Pal Applicazione mobile

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Pal is a blockchain and AI powered app to reduce loneliness in young adults who are suffering from social media dependencies. The app uses a variety of personal health widgets to track user progress and suggest helpful, personalized tips. The apps social widgets promote users to meetup and build meaningful friendships and habits offline. The widgets include a local event calendar, routine builder, chat with a professional, and a personal progress tracker.

Dimensions & Packaging

The AI system will receive chronological data on events, progress in skills, and from other apps from pal’s integrated blockchain-run data collection. This way, it knows how to track progress and suggest tools and tips for growing progress in your specified skill groups. The data will also help to monitor your routine via logs on the blockchain. If the user permits pal access to their data from social media apps, it’ll use it to track time spent on the app, and provide gentle reminders when user’s overstep their goals for social media usage.

Tags

UX, UI, User Centred, Mental Health, User Research, Design Thinking

Production Technology

The app was prototyped using Sketch for a user centred experience. All illustrations were created on Adobe Illustrator. The prototype is focused on a speculative user profile, Remy, who reflects a combination of users interviewed for this project.

Design Challenge

The most challenging creative challenge was identifying how to promote spending less time on social media through an app. Pal had to become the "anti social media", which meant finding opportunities for users to get off the app and build meaningful connections, stronger physical and mental health. Every feature of Pal's has to work to promote less screen time.

Research

Research began with journals on loneliness and social media usage, 13 interviews with the target demographic, and a survey. I learned that meaningful face-to-face connections and engagement with hobbies were the best way to reduce loneliness. Therefore, Pal was made with a routine builder to keep users on healthy schedules; a map that allows users to track their progress; a chat that hears their worries and responds helpfully; and an event planner that offers users opportunities to meet locals.

Inspiration

Inspiration for Pal came from other mental health apps, such as Headspace, Youper, Calm, and Moodkit. The decision to approach loneliness as the main problem was inspired by user interviews, where many young adults identified their struggles with loneliness originating or worsening from an overuse of social media. My main objective was to create an accessible and friendly app that supports and encourages lonely young adults to make healthy transitions for their mental and physical health.

Project Duration

This project started in January 2019 and was finished in April 2019 in Halifax, Canada at NSCAD University.

Operation Flow

Users that create an account with Pal first fill out a brief questionnaire that helps the app to identify skills that the user can focus on to decrease loneliness. The home page will use a smart interface to prompt users to record certain physical health measures, and recommend helpful tips (such as drinking more water and eating more food). It will also notify users of upcoming events and provide friendly encouraging messages. From the homepage, users can access any of the features.

Image Credits

Image #1: Creator IQUII Digital Company, iPhone X - Free Responsive Mockup, 2017.
Image #4: Creator ANTHONY BOYD GRAPHICS, Clay iPhone X Mockup Vol.2, 2018. https://www.anthonyboyd.graphics/mockups/clay-iphone-x-mockup-vol-2/
Image #5: Creator COBE, 8 Photorealistic iPhone 7 Mockups, 2016.