Needfinding

Background

According to American Psychiatric Association, in a given year, “nearly one in five (19 percent) U.S. adults experience some form of mental illness”. Although we have developed several methods to treat mental illness, including medication and therapy, many of these therapies require the patients to have face-to-face meetings with the therapists, and some people are concerned that other people that they know will see them enter or leave a therapist’s office. In addition to that, some patients might feel awkward or embarrassed to talk to a real person because they “worry about the stigma of in-office therapy - it can be intimidating sitting on a coach in a Therapists clinic -- some people find it much more comfortable and calm to be at home”.

Hypotheses

We would like to first figure out how many people's works and lives have been affected due to mental problems. Our assumption is that there should be a significant amount of people who have experienced mental illness in the past months.
We would also like to figure out how likely people will use an online anonymous chatbot. We think that there should be a good amount of people who are willing to use it based on our research.

Technique #1 : Online Survey

We used online surveys as our first need-finding technique. The survey was sent out to the student population in the University of Rochester to collect data on whether they have experienced some form of mental health issues over the past few weeks / months. The survey was distributed through social media, specifically on Facebook. In the end, we received 32 responses.

Selected Results from the Survey

75% of the sample population

had some problems with their work or daily life due to an emotional problem, such as feeling depressed, or anxious.

43.8% of the sample population

indicated that they never consulted with a therapist even when they are experiencing a mental health issue.

57.1 % of the sample population

felt somewhat uncomfortable or intimidating sitting in a therapist's office.

Anxiety

is the #1 why people seek for therapy

About 1/4 of the same population

are willing to rely on an autonomous online therapy agent

* In addition, 24 out of 30 people said that they feel chatting online is more comfortable than talking in-person.

Technique #2 : Interview

Our second need-finding technique was doing an interview. We conducted a 45-min interview with a social worker who has great experiences with dealing with people who have mental illness. Many people have gone to him for help. He walked us through what a complete therapy session looks like, and in the end he also gave his opinion on the idea of using an online therapy agent. Here are some topics that he touched on:

He mentioned that Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered Therapy model is based on the reflection of one’s statement and belief.
“Don’t give solutions. Walk with them” is the mindset when he talks to a patient.
He always takes notes on the subjects that the user talks about a lot.
One of his strategies is to find a trend within a conversation.

Finally, although he is not a believer in technology, he thinks that using an online therapy chatbot, especially during this pandemic time, is an awesome idea. However, he mentioned some drawbacks of it. For example, he told us that it is impossible to see the user's body language as the user speaks, so the therapist would have less insight.

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