Discovering gaps and opportunities in mental health therapy processes
BRAND
SUMMARY
As the founding designer at a pre-seed mental healthcare startup, I led product discovery through user research, identified needs, designed and tested solutions, and collaborated with engineers to deploy them.
ROLE
Research
Strategy
UX/UI
DURATION
2 months
TOOLS
Figma
Miro
Notion
Asana
SETTING THE STAGE
Cog is a mobile app designed to support people with ADHD in living their best lives. A significant part of its offering is online therapy delivered through Cog Clinic. My goal was to understand ADHD therapy from multiple perspectives to identify problems and uncover focused design opportunities.
MY ROLE
I interviewed customers, therapists, and clinic staff, carried out a competitive analysis, and analysed findings with the team.
I created personas and mapped current and ideal user journeys to identify friction points and improvement opportunities.
The number of opportunities identified was striking and helped me shape the long-term vision for Cog Clinic.
I was responsible for designing a feasible solution to address the most urgent issue within the existing resource constraints.
INTERVIEWS
Holistic Insights Through 360° Stakeholder Interviews
I conducted interviews with
5 Cog Clinic customers, some with prior therapy experience
5 therapists experienced in providing therapy for individuals with ADHD
3 mental health clinic professionals familiar with operational systems
What I wanted to find out
What are our customers' needs when starting ADHD therapy?
Which parts of the current process are challenging, and what aspects work well?
What factors contribute to a successful therapy experience?
What challenges do therapists face?
What processes within mental healthcare clinics shape the therapy experience?
Interviews revealed significant challenges faced by both clinicians and patients
Competitive analysis
Space for opportunity in the therapy aiding tools
I identified a variety of solutions for ADHD support, generally divided into two categories: self-help apps and therapy platforms.
Self-help apps are typically designed to be engaging and fun, offering tools like mood check-ins, educational videos, and AI chatbots.
Therapy platforms generally offer access to coaches through monthly subscriptions but lack tools that directly support the therapy process. Only a few, including our key competitors Inflow and Agave Health, included features like emotion or symptom check-ins.
This gap in therapy-support tools indicated a unique opportunity for Cog to develop features that actively support the therapeutic journey, positioning the app as a comprehensive solution for users. Considering there are 366 million people worldwide with ADHD, there's significant space for opportunity and improvement in the tools available.
Key research findings
Gaps in connection, structure, and resources complicate effective therapy
#01 Clarifying core needs and therapy goals
Effective therapy depends on clients understanding their emotional state and goals, yet many struggle to articulate these. Initial sessions often lead to generic responses, like “I want to achieve my tasks more easily,” as patients don’t fully know their specific needs.
#02 “How’s your week been?” and the challenge of structure
Sessions often begin with ‘How’s your week been?’, but clients frequently recall only what’s most recent or top-of-mind, rather than the most meaningful issues. This lack of structure can make therapy feel unfocused, with key issues frequently overlooked.
#03 Need for progress tracking
Clients are motivated by visible progress, but therapists lack structured tools to track it. Without consistent tracking, clients struggle to see improvements, leading to a lack of motivation.
#04 Need for a centralised therapy hub
Clients and therapists need a single, organised platform for therapy support. Currently, notes are scattered, communication is handled via email, and homework tasks often go missing which creates frustration for both sides.
#05 Heavy administrative burden on therapists
Therapists are burdened with significant admin work including session summaries and risk assessments that can take 15–40 minutes per session, often unpaid. This added workload contributes to burnout.
CURRENT THERAPY PROCESS - CLIENT JOURNEY MAP
Katherine Bell
“I need therapy with continuity, clear progress, and actionable insights readily available.”
SCENARIO
Katherine is successful at work but struggles to balance it with her personal life and mental health, often leading to burnout. She wants to understand and manage her ADHD to feel less exhausted and anxious. Previous therapy felt chaotic and unimpactful, leaving her unmotivated and uncertain about any progress.
EXPECTATIONS
She wants to manage her ADHD effectively and work with a therapist she can build rapport with.
She seeks structured therapy with clear progress tracking to stay motivated.
She hopes her therapist will help identify key focus areas, reducing the burden of recall.
STRATEGY
A centralised hub for enhancing patient outcomes through Data-driven therapy and streamlining therapist workload
The issues I found opened up lots of chances for improvement. I began imagining…
exploratory designs
I hypothesised that a data-driven approach could enhance the therapy experience.
Like many ADHD apps, Cog allows users to track symptoms, emotions, and add daily journal entries for context. AI and data analytics could then summarise this input, offering therapists and patients a clear view of progress.
This approach would give therapists insights into the patient’s well-being and areas to focus on, while also helping users identify their own patterns. With structured data accessible before each session, patients wouldn’t need to recall key events, and progress tracking could boost motivation.
Additionally, a centralised hub within the app would keep therapy organised; session summaries, homework, communication, reminders, and an archive all in one place, so nothing ever gets lost.
Automating some of the admin work could further reduce clinician burnout; for example, after each session, AI could draft a session summary and risk assessment based on the user’s data, allowing therapists to simply review it.
With this big vision in place, I focused on feasible improvements. My guiding question became
How can we address some of the therapy issues we identified?
Solution
Resolving communication issues that slow progress and lead to frustration
The Cog app included a symptom tracker, journaling tool, and a section for celebrating wins which are valuable tools for understanding ADHD patterns. However, it didn’t allow users to review their past data.
I hypothesised that giving users access to previous check-ins could help them clarify their needs, focus therapy sessions, and recognise patterns.
My proposed solution aimed to begin tackling several issues.
#01 Understanding core needs
Access to check-in history would allow users to identify patterns in their symptoms, enabling more targeted goals.
#02 Selecting discussion topics
Instead of relying on memory, users could use their check-in data to share relevant information each week, streamlining session focus.
#03 Need for measuring progress
Check-in history isn’t a direct progress tool, but it helps users monitor symptoms and see progress more clearly.
chalenges
Navigating complexity constraints and designing ADHD-friendly data visualisation
In the brainstorming phase, I considered various solutions, more and less ambitious ones.
I presented and discussed these with developers to assess what was achievable.
We collectively agreed on a weekly data visualisation, taking our resources into account.
After creating the wireframes, I reviewed them with the engineers to confirm feasibiliy before testing.
I started with a day-by-day layout and colour-coded progress bars to help users review their week and spot patterns.
But, user testing showed that this layout was overwhelming:
"I'm finding it hard to make sense of all the symptoms and analyse them day by day to see where my low points are."
So, I designed:
#01 weekly overview graph
#02 two-tab view
#03 symptom ranking
This approach made the data more digestible and accessible.
Results
Small Changes, Meaningful Improvements
The final prototype received positive feedback but also showed areas for progress.
therapists
"It's a great starting point, and I’m excited to use the check-in feature with my clients during sessions."
"It will be great not to have to rely on clients' recall each week."
"Being able to spot key highs and lows of the week will help me assess my clients' states more effectively and focus therapy sessions on the most relevant issues."
CLIENTS
"In the past, I struggled to see the point of checking in, but using it to look back at my week will be great."
"I think this will motivate me to check in more often, as I can use the entries as a conversation starter in therapy."
"It would be great to see more than just a week and track my progress."
key takeaways
Leveraging research in a constrained environment
Our in-depth research uncovered a multitude of problems and frustrations, providing inspiration and countless opportunities for improvement. This process not only helped shape the product vision but also laid a strong foundation for its necessity.
However, budget constraints, timelines, and development resources must be taken into account; not everything can be implemented at once. Prioritising feasible solutions that address key issues is crucial for a startup.
Additionally, effective communication between departments is essential as consulting with developers early on helps avoid time wastage and ensures a smoother path to implementation.
looking forward
Refining Features Based on User Feedback
Moving forward, we will continue gathering user feedback to refine the Check-in History feature, providing users with with deeper insights and more value over time.
We will also gradually work towards our broader product vision for Cog Clinic, ensuring each new feature improves the therapy experience for both patients and therapists.
Caroline Jaworsky
LET's connect
I find great joy in working with others and testing my skills in new environments. Whether you would like to collaborate on a project or simply want to chat, feel free to reach out to me.
Reach me here
