Ziyan Han

Abstract

Mood disorders are the extremely negative situations of mood that cause dysfunction in people's lives. There are a number of guides currently on the market (E.g., mood disorder self-help books, websites...) to help people with this problem, but their content is usually not customized enough to deal with each user's particular situation. In addition, the formats include content that is often text-dense and overwhelming. While there are great resources of personal mood disorder tests, suggested actions, and information about professional help, there is an opportunity to create a guide that connects these resources with a better designed format so that people can have greater understanding of their own mood situations and the scientific methods to cope with their mood disorder concerns.

The Mood Watcher thesis project investigates a mobile application prototype to help young adults to be aware of their mood disorder risks and methods to cope with them. The mood disorders involved in my research are anxiety disorder, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder, which are common among young adults.

For the broader community, this project helps people to know their mood situations and cope with them in an easier, interactive and accessible way. In regard to the field of design, this project has explored user experience design of mobile applications for psychological health purposes, including the user interface design, the visualization of content, the development of functions, and the interaction.

Usability testing was conducted, which netted extremely positive results regarding the product and its objective to serve as a usable, helpful, and engaging tool to help people with their mood disorder concerns.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Affective disorders--Treatment--Interactive multimedia--Design; Mobile apps--Design

Publication Date

10-20-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Visual Communication Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Design (CIAS)

Advisor

Marla Schweppe

Advisor/Committee Member

Chris Jackson

Advisor/Committee Member

Lorrie Frear

Comments

Physical copy available from RIT's Wallace Library at RC537 .H36 2014

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

VISCOM-MFA

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