Northstar Behavioral Health
Methods Used: Secondary Research, Personas, Affinity Diagraming, Wireframe, High-Fidelity Prototyping, Touchpoint Map
Tools Used: Sketch, Zoom, Slack, Google Docs
Teamwork: I worked with 3 other UX designers on these deliverables. Work was done collaboratively, please see callouts “MY ROLE->” where I highlight specific contributions.
Client
Northstar Behavioral Health provides services focusing on supporting individuals diagnoses with opioid use disorder.
Opportunity
New changes to Minnesota laws surrounding the rule 25 assessment changed the way heath practitioners could operate in the space. My team and I were asked to create a multi-touchpoint strategy for this growing nonprofit. This strategy was designed as aspirational and not restricted to a specific timeline or budget.
Solution
In our presentation to the client, we proposed a new mobile website, crisis hotline, help van location tracker and recovery community networking app.
Research
Stakeholder Interview
Northstar Behavioral Heath has a passionate team of Heath Care professionals working to provide support and care for people on their recovery journey from Stimulant and Opioid use. My role in this session was as notetaker. I paid very close attention to not just what the goals of the organization was, but WHY those were their goals.
Secondary Research
After our Stakeholder Interview, the team and I started our Secondary research. Each three of my research initiatives were pulled directly from our Stakeholder interview. (Yes, we had a stakeholder who was very passionate about Peloton.)
MY ROLE-> I had 3 ares of focus:
How to make people feel safe and empowered in an app.
What is an assessment like?
How does peloton build community?
Key takeaways from the research
Discovery: In an article found by a teammate, the author stated “the opposite of addiction is connection.”
Impact: We used this as a guiding principle for our work. In every feature we would recommend, “Connection” would be the key takeaway.
Discovery: One major reason for Peloton’s success is they focus on building community, and using fitness as the backbone of that community. In this light, one could classify Peloton as more digital social network than fitness program.
Impact: Mirroring Peloton, we would prose a wraparound solution to build community.
MY ROLE-> I synthesized the data I collected
Strategy
Finding Help
Currently: An individual looking for help online from Northstar Behavioral Help would visit northstarbehavioralhealthmn.com This website has an explanation of treatment, photos of the treatment centers and quotes from clients. It also prominently features a phone number to receive an Assessment.
New Strategy: OShelp.com, a new mobile website designed to get individuals the information fast. This would be a second mobile experience in addition to their current URL. OShelp.com is short for Opioid Stimulant Help.
Explanation: In our stakeholder interview, we learned the opportunity window where individuals choose to get help is small and time is working against us. Working with proto-personas I created, I realized the current website did not meet the needs of all of our users. We needed a URL that was short and easy to remember (whether read on a poster or word of month) and optimized for a low broadband experiences. With the short time window, there was not space to download new app to your phone or visit a website with lots of big pictures or even scroll through a large menu. This site needed to be quick, helpful and easy to understand. We need to meet the individuals where there are, regardless on their internet connection. This new strategy helps individuals find help easily with a mobile website designed specifically to help people suffering from Opioid and Stimulant use disorder.
MY ROLE-> I worked on the strategy for this feature
Immediate Connection
Currently: Northstar Behavioral Help has a phone line dedicated to quickly setting up an Assessment (to begin the recovery journey.) It is front and center on their current URL.
New Strategy: Creating a crisis hotline specifically focused on providing emotional support to people who are starting or on their recovery journey. This new crisis hotline would be heavily inspired by other national hotlines like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Depression Hotline and focus on Opioid and Stimulant disorder.
Explanation: During our research, my teammate discovered there is no crisis hotline for Opioid and Stimulant disorder. This is a huge opportunity space. These is a need for people (at any point on their recovery journey) to immediately connect with someone who can help.
Location Tracking
Currently: North Star Behavioral offers mobile assessments with a van.
New Strategy: Mirroring the interface from current ride share apps, a GPS tracker would be installed on the Mobile Assessment Unit. A text with a link to the tracker would be sent to the individuals phone so they would know help is on the way and could track how far it is.
Explanation: As mentioned above, the opportunity window where individuals choose to get help is small. Showing the GPS location of the van on the way to help them gives individuals something to focus on. There is reassurance and comfort in seeing the GPS of the van moving closer and closer to them.
MY ROLE-> I created low fidelity wireframes for this feature
Building Community
Currently: All community building is done In person
New Strategy: A new community app for people participating in the North Star Behavioral Health recovery community. This app would feature a message board, calendar of events and a helpful topics sections. Individuals would receive a text with a download link when they begin their recovery journey.
Explanation: Our project mantra from our research “the opposite of addiction is connection” is our driving inspiration for this strategy. To help individuals on their recovery journey, we’re building a world of meaningful connections in their hand and filling it with a variety of ways to use it. For people looking to make new connections, there are message boards about a variety of topics like SciFi Movies, gardening, and Italian cooking. For people looking for something to do with their new Northstar friends, the community app has a calendar filled with real world and virtual events like yoga, movies in the park and hiking around a lake. While on their recovery journey, they now have the opportunity to connect with others going though the same experience.
MY ROLE-> I created low fidelity wireframes for this feature
Deliverables
Our deliverables to the client included a Touchpoint Map, a Presentation and Annotated Wireframes.
Below you will see highlights from the prevention deck to the client. Our recommendations are told through the lens of two of our proto-personas. The story explains how each individual interacts with the new strategy. On the left of the deck is an individual who is in an urgent situation, the right side features an individual with a casual entry experience. The expericene mirrors the touchpoint map.
MY ROLE-> I created the touchpoint map, the presentation deck, and page 3 and 4 of the annotated wireframes. I also created the tracking text and reminding text mockups.
Teamwork
I’m proud of the concepts our team proposed for this Multi-Touchpoint Strategy. We organized our research and brainstorms in Invision and build our presentation and wireframe in Figma. We each had a role to play in each stage of this project making it challenging to showcase solo work. Examples of my contributions are the Touchpoint Map (built in Canva,) presentation deck and slides 3 & 4 of the annotated wireframes.
Photo Credits
Photo by Andrew "Donovan" Valdivia on Unsplash
Photo by Tarun Anand Giri on Unsplash
Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash
Photo by Dekler Ph on Unsplash
Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash