EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Stress is everywhere. In our society, almost everyone is affected by stress, at least to a certain degree. However, it is still often tabooed, and it is far too little spoken about it. The severe consequences that stress can have are underrated while at the same time burn out rates are getting frequent. Here comes Better linked to play. With Better linked, a platform, which offers people the possibility to finally talk about their stress, comes to the market. Better linked is a platform for an easy access to an anonymous exchange of stress-related questions and problems. A platform for everybody who wants to better cope with stress or to prevent negative consequences of stress. A safe space to share experiences, knowledge and possible solutions and to support each other. It offers people the possibility to tell their stories – which allows to process their situations better and learn from the experiences of others.

Goal

The goal of this project was to dive deeper into the minds of the possible customers of Better linked. First, we had to identify latent user needs and really discover how the user perceives and experiences such a platform. In further steps we wanted to find out how a stress performance platform could look like, including features as well as design aspects. Furthermore, creative solutions for the questions “what would make someone use the platform” and “how can we make people share their experiences” had to be found.

Methodology

In order to achieve our goal, we used the popular innovation method Design Thinking, which is particularly useful if the user needs are yet unknown. It accompanied us throughout the whole project, as we went through the process phase after phase. Starting with the Empathize Phase, where we did extensive secondary research about stress, communities and platforms, as well as primary research, where we conducted 98 interviews with an iterative approach. In the Define Phase, we created personas based on our findings, used other tools like empathy maps or day-in-the-life charts, and finally derived the Key Insights. The Ideation Phase started with divergent thinking, coming up with as many ideas as possible, and ended with convergent thinking, where we had to evaluate and select a few. Finally, those ideas were prototyped using paper drawings and mockups, and tested with people in an iterative process.

Results

The main results start with 4 personas, Derek – the high performer, Julia – the aware one, Laura – the insecure one, and Khloe – the carefree one. Based on them we were able to find eleven Key Insights: Need of sharing with others, Need for people in the same situation, Need for quality, Stress is individual, Drive of getting better, Need of helping others, Objective viewpoint of your problems, Concrete help, Attention – platforms can stress, Distraction when stressed and Danger of misunderstandings. Using these Key Insights, we tried to come up with as many ideas as possible, using various techniques and games to enhance our creative thinking. In the end we were able to create an Idea Longlist, which included almost 100 raw ideas. We rated them using a point system and in further succession the Idea-Evaluator-Matrix, where points get assigned to the ideas using the three attributes feasibility, customer value and economic impact. After careful evaluation, as well as agreement with the project partner, we arrived at our final top three ideas. The first idea was Activity Tinder – a feature that recommends users stress-relieving activities randomly by swiping left or right. The second idea were Audio Rooms. They should offer self-help meetings via audio integrated in the platform. The third idea was Gamification. This should basically gamify as well as incentivize the whole platform in order to keep the users motivated and enhance the experience. For each idea there are three prototypes, as well as a final prototype for the whole platform including the new features.

Cooperation Partner

• Better linked
  Landhausgasse 2/20, 1010 Wien

• www.betterlinked.com

Contact Person

• MMag. Corinna Häsele
  corinna​_haesele@yahoo.de

Student Team

• Belinda Burger

• Patrick Vavra

• Julian Haumann

• Bence Oláh

• Gerhard Karbeutz

• Valentina Priester

Project Manager

• Erik Kommol M.Sc.

• Mag. Carola Wandres