Palliance :
A Cheer Squad in Your Pocket
2024
#UX Design ​#Product Design
Role:
UX Designer Researcher​
Duration:
12 Weeks
Palliance is a thesis project developed to support individuals with social anxiety in building confidence by acknowledging and celebrating incremental achievements—ranging from leaving their homes to engaging in new activities. The game allows players to easily track their social progress with just a click and prepare for upcoming events. It aims to encourage players to discover their motivations to take social adventures, at a pace that feels comfortable for them.
Social anxiety can be a natural protective response that leads to avoidance of potential social interactions that cause distress or uncertainty. It can prevent people from completing everyday tasks like asking a landlord to fix a leaky faucet, raising a hand in class, more long-term pursuits, or choosing a dream career. People with social anxiety can struggle for a long time before seeking help.
Approximately 13 million people in the U.S. have social anxiety (National Institute of Mental Health, 2023).
Less than half (43 percent) socialize with friends in person daily or weekly. Nearly a fifth said they do so less than monthly (19 percent) or rarely/never (16 percent).
The research study included desk research, 12 one-on-one interviews (with socially anxious individuals and psychologists), and anecdotal records from over 50 hours of participatory social anxiety support group activities over three months.
Research Record
Based on the survey results, I created a user journey map to represent participation in social activities within the social disorder group (based on the timeline)and used it to identify and analyze key pain points.
User Journey Map
Pain Points
Entice:
Feeling disconnected, isolated, and lacking support, with no familiar face or trusted person to ease transitions.
Enter
Overthinking, fear of miscommunication. Anxiety about saying the wrong thing, misunderstanding, and the potential judgment from other people.
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Engage:
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Struggling to remain engaged in the conversation while handling the physical discomfort and overwhelming.
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Experiencing unexpected anxiety during conversations leads to awkwardness and self-doubt.
Exit:
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Feeling drained and overwhelmed after social events impact overall well-being.
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Questioning how others viewed them and whether they made a good impression.
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Ruminating on awkward moments.
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Extend:
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Having difficulty feeling positive and self-doubt about future success. Fearing that future social interactions will bring the same anxiety or mistakes.
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Keep carrying emotional weight and gradually lose motivation.
User Need and Insights
Need:
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Providing users with accessible and affordable tools to prepare for social engagements mentally.
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​Implementing filters to reduce information overload, allowing users to focus on and retain the positive aspects of their experiences. Fostering positive feedback and enhancing the sense of accomplishment.
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Offering supportive guidance and practical advice during anxiety attacks to help users manage their emotions and regain a sense of control.
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Tracking efforts and small accomplishments to counter self-denial and reinforce a positive sense of progress.
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Minimizing the focus on comparison with others, and emphasizing the importance of self-growth and personal progress.
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Fostering community and belonging while ensuring a comfortable, respectful distance between users.
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Minimizing or eliminating systems that contribute to bias or affect judgment.
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Visually deceptive, not easily discovered by others.
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Palliance: A Mobile App for Social Anxiety
Slogan: Your pocket cheer squad for conquering/supporting your social adventures.
Target Audience: Individuals struggling with social anxiety.
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Palliance is a mobile game designed to empower individuals struggling with social anxiety. Imagine having friendly game characters representing your inner motivations – your "cheer squad" who is always with you on your phone! You can invite these characters to join your outdoor adventure. By completing bonding activities, you'll see the growing friendship between you and your Palliance friends, mirroring your own gradual confidence boost. Celebrating small successes with your Palliance friends paves the way for feeling more prepared and comfortable in potential social situations.
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Design Principle:
No judgment, visualize small successes, feel more motivated and gradually build confidence.
Main Functions
​Characters
STEP:
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​Invite Palliance: Feeling anxious about leaving home? Invite Palliance (your inner motivation) to be your cheering squad from the main page. Pick the crew members you need, just like choosing your favorite players for a big game!
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Helps user define small goals that can be achieved: Each Palliance will suggest bonding activities you can do during the adventure, and each activity represents a small success you can accomplish. Some are easier and some may be a bit more challenging. Users can adjust the plan and activities as they go.
Palliance will send users warm, supportive messages to boost their spirits during the outing. If the user needs extra help, they can double-click the phone's volume button to quickly access suggestions.
High-five with Crew When Successfully Landing: It’s time to check out the awesome loot users get and high-five their crew on all the cool stuff achieved together. Perfect isn’t expected from the start; every tiny step counts and deserves to be celebrated!
Users can witness the blossoming friendship between the Palliance companions and unlock unique stories along the way. Gradually grow and discover the strength inside themselves and pave the way for feeling more comfortable and prepared for future social situations.
iMessage/ (Code words generator) Plug-in
Conquer Social Anxiety with Fun on iMessage: Introducing the Palliance Plug-in!
Feeling anxious about an upcoming outing? Palliance, your mobile social anxiety companion, now brings the fun into your iMessage conversations!
How it works:
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Effortlessly Share Trip Plans: Planning a trip with friends? Simply share your Palliance trip itinerary directly in your iMessage chat! This ensures everyone's on the same page and keeps the excitement brewing.
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Secret Code Stickers for the Win!: Feeling overwhelmed? Generate fun, code-word stickers using the emoji plug-in. These can be pre-arranged signals with a trusted friend to subtly let them know you need a little support.
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Travel Buddies on the Go: Share your travel progress and how you're feeling throughout your adventure! Let your friends know you're doing great (or having a moment) with quick updates right in iMessage.
