Hooking target users on mood journaling to tackle emotional eating.
About:
‍Academic project
UX Research
UI Design

Key Methods:
Generative research
Strategising
Scoping
Information Architecture
Wireframes
Usability Testing
Prototyping
Problem:
As we see around us, times are not the same. People are complicated. They have various emotions. With changing times, the way we deal with mental problems also changed. People have different ways to cope with their pain. One such coping mechanism is eating. This can also be referred to as “Emotional Eating” and when you get habituated to this, you will be having “Emotional hunger” .


Solution:
My root cause analysis has shown me that food logging or calorie counting doesn’t help deal with emotional eating at all because “Emotional hunger can’t be filled with food” and “Emotional hunger isn’t located in the stomach”. It is because of an emotion that you don’t want to feel. So the best way to deal with emotional hunger is to deal with your feelings and emotions.Introducing the ultimate Mood journaling app using which users can get awareness, identify the emotion and nourish that emotion. It helps users know what is happening and how they can deal with it using Nir Eyal’s Hook model.!


How I grew as a Designer:
Before this project, I understood psychological principles and design as separate entities. I learned how to leverage both together to enable behavior change without being overt.
Impact

The hypothetical impact of using MoJo, the Mood journaling app could lead to significant psychological improvements, including reduced workplace stress, increased job satisfaction, and better mental well-being due to a projected 15% boost in workplace productivity. Its potential $5 million annual revenue could fuel further development. Moreover, it may save $50 million or more in government mental health spending. A 5% change in consumer spending habits signifies a shift towards prioritizing emotional well-being, creating a more psychologically resilient society while also contributing to economic growth.

Introducing MOJO
I followed Nir Eyal's Hook model to change user behaviors and create unprompted user engagement. The aim is to influence users to use my product on their own, again and again, without relying on overt calls-to-action such as ads or promotions. This framework establishes a theory of habit forming without manipulating users and instead helps them gain good habits. In my case, it is about creating a habit of journaling the moods and emotions whenever users feel like eating unconsciously so they can use their insights to see what and why it is happening and work on themselves.
Generative Research
Understanding what the real problem is, defining the areas to focus on, understanding our real users and their thought processes, how the issue pertains, and why is this happening… are the questions to ask myself and find solutions to them. Root cause analysis is a good way to find solutions to these.
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To get a better understanding of behavioral eating patterns, I have to get an idea of clinical matters of emotional eating. So, I had an interview with a renowned Professor and coordinator of the Art therapy concentration with the trauma counseling program, Rachel Brandoff from our university. Through this conversation, I got a deeper understanding of the users and found opportunities for solutions and innovation in this field.
Research validation- MOJO Pendant - Testing ideas quickly and simply

Pretotyping is a technique that is used to test my concept whether it will workout in real world or not, before it is deployed and reach the market.

  • Mood Tracking
  • Easy to use & portable
  • Spontaneous Journaling experience
  • Wearble Jewellery extension
  • Vibrates and lightens up
  • Catches heart palpitations

Why Journalling?
💡 After picking the behavior you want to give up, be it eating an undesirable food or indulging in a distraction that doesn’t serve you, the next step is to write it down, along with the date you gave it up for good. This action marks the shift from a temporary “can’t” to a permanent “don’t.”
-Nir Eyal in his article about Progressive extremism

Risky assumption matrix
XYZ Hypotheses
Product Scoping
After the secondary research and interview, I synthesized my findings to figure out what our users want.
1) They want to be able to express what they really feel without fear of being exposed.
2) They want motivation to follow this ritual.
3) They should be able to Identify and Nourish their emotions.
4) And they want all of this to happen in an as easy way as possible.
‍After synthesizing the information, I have done MoSCoW classification to filter out better ideas.
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Information Architecture
In order to put all the designed ideas in one frame, we have to figure out the user flow so we can get a better understanding of what goes where and how it goes into those places. So I made a User Flow. This user flow explains how the user goes from one screen to another seamlessly and successfully forms a habit.
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Making Design Decisions

The “Timely ask”. The first screen that user lands on when they open the app in this page. They have to answer the 5 questions and that is it! This is the Journaling screen. With changing times, technology also adapted, and reducing the ability factor makes users’ actions more easier and usable. The usage of Emoticons, Tags, and sliders makes the process seamless.
User can redeem their money from their profile. People with emotional weight do not get enough motivation for day-to-day activities. Building a habit like journaling seems to be unachievable especially when the world around you is falling down.

Storyboard
Storyboarding is a good way to elaboratively explain the user flow and the actual structure of the project. I made a storyboard where Emma is going through a breakup and was not feeling good at all. She uses MoJo to bring back joy into her life. The whole process is depicted step by step in the form of the story involving screens.
High-fidelity wireframes