IGNITE
Helping to maintain good habits, prevent burnout, and promote mental health and wellness with the use of gamified habit-tracking.
MOBILE APPLICATION DESIGN
THE PROBLEM
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, “in any given year, 1 in 5 people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness”, yet mental health services often have long wait times and are underfunded, forcing people to seek help in other ways, such as private services.
As students, it’s difficult to handle all the activities and stressors of daily life while simultaneously taking care of one’s mental health and well-being. Good mental health enables people to think, feel and behave in ways that help to enjoy life and cope with its challenges (Peachy et al., 2013). However, current habit tracking, goal setting, and wellness resources can be pricey and feel overwhelming to begin and keep up with. As a result, we sought to find out “How might we create an accessible and engaging resource that could help people, especially high school and university-age students, track their habits and set goals to improve their overall mental well-being?”.
RESEARCH & KEY TAKEAWAYS
A large amount of Canadas struggle with mental illness.
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"In 2012, 3,533,368 Canadians experienced some type of mood disorder." (Statistics Canada, 2012).
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"By age 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness." (CMHA)
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Mental health is an important part of your life and your being.
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“Mental health is the state of your psychological and emotional well-being. It is a necessary resource for living a healthy life and a main factor in overall health. It does not mean the same thing as mental illness. However, poor mental health can lead to mental and physical illness. “(Stats Canada, 2020).
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“Good mental health allows you to feel, think, and act in ways that help you enjoy life and cope with its challenges” (Statistica Canada, 2020).
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Caring for your mental illness/mental health can be expensive and inaccessible.
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"Because public mental health services are underfunded and have long wait times, many people rely on their employer-based benefits or bear the personal cost of private services. Canadians spend an estimated $950 million a year on psychologists in private practice." (Peachey, D., Hicks, V., Adams, O. (2013))​​
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Gamification can help to keep users more engaged when it comes to habit-tracking.
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“Gamified mental health intervention app that retains user interest and improves resilience could maximize the benefits of mobile intervention by helping to prevent depression and anxiety, while at the same time being convenient, inexpensive, and a way to avoid getting professional help and experiencing the associated stigma and negative feelings.”
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VISUAL ELEMENTS
THE SOLUTION
We wanted to create a product that would not only help bridge the gap between self-accountability and mental health - but something that would be accessible, easy to use, and engage users in the long term. So we created Ignite, a habit tracker that gamifies healthy habit formation. The concept is fairly simple: every user starts with a small spark aptly named Sparky, which is ignited when the user creates their first personal self-care goal. As users stay consistent and mindful with their habit tracking, Sparky grows. And when they’re inconsistent, Sparky shrinks. Don’t let Sparky burn out and avoid mental burnout. As the user becomes more and more consistent, they may “level up” Sparky and earn cool rewards for him like accessories, backgrounds, and colours.
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From our research, our team identified 9 key factors significantly contributing to mental health and overall well-being which we wanted users to be able to track:
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Mood
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Caffine
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Marijuana
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Alcohol
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Physical Activity
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Screen Time
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Food & Water
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Social Interaction
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Relaxation