Psychedelics Integration

Scope and background

Psychedelics Integration is a platform matching individuals with coaches and therapists in the psychedelic field for support in preparation and integration of psychedelic experiences.

Research scope:

1. Understand needs and behaviors of individuals searching for mental support online

2. Understand needs and values of coaches offering support

3. Understand how the current website is being perceived

Team

Myself, with support from the senior product designer and developer

My role

UX reasearcher

Methodologies & Process

22 qualitative interviews
1 survey
Competitor analysis

Affinity mapping
Analyzing data and findings
Present findings to the CEO, CTO and CMO.
Present recommendations based on findings

Participants

22 participants in interviews
27 participants in survey

75% of participants 29-50 years old
Survey - 74% women
Interviews - 50% men, 50% women
Participants spread across Europe with few individuals from United States, Canada, Russia and New Zealand.

Focus observation points

What do individuals think of the current website? What are the feelings and understanding?
What are the behaviors, needs and motivations for individuals to feel safe and motivated buying support online?
What do coaches need and want in order to commit to a subscription at a platform like PI?

Challenge

Traffic to the platform and conversion is low

Objectives

Improve accessibility, usability and understanding of the platform and service

Common patterns & themes

Affinity mapping

Key insights

Coaches want a healthy working environment with good communication
Coaches care about their reputation and need to be sure its not harmed by being part of the platform
Coaches are looking for collaboration with other professionals
Individuals want fast and easy access when looking for support online
Individuals need connection and trust with a coach in order to commit. It’s the highest priority to establish this as fast as possible.
The website is currently conveying a confusing message. Who is the target audience and what is actually the purpose of the platform?

Confusions?

Participant about current website: “It not a clear punchline .. need to see more to understand what is going on here.”
Participant about what is important when finding a coach: “Personal Chemistry is important, but how do you know? Maybe a video would be good”
Participant about current website: “Maybe it would be cool to know with a longer description of what a session could be like. Something about how you might want to prepare for it or what it might be like, if you are someone who never tried this. A kind of hand holding before going into find a coach. “this is how it works, this is what you can expect of the sessions”.”
Participant about their experience booking a coach for support: “Hardest part is to book a session! I didn't know what to expect, because I have never done it before, and end up always trusting that I will go through it myself.”
Participant about finding the right coach: “Hearing people being interviewed, or hearing a bit about their story, perhaps also makes me want to get ahold of a person.”

What is important and adds value?

Coach about needs when joining a platform: “I need: community, tools, clients/exposure”
Participant about ethical guidelines in the psychedelic field: “Its important coaches should behave according to set ethics, should be in the submission process, and there should be a communication process, and a possibility to get help if needed as a client”
Participant about needs when looking for a coach: “For me its important that they have walked a certain amount of years in this life to be able to connect with me and understand where I was”
Participant about what makes them trust a business: "I trust people who have personal connection to why they do something. If that comes across strongly, I'm more likely to trust. Authentic and with love. Also a website that is beautiful and easy to use"
Participant about what they look for when searching for a coach: “I would like to click through to their website. I would feel it would be more personal and get more information as if “I was in their office” and could connect to the person, rather than being in the generic space. Try to get what their personality is like."
Participant about whats important when looking for a coach: "I made the decision (to get help/support) and so it gotta happen quickly, momentum! Easy access!

Implementations & recommendations

Focus on support and communication with coaches
Include ethical guidelines in the already existing screening process of coaches to ensure safe reputation for professionals and safe support for individuals
Add ethical guidelines to the website to increase the integrity and trust of the platform

Add testimonials of professionals already subscribed to the platform to increase trust for coaches interested to join

New design to implement

Create a community portal for coaches that fosters collaboration and growth

Make it clear what a subscription at the platform includes for a coach

Improved design to implement

Add video or voice of each coach for faster connection with individuals

Create an on boarding matching process to make the alliance and connection between coaches and individuals faster and based on real needs of individuals.
It also decreases cognitive load when navigating through profiles. Makes the process of getting help more accessible

New design to implement

Improved design to implement

Add a pop-up information page with detailed explanation of the booking process and expectations related to the sessions

New design to implement

Improve hero section, aligned with brand personality. Make it clear what is being offered

Old hero design

New hero design

Brand personality slider

On the home page: Include the mission behind this business and easy access to its team for establishing trust and bonding.

Improved landing page sections

Learnings

This project gave me a deep insight into the art of interviewing and data analyzing.

I got aware of my interviewing style and how to improve it by not always sticking to the prepared questions but letting myself explore the questions behind the questions, and the problems behind the problems.

Affinity mapping is a methodology I love and with this extensive data I got to practice my organizational skills, recognition of patterns, how and what to prioritize and my visual thinking - How could this data look like as new or improved design.

I also learned a lot about the digital mental health industry through the interviews but also through comprehensive competitor analysis which adds to my personal interest in making this world a better and more accessible place to live.