Health + Wellness | BioMetrix VR

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common treatment approach for pediatric and adolescent patients with anxiety and depression and often includes therapeutic practices that patients complete between sessions. When I joined a healthcare technology startup as Lead Design Strategist and Facilitator, our challenge was to explore how we might make CBT more accessible and engaging for young patients while providing physiologically valid, real-time feedback.

I guided a four-person interdisciplinary team through a 16-week design thinking process. Because the team was new to the design process and an existing prototype had not yet been validated with data or insights from potential users, we began by stepping back to better understand the problem and the people we were designing for.

Exploring the Problem

We began with team norming and problem-space exploration through mind mapping and empathy mapping. I then led multiple rounds of interviews with pediatric psychologists and other clinical providers to understand:

• Barriers to effective CBT treatment

• The needs and experiences of pediatric and adolescent patients and their families

• Patient and provider pain points

• Opportunities to make CBT more accessible and engaging

We supplemented primary research with secondary research to better understand the competitive landscape and broader stakeholder ecosystem.

From Research to Insights

We synthesized our customer discovery research through empathy mapping and other design research activities, uncovering insights that helped us better understand the challenge and identify opportunities for more impactful solutions.

From Insights to Design Criteria

Our research synthesis, data analysis, and stakeholder interviews revealed that our initial concept needed to evolve. Three key features emerged as priorities:

• Personalization: Customer discovery highlighted the importance of tailoring CBT experiences to individual patients, including the use of customizable avatars and game environments—an opportunity we had not identified before conducting the research.

• Real-time biometric feedback: Incorporating physiologic data to provide immediate feedback during the experience.

• Progress tracking: Enabling patients and providers to monitor progress over time.

These insights became key design criteria for the next phase of the project. We then moved into ideation, exploring a range of potential concepts and prototypes with an open mind before narrowing our direction.

Outcomes & Lessons

The project had several constraints that shaped our design process:

• Limited access to the target audience: Restrictions on interacting with individuals under 18 limited our ability to directly engage pediatric and adolescent patients and other key stakeholders.

• Limited resources: Funding and technology constraints made it challenging to develop a fully functional prototype within the 16-week project period.

Despite these limitations, our human-centered approach enabled the team to develop and pitch a novel concept focused on increasing engagement with CBT among pediatric and adolescent patients and their parents. Our team competed against four other teams and won first place in the Hexcite Pitch Competition. Although the concept did not advance to a working prototype or market launch following the competition, the research process provided participating providers with greater insight into the needs and preferences of pediatric and adolescent patients receiving CBT.

For me, the project strengthened my ability to lead a multidisciplinary team through an unfamiliar design process while deepening my skills in research, synthesis, facilitation, and translating human insights into technology-enabled solutions.