User Research for Mental Health App
Project Owner
Listens
Brand & Experience
Problem Statement
There’s a critical gap between emotional needs and available support tools for people who need relief, but not therapy. This project aimed to identify that gap and translate it into actionable product insights.
Overview
This research-driven initiative was the foundational phase in developing Listens, a mental wellness app aimed at supporting individuals experiencing mild psychological distress. The project was initiated with a bold vision: to create a product that makes a real emotional impact while meeting a clear community need for safe, non-clinical emotional support spaces.
In collaboration with the Listens team, our objective was to explore the landscape of digital help-seeking behavior and identify what makes a product truly meaningful for those seeking stress relief—but who often feel misunderstood, judged, or unsupported in traditional clinical environments. The result was a strategic product direction grounded in real user needs and emotional archetypes, setting the tone for the entire development journey of Listens.
Objectives
Define a compelling and differentiated product positioning for Listens
Identify target user segments and behavior patterns
Explore emotional motivations and barriers to help-seeking
Generate actionable insights to guide early product ideation and feature scoping
Impact
The inductive findings helped the Listens team shift their product lens, from solving for features to solving for emotional conditions. Our insight synthesis mapped:
The psychological profile of low-level distress users
Feature relevance by emotional readiness
The social dynamic behind informal support relationships
As a result, Listens clarified:
Its target user segments (based on need, role preference, and digital behavior)
A non-clinical positioning strategy emphasizing emotional safety and choice
Initial customer journeys for two key roles: Storyteller and Listener
Core emotional goals of its users, which became the foundation of MVP development
These insights were formally presented to stakeholders and directly shaped the app’s feature roadmap, onboarding flow, and emotional design strategy.
Approach
We conducted in-depth interviews with 10 participants from various non-clinical backgrounds, students, employees, and housewives, who had experienced online counseling at least once (via WhatsApp or similar platforms). The research combined inductive thematic analysis and competitive benchmarking to explore:
Emotional needs
Barriers to professional help-seeking
Expectations from digital mental wellness tools
We developed early persona profiles and behavioral typologies
Key Insights
Many users expressed frustration with clinical tools that feel impersonal or judgmental.
Help-seeking is often avoided due to stigma, mismatch with professionals, time constraints, and emotional safety concerns.
Two core user roles emerged:
The Storyteller: Needs a safe space to process and externalize emotions
The Listener: Enjoys supporting others, reflecting deeply, and holding space
These roles inspired the core functionality and positioning of Listens, as a matching-based emotional support platform driven by peer connection and shared lived experience.
Participants also described emotional support tools in a hierarchy based on their emotional dependency and flexibility:
Irreplaceable, Contextually Useful, and Easily Replaceable tools
Process
Define a compelling and differentiated product positioning for Listens
Identify target user segments and behavior patterns
Explore emotional motivations and barriers to help-seeking
Generate actionable insights to guide early product ideation and feature scoping
See More Our Works
