top of page

An AI assistant that helps you reframe your negative thoughts

This project was a part of a 5 day hackathon which we won!

demo image2.png

My Role:

  • Conducted User Interviews

  • Assisted in creating the User Flow

  • Conducted User Testing

  • Assisted in determining AI prompts

  • Created the low and high fidelity mockups.

The Team:

3 UX Designers
3 Developers
 

Duration:

4 days

Product type:

Web app

Overview

Refraim is an app that uses AI to help users identify and change their cognitive distortions, while promoting daily mental health exercises and different perspectives on difficult situations. It reframes negative thoughts to help keep your mind healthy, but is not intended to replace mental health treatment.

The seed of the idea

During our hackathon, my team and I brainstormed over what ideas we could use to match the theme of AI for good. One of our team members was passionate about the book "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" by David D. Burns, which discusses cognitive distortions and how we see ourselves versus how others see us.

Our goal was to create an app that uses AI to help people identify and change their cognitive distortions, while promoting daily mental health exercises and different perspectives on difficult situations. We were inspired by the positive impact the book had on our team member's friend, who learned to identify cognitive distortions and changed their outlook on life.

Hypothesis

Research

We interviewed 7 people and tried to learn how they cope with negative thoughts and if they use current digital resources to help them.

Interview insights.png

Who is our target audience?

Say hello to Evan!

Group 6.jpg

“I start catastrophizing in my mind, blowing things out of proportion when I’m stuck in negative thoughts.”

Name: Evan Smith
Age: 33
Occupation: Teacher / Soccer coach

GOALS:

• Improve and maintain his self-esteem

• Better understand his strengths and weaknesses

• Have a perspective on life that improves his relationships, work, and wellbeing

NEEDS:

• Immediate access to resources for mental and emotional wellbeing

• A structured approach to dealing with negative thoughts

• Objective perspectives of thought processes

FRUSTRATIONS:

• Feels alone in his negative thoughts/feelings

• Patterns of self-sabotage (e.g., stress eating, drinking, over-sleeping)

• Lack of guidance in dealing with negative thoughts/emotions

BEHAVIORS:

• Talks to close family and friends about negative emotions and feelings

• Uses apps like Headspace and Calm for mental well-being

• Makes regretful decisions when experiencing negative thoughts and emotions.

What problem is he facing? 

Evan faces negative thoughts and emotions that can regularly overwhelm him.

He needs immediate access to a guided tool that helps him reframe his negative thoughts, so that he can engage in life with confidence and peaceful understanding.

How might we tackle this problem?

How might we's.png

Ideation

After defining our how might we’s we decided to limit ourselves to “crazy 8’s” and conducted a brainstorming session. We then decided to share and explain our sketches/ vision and vote on our favorite collectively.

User flow

User Testing

Testing metrics.png

We were surprised to find that the helpfulness score was low. We realized that the test candidates may not have been our ideal target audience. Testing with our target audience would provide a more accurate rating.

Our experience with Refraim revolves around the AI model, so testing the UI with an existing prompt does not allow users to get an accurate sense of the experience. To get more honest results, we should have tested the prompt on Chat GPT with our users.
Overall, users were satisfied with the UI.

Prompt engineering

We constrained Chat GPT to convert user input and provide a different perspective on the problem. Our goal was to make Chat GPT talk to users in a gentle and compassionate first-person tone.

Our amazing team of developers did a fantastic job of adding the prompt to the code.

How it all came together

High fidelity prototypes.png

Refraim provides a disclaimer stating that this app is not a substitute for therapy but simply a way for users to exercise their mental health.

Refraim understands that AI is notorious for providing answers to questions it does not understand. It therefore reiterates your negative thoughts to ensure that it has properly comprehended your message. After establishing agreement with you, Refraim provides advice and a possible reframing of your negative thoughts. If the advice is particularly helpful, you can even favorite your Refraim for future reference.

Users can generate a new response as many times as they want if they are not satisfied with the Refraim.

Missed opportunities 

Due to time constraints, two ideas were not discussed in depth. One idea was to introduce streaks to encourage users to return to the app daily for reframing. Another idea was to suggest sharing reframed thoughts with friends and family for additional support in navigating negative emotions.

Future Steps:

Future steps.png
bottom of page