Angelynn Liu
Interdisciplinary Designer
Based in Beijing + Los Angeles
Bridge
ROLE: COFOUNDER & DESIGNER TIMELINE: FEB - MAY 2022 TOOLS: FIGMA, ADOBE CC
A digital platform that simplifies the search process for college students seeking long-term mental health support.
Founded through a 10-week startup accelerator, we pitched to a panel of investors and won Judge’s Runner-Up award. Our product was inspired by our own mental health journeys and the dozens of conversations we had with young adults seeking help, mental health professionals, and staff members at universities.
RESEARCH + PROBLEM VALIDATION
College mental health systems are insufficient in meeting student needs.
Research states that 61% of college students reported having struggled with their mental health and colleges allocate substantial portions of their budget to mental health services, yet students are dissatisfied with the resources provided.
We spoke to 30+ college students and 10 staff members at multiple universities and discovered:
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︎Through on-campus services, it is unlikely a student will find a provider that will fit their preferences.
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︎Colleges do not provide long-term mental health services, with an average limit of 6 sessions per year.
- ︎Students inevitably must navigate a tedious referral process to find a provider externally.
OPPORTUNITIES + CONSIDERATIONS
How can we design a process that supports students in fully completing their process of searching for a provider from start to finish?
Journey Map: we outlined the process and emotions of a student, Britney, as she utilized her campus’ services to search for a therapist
We interviewed 30+ students to develop a deeper understanding on their experiences and processes with finding a therapist. With the findings we gathered thus far, there were several key considerations we kept in mind throughout the process of designing and testing our product.
- Students are starting the process of seeking help but rarely end up finding the support they’re looking for. However, there are providers in the community that are available and willing to work with them. What are the obstacles preventing students from connecting with suitable providers? Which obstacles can be pivoted or removed altogether?
- The rising mental health issues among youth is not the issue we aim to solve – it is far too large and intersectional that a singular product cannot possibly address. Rather, how can we design a process that efficiently connects students to the help they’re asking for?
- Students are natural problem-solvers and value autonomy. What information, options, and features can we provide to support them in fully completing their search process from start to finish?
OUR OFFERING
Simplifying the search process for students seeking long-term mental health support.
Reaching out for help when one is struggling is a brave and difficult step for someone to take. With Bridge, the process for seeking help is no longer an added barrier and source of stress.
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Allows students to find a provider that meets their preferences, which can include race, gender, language, etc.
- Students are connected to local providers that provide long-term services and are pre-approved by their university to receive insurance or offer sliding scale.
- There are no calls, no middle man, no wait times. Students can search and schedule a consultation right away on our platform.
HOW IT WORKS
Schedule a free consultation with a provider in 3 simple steps.
- Open Bridge on a web browser and begin searching for a provider by selecting your location, school, type of service, and whether you’d prefer virtual and/or in-person sessions.
- Look through the list of providers that match your preferences and are confirmed by your college to accept insurance and/or offer sliding scale. You specify your search even further by filtering results by additional preferences such as gender, race, religion, language, etc.
- Read the bios of the providers for additional information and book a free consultation right away using our scheduling tool.
BRAND GUIDE
The word “bridge” means a platform that creates a path for something or someone to move past an obstacle, inspiring the name of our product. We incorporated this concept when designing our logo, a modernized and abstracted image of a bridge.
Our color palette consists of orange to signify warmth and vitality and blue to represent serenity and fluidity. The beige serves as a neutral mediator to bridge the contrast between the warm and cool tones.
Faktum was selected as our title font because of its visual weight and interesting curves, reflective of the arches of a bridge.
Poppins serves as our body font as it complements well with the curves of our title font while remaining modern and simpler.
REFLECTIONS
Bridge was one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve worked on and I’m excited for the opportunity to pick it back up again and hopefully share it with more people. We received so much positive feedback from those we interviewed, as well as students and staff in the community, who felt heard and in need for a solution like our product.
As founders, it was important for us to have the freedom to intentionally build every aspect of our idea, product, and plan. It was especially meaningful and intimate to directly get to know our users and create something based on their stories. If you’re interested in a deeper dive on my process creating our product, let’s chat!
Thank you to Sigma Eta Pi at USC for the resources to make this possible, our interviewees for their generosity and honesty, the startup-enthusiasts who mentored me through this new experience, and my Co-Founder and friend, Chris!