"Imagine a user opening a mental health app while feeling overwhelmed with anxiety. The very first thing they encounter is a screen with a bright, clashing colour scheme, followed by a notification shaming them for breaking a 5-day "mindfulness streak," and a paywall blocking the meditation they desperately need at that very moment. This experience isn't just poor design; it can be actively harmful. It betrays the user's vulnerability and erodes the very trust the app aims to build."
"Unlike a utility or entertainment app, the user's emotional state cannot be treated as a secondary context. It is the environment your product operates in. With over a billion people living with mental health conditions and persistent gaps in access to care, safe and evidence-aligned digital support is increasingly relevant. The margin for error is negligible. Empathy-Centred UX becomes not a "nice to have" but a fundamental design requirement."
"Throughout my career as a product designer, I've found that trust is built by consistently meeting the user's emotional needs at every stage of their journey. In this article, I will translate these insights into a hands-on empathy-centred UX framework. We will move beyond theory to dive deeper into applicable tools that help create experiences that are both humane and highly effective."
Designing for mental health requires designing for vulnerability. First impressions can help or harm: bright, clashing visuals, shaming notifications for broken streaks, and paywalls for needed features can betray users and erode trust. A user's emotional state is the environment the product operates in, not a secondary context. With over a billion people affected and access gaps, digital support must be safe and evidence-aligned. The margin for error is negligible. Empathy-centred UX moves beyond functionality to deeply understand, respect, and design for intimate emotional and psychological needs. Trust is built by consistently meeting emotional needs across the user journey, using practical tools and frameworks to create humane, effective experiences.
Read at Smashing Magazine
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