pocket baymax
why pocket baymax?
I’ve been recently using wellness apps that help me manage my eating and stretching habits, two things that I used to find hard to incorporate in my daily routine. I’ve noticed changes in the way I feel and I was wondering if there were other apps that would help me manage other area in my life that might feel difficult sometimes: My mental health. After some therapy sessions, you start to realize you need to build a mental health toolkit that can keep you company and help you in moments of need, long after you’ve finished the therapy process. There are some apps that already address this —like Headspace and Calm— that target specific strategies like meditation and breath work, but there’s a lot to cover on this realm. I wanted to design an app that directly targets the lack of guidance and relevant information on how to treat promptly physical and mental health symptoms, and when to consider them an emergency. It’s pretty common for young adults to look for this answers through Google searches and the results are most often concerning and far from reality. To challenge myself and make the project more fun, I used the idea of Baymax from Big Hero 6 as a starting point for the look & feel and overall language. Baymax is one of my favorite characters. He’s funny, kind and clumsy in a lovable way, and it’s always there for you.
what should the app do?
Help users manage physical and mental health emergencies through simple guidance based on their symptoms
Help users identify when they should go to the ER or ask for help based on their symptoms
Instruct users on how to treat small injuries at home, for them and for others
Allow users to create a mental health tool kit
app goals
The app should be easy to use, avoiding crowded interfaces and technical language to help users address their health concerns in simple terms.
The app should help reduce time loss when deciding the need of medical emergency services.
The app should teach first aids in an easy and not technical way when the symptoms are not life threatening and can be treated at home.
The app should create mental health awareness and support ongoing therapy processes.
approach to the business model
Healthcare providers might be interested in the app. In Colombia some healthcare providers already have this type of guides mostly focused on identifying emergencies and COVID cases through short WhatsApp or in-app questionnaires that cover a short list of symptoms. However, the questions are not detailed and don’t give any type or assessment, besides telling the user to go to the ER or make a doctor appointment as soon as posible. Besides young adults that could pay a subscription for the app —as in apps like Bitepal and Bend— the idea could also be interesting for primary caretakers of children or older adults that don’t have any type of medical training but should know how to identify alarm signs. There are some apps already published that have similar goals —Ada, Symptomate and Ubie— that are free to use, so the business model might be based on advertising and higher subscription tiers.
app map
— this project is a work in progress, spoilers ahead :)
