The pivotal studies will be designed to deliver benefits for patients who have continued to progress on standard of care therapy and provide superior results for patients who use InquiryRx as monotherapy and/or first or second line therapy.
Has a 'close' group of friends yet Susie doesn't really confide in them, she would rather posts about her struggles with mental health on her Finsta.
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FOMO Identity: She feels overwhelmed at times trying to keep up because if she doesn't, she feels that she's missing out.
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Struggles with body image even know she preaches the "love yourself' mentality.
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She worries that one day she'll no longer be relevant, she won't be accepted IRL or online.
"I'm scared that
I'll become irrelevant."
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Wants to become an influencer / paid content creator because it's cool to get free PR.
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Wants to start a clothing brand because that's whats popular.
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Wants to go to NYU or USC. Follows TikTok videos of GRWM for college.
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Able to overcome childhood traumas.
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Wants to be able to connect with friends and share what she's going through so she feels less alone.
Tony is a college student who lives at home with his parents. He feels lost in the world with peer pressure and student loans.
On social media, he is the image of success yet he feels lonely and has no one to connect to.
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Struggling with student loans while his friends have their tuition completely paid for by their parents.
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Tony is in a different socioeconomic status compared to his friends. He feels like he has to keep up appearances but can't.
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Struggling with heartbreak and has internalized it, his friends are sick of hearing it even though he hasn't fully processed it.
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Really wishes there was someone to help guide him through life. He feels lost and confused.
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Sometimes it can be tiring to keep up with the clout but he has to maintain his social success or else he really has nothing to fall back on.
"My life is stacked against me."
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Living debt free.
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Confident that he made the right life decisions.
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Has a support circle that he can depend on and talk to.
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Able to overcome childhood traumas and become mentally healthy.
Our working hypothesis lands on InquiryRx as a key application that begins to reimagine the spaces of mental health through the lens of culture, science and medicine. Below is a working paper prototype as a proof of concept based upon our personas - Susie and Tony.
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