Category: UX RESEARCH

Project Overview

Anoxity is a mobile app that reframes anxiety stigma through curiosity-driven self-discovery. It replaces clinical treatment approaches with a non-judgmental framework that helps users explore their patterns without diagnosis or medical intervention. The app provides an accessible tool for anyone experiencing anxiety, whether or not they have medical conditions requiring treatment.

This research-focused academic project, grounded in user research, clinical psychology, and neuroscience, resulted in both a functional prototype and an academic research paper that contributes to design and mental health accessibility. The app was developed from a research framework, translating insights from academic research into tangible, everyday tools for consumers.

Key Impacts:

• Created a non-medical approach that breaks stigma through curiosity-based exploration

• Designed a visual ring system that transforms anxious habits into observable patterns, helping users see anxiety as explorable data rather than shameful symptoms

• Built a validation experience that provides self-awareness without judgment or pressure to improve

• Established research context linking neuroscience to design decisions

Introduction / Background

Anoxity emerged from my Design and Mental Health class at Northeastern University. The project creates accessible mental health tools for young adults with anxiety, moving beyond traditional clinical treatment approaches.

Overarching Problem / Opportunity

The Problem: High-functioning individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder recognize that their hidden anxiety patterns are misinterpreted as personality traits, and their ability to reduce their anxiety is prevented by self-stigmatization. 

The Challenge: Create a tool for anyone experiencing daily anxiety who wants to understand themselves better, specifically targeting people with GAD diagnoses who read self-help books and are curious about their anxious habits, not limited to those needing clinical help.

Final Solution

Anocity replaces clinical treatment with curiosity-based exploration. Anxiety becomes self-discovery, not a medical problem.

Based on Judson Brewer's research and neuroscience, the app helps users spot anxiety patterns without judgment. It turns stigma into growth opportunities.

1. Curiosity-Based Exploration

   1. Users explore anxiety through self-discovery, not medical treatment

   2. Recognize patterns without judgment or stigma

2. Protective Reflection Tracking

   1. The Visual Ring System (Dartboard Visualization) created by journal entries, appears as colored rings around your profile. See patterns, not scores.

   2. Color-coded system: Purple, green, yellow, and blue rings represent different habit categories (triggers, thoughts, physical sensations, behaviors)

   3. Protective metaphor made visual: Each reflection adds a colored ring that literally wraps around the mind, creating tangible protective layers

3. Personal Validation

   1. Validates your anxiety experience

   2. No diagnosis needed, just a safe space to explore

4. Brain Science Made Simple

   1. Educational content based on Judson Brewer's neuroscience research

   2. Complex mental health concepts explained in simple, easy-to-understand language

Research

My goal is to transform anxiety stigma into curiosity-driven exploration. In order to do so, I dug into understanding current treatment gaps in treating anxiety and how anxiety is best approached when viewed as patterns rather than problems.

Research Methods

1. Anxiety Stigma Literature Review

   1. Studied how self-stigma blocks treatment. People dismiss anxiety as temporary, not legitimate.

2. Neuroscience Research

   1. Analyzed Judson Brewer's "curious awareness" and brain reward systems. Built a scientific foundation for understanding habit-free intervention.

3. Design Philosophy

   1. Applied neuroscience insight: reflection works better because emotions don’t cloud learning. This guided the creation of Reflect, a journaling feature that encourages users to revisit past experiences with clarity and curiosity rather than emotional reactivity. The design transforms anxiety tracking into a process of self-discovery, using color-coded domains to help users identify patterns across thoughts, sensations, and behaviors, turning awareness into a tool for growth.

Research Foundation: Literature review of neuroscience (Brewer, Ludvig, McDannald), anxiety stigma (Issaka, Leipplassum), and brain decision-making (Levy & Glimcher, Padoa-Schioppa) grounded design in the science of how curiosity drives behavior change.

Research Insights and Definition

Synthesis Method

Literature analysis of neuroscience research, anxiety stigma studies, and clinical barriers resulted in findings that directly facilitated our design process:

• Curiosity interrupts automatic anxiety patterns

  • Brewer's research on "curious awareness" shows that non-judgmental observation of sensations, physical sensations, and behaviors can interrupt habit loops. Anxiety isn't a character flaw; it's a learned response. Reframing anxiety as a tool (e.g., "thank you for trying to keep me safe") acknowledges its protective role while distinguishing helpful patterns from harmful ones.

    
    

• "Weak-not-sick" attitude creates treatment barriers

  • Stigma research reveals that high-functioning young adults (12-25) internalize a "weak-not-sick" attitude or face social reinforcement positioning anxiety as temporary phases rather than legitimate concerns. When participants realize they need help, appropriate resources aren't clear or accessible. This pushes anxiety into the shadows of mental health conversations.

• Anxiety manifests across interconnected domains

  • Neurobiological research shows anxiety appears through four interconnected domains: Thoughts (worry patterns, mind going blank), Physical Sensations (muscle tension, racing heartbeat), Behaviors (procrastination, over-preparation), and Emotions (fear, overwhelm). The environment contextualizes all domains. Understanding this interconnection reveals how mental health loops become part of identity.

• Welcoming design language reduces self-stigma barriers

  • UX research shows clinical interfaces reinforce stigma for high-functioning users. Non-clinical language ("explore" versus "symptoms"), personalization, and welcoming aesthetics reframe anxiety as self-discovery rather than treatment. Pastel colors create calm, accessible typography that ensures readability, and the "curious habit loops" visualization translates neuroscience into tangible patterns without metrics.

Design Translation

These insights reframed the design challenge from symptom tracking to stigma reduction. Brewer's curiosity research justified observation-focused features. Stigma findings validated non-clinical language choices. The four-domain structure became the app's core architecture. Together, these insights established clear design requirements: make exploration feel like self-discovery, not treatment.

Research Analysis Tools

• User Persona & Scenario 

  • Created Alex Katz, a 22-year-old sophomore with GAD who reads self-help books and struggles with academic anxiety. I mapped their anxiety escalation sequence during a group project studying: stress leading to group project intervention based on the insights we found. This helped identify moments in which curiosity-based reflection could interrupt automatic anxiety responses.

• Four-Domain Framework 

  • I organized Thoughts, Physical Sensations, Behaviors, and Emotions as explorable categories, not clinical symptoms. This structure came directly from neurobiological research and became the core architecture of the entire app.

• User Flow Sitemap 

  • Mapped the journey from signup to curiosity exploration. This revealed where to sequence educational content and when to prompt reflection versus action.

Design

Design Ideation

I explored multiple approaches to anxiety tracking, from clinical symptom logs such as PTSD Coach to traditional mood journals with linear progress trackers and emotion graphs.

I presented prototypes, concept maps, and site maps during design critiques and feedback sessions to class to validate the four-domain framework before investing in detailed design, classmates and the professor confirmed the structure was clear. I realized users need the concept explained through experiential learning via the interface itself, not abstract definitions. Shifting from educational content to guided experiential learning made the concept immediately tangible.

The dartboard visualization became the key design breakthrough. It aligned with Brewer's research on curiosity and habit loops. The concentric ring metaphor made abstract neuroscience tangible, each reflection becoming a colored layer. This differed from traditional anxiety apps, which focus on symptom reduction metrics. Instead, we emphasize pattern observation without judgment.

Design Iterations

• From Tutorial to Experience 

  • Early wireframes included lengthy onboarding explaining Brewer's "curious awareness" framework, GAD context, and the protective layer metaphor. Testing revealed users felt overwhelmed by upfront education before understanding what the app did. Therefore, we pivoted to minimal onboarding focused on action: "What do you want to explore today?" Users learn the framework through using it, not reading about it.

• Language Shift from Clinical to Exploratory

  • Lo-fi prototypes used "Mental Health Symptoms" and "Symptom selection," which still felt clinical and judgmental. I changed our content to "What do you want to explore today?" with domains: Physical Sensations, Behaviors, Emotions. Participants said the new framing felt "less scary" and "more curious," making the experience welcoming rather than diagnostic.

• Clearer Visual Cues for the Ring Visualization

  • Users understood the dartboard metaphor but felt that color gaps indicated incomplete entries rather than showing which domains remain unexplored. We added prompts like "Tap to Explore" on empty sections, clarified the visualization, making domain completeness the goal clearer.

• Making Reflections Optional 

  • User flow testing revealed that participants felt pressured by the required immediate reflection after questionnaires. So, I made reflection optional with gentle prompts like "What if anxiety is just a habit of mind?" Users reported more honest, thoughtful reflections with this flexibility, reducing performance pressure.

• Visual Communication Testing

  • Class feedback revealed bright colors felt "too energetic" and red evoked error associations, undermining the calming intent. We applied color psychology research, shifting to pastels that were tested as "calming" and "gentle," ensuring aesthetic choices supported the research goal of creating non-clinical, non-triggering experiences.

Design Solution

Anocity is a non-clinical anxiety exploration app that reframes anxiety as observable patterns, not medical problems. It focuses on user benefit and real-world impact for everyday users.

Users choose what to explore: Thoughts, Physical Sensations, Behaviors, or Emotions. Then, they answer guided questions with Yes/No/Neutral responses and prompts like "Do you know how to make the worry stop?" After each session, exploration adds a colored ring to the dashboard visualization with "Mind" at the center. Purple, green, yellow, and blue rings reveal exploration patterns. This encourages comprehensive awareness across all four domains. The app avoids scores and clinical language, using pastel aesthetics to position anxiety awareness as curious self-discovery learned through experience, not explanation.

Evaluation/Testing

Academic Design Critique

Why: Gather feedback on translating Brewer's neuroscience research into user-facing language through class critiques and discussions.

Insight: Peers and instructors found "symptom selection" reinforced clinical stigma, contradicting the research goal of reducing barriers. Class discussions also revealed that color gaps in the visualization needed clearer visual cues to indicate incomplete exploration.

Action: We reframed language to "What do you want to explore today?" which better aligned with curious awareness theory, and refined the visualization with added prompts based on informal classroom feedback and color psychology research.

If I had more time: Progressive Fidelity Testing (Hypothetical)

If we had more time to evaluate the design, we would conduct formal usability testing at each fidelity level to systematically validate whether users can understand the dartboard visualization. This would involve structured testing sessions with target users to measure comprehension of the protective layer concept and domain coverage indicators, providing quantitative data to supplement the informal classroom feedback.

Reflection

Longitudinal Engagement Study (Hypothetical) 

If I had more time to evaluate the long-term impact, I would track users over 8-12 weeks to measure whether the curiosity framework sustains engagement and reduces self-stigma over time. The key metrics would include: weekly return rate, domains explored per session, reflection completion patterns, and self-reported changes in anxiety perception (medical problem vs. observable pattern). This would validate whether learning-by-doing actually builds curious awareness or if users revert to a symptom-tracking mindset.

Personal Reflection

Design's Impact Beyond Visual Purposes: Translating Research Into Lived Experience

This project taught me what it means to design for mental health, not just creating calming interfaces, but translating clinical psychology into accessible tools that respect nearly everyone.

I credit Dr. Donald Robinaugh's Design and Mental Health course at Northeastern University for shaping this approach. The course explored how design intersects with mental health challenges that affect nearly everyone at some point. Design can either worsen or improve these challenges, which means designers can only make their products, experiences, or prototypes better by becoming familiar with mental health literacy. It's not just about aesthetic skills.

This aligned my interests in psychology with my design studies. The driving question became: How do we make evidence-based research approachable for people who need it?

Bridging the Gap Between Academic Research and Experiential Learning

Research exists that could help millions, but it stays locked in academic journals and clinical settings. Brewer's work on curiosity and anxiety habit loops offers a simple framework, but it was inaccessible to the people who could benefit most. My role as a designer was bridging that gap, translating neuroscience into something experiential.

The best way to teach a concept isn't always explaining it. Curious awareness can't be learned through tutorials or onboarding screens. It has to be practiced and discovered. That realization, from education to experience, changed how I approach behavior change design. Sometimes understanding comes from doing, not reading.