Bind
Bind is a support network that connects people based on life experience. The focus lies in everyday problem solving–Bind helps people through tough times by matching them with a mentor who has experienced a circumstance similar to theirs. The service helps people who don’t have a strong social network or simply need an outside opinion.
Bind Product Video
How does it work?
Research and Inspiration
It all started with an investigation into happiness. What are some of the biggest barriers to happiness in our lives? The project begun with a focus group of 8 people. They were asked to sketch out specific scenarios. Some reflection points were “Illustrate your biggest barriers to happiness”, and “Explain when you feel completely as at ease”. The takeaway:
"Having a community you can rely on is most important.”
The sketching workshop showed that community was one of the biggest factors when it comes to our happiness. The research participants felt least happy when they were experiencing life problems and didn’t have others they could speak to. From here, expert interviews were conducted to gain a better understanding of the impact of community and some of the biggest barriers to happiness. Here’s who was interviewed:
The experts illustrated two key barriers to happiness are:
Not having a good community of people we can rely on
When your community cannot understand or empathize with your current problems
In their words, here are some important takeaways:
“Simply the action of speaking out loud is beneficial to sorting out problems and increasing happiness.”
“Above all, the person who is helping someone should have a similar experience. Then they can empathize, and tell them what they did. ”
“A big barrier to happiness is that you might not know where to get help.”
Opportunity Area
After in-depth interviews with experts in the field of happiness, along with co-creation sessions from potential users, an opportunity area was developed. This design challenge was a starting point to start exploring concepts with people, getting feedback, and iterating. The challenge:
How might a community of people be on demand to be able to give and get support when they need it?
Prototyping
A. Paper Prototyping
At this point, a rough paper prototype (above) was created to test with users. The concept is a support network that matches people based on their unique life experience. This is an immediate support line for those who need help with everyday personal problems. Insights generated from these sessions were:
Immediate connection with a mentor is very important.
They wanted help with personal, everyday problems instead of occupational. This is because they often felt embarrassed to reach out to friends and family to open up about these issues.
B. Medium Testing and Concept Validation
This stage of prototyping was pursued to validate the concept. If two strangers were paired together to discuss personal issues, how would it play out? Would the mentee feel comfortable opening up? Would the mentor be able understand and empathize with the mentees issues?
A series of experiments were played out. Two people were assigned to talk to each other, completely anonymously. One person had to reach out to the other with a real problem that they were going through, and they were given 15 minutes to talk it out. Essentially, one person would would be a mentor and one would be a mentee. Additionally, three different mediums were tested—texting, video chat, voice call—to see how they would influence the communication.
Key Results?
Video Chat: This was too exposing and made the participants feel uncomfortable.
Texting: Participants felt that texting was too limiting as a form of communication to truly express themselves, and the delay in response from the mentor was frustrating.
Voice Call: The voice call felt like it was the right level of anonymity and intimacy, as participants could freely express themselves and feel heard while at the same time not revealing too much personal information.
C. Testing the App
The app’s screens were all drawn by hand and put into a prototyping tool called POP Marvel. This simulated the experience of the app and was tested with users to tweak UX flows and gage further thoughts on the concept.
Video: Interactive Paper Prototype for User Testing
What else did we find?
More feedback: Mentors need more feedback after the call to reward them for their time.
Cleaner interface: The initial on-boarding screens are confusing and need to be re-designed.
More guidance: There needs to be some more guidance and explanation throughout the on-boarding process, perhaps through pop-up notifications.
Final Product
The final product evolved from from the idea to design around enhancing happiness to our daily lives. Here’s the User Journey map which outlines the various stages of the service from the user’s perspective:
The idea of an immediate support group derived from intercept interviews, co-creation sessions, and expert interviews which suggested that a lack of community is one of the biggest barriers to our happiness. The user testing sessions illuminated the need for immediate connection, a desire for support for personal problems rather than professional, and the insight that voice is the best medium as opposed to texting or video chat. Take a look below at a quick walk through of the latest version:
Video: Bind Walk Through
This was my final project at Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. Thanks for reading!