Svā Wellness
A holistic health initiative and GenAI integrated mHealth mobile application (MVP) based on the principles and practices of the ancient Indian medical science of Ayurveda.
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Holistic Wellness
and Mental Health
(mHealth) Mobile App
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24/7
GenAI + Ayurveda
Audio/Text Companion
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Persuasive Systems Design
and Self Monitoring Technology
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Speech Recognition
and NLP Technology
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Augmented Reality
feature in Camera mode
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Collaborators - Ayurveda & Medical Practitioners, Scientists & Researchers, people with lived experiences of MHD
Introduction
Svā Wellness is a holistic health initiative based on the principles and practices of the ancient Indian medical science of Ayurveda.
Ayurveda developed over 5,000 years ago (also known as the 'The Science of Life'), and is recognised as one of the leading remedial approaches in addressing the issue of Mental Health across the globe.
Svā Wellness mHealth app harnesses the power of artificial intelligence integrated with the science of Ayurveda to provide personalised and data-driven recommendations to help individuals achieve their health and well-being goals. It aims to be an agent of change, the ultimate AI + Ayurveda companion in the people's Mental Health and Wellness journey.
My Role
Inspired from my final year capstone design project on health and wellness at UNSW in 2022, I decided to further develop the idea into an MVP and pitch for funding. I have spent the last 2 years along with my full time job to continue doing my research and iterating my designs and ideas on building an mHealth application integrated with GenAI to help people live a holistic way of life and rid themselves of mental health problems.
As I continue on this journey of creation and exploration, I have worked on this concept as a UX, UI, Service and CX Designer, User Experience Researcher, Content Strategist, Product Manager, Product Owner and a Business Analyst.
Svāvatar
The GenAI companion
The Svā AI companion (Svāvatar) is based on the Persuasive Systems Design model (by Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa, 2021) wherein the use of persuasive features of self-monitoring, dialogue support, real world simulation and social support influence the behaviour of the user. Research shows that features like self-monitoring of mood (i.e., mood tracking) increase emotional self-awareness which in turn reduces depression and anxiety.
The name Svāvatar, is made joining Svā with Avatar, which translates to persona of Svā (Sanskrit) or Self. Hence, the AI persona or Svāvatar's machine learning capabilities integrated with healing principles of Ayurveda, will enable customised and data-driven Mental Health solutions, guidance and support to the users, becoming the user's friend or companion in time of need.
Product Demo Video
Concept Film
The Process
Human Centred Design
01
Discover
The fusion of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) with Human Centred Design (HCD) presented a unique opportunity to create a product that is both technologically advanced and deeply attuned to user needs. Empathy, Inclusivity, Iteration and Collaboration were the key pillars of my design process. I discovered a gap in the mHealth App industry and thus dived into qualitative and quantitative research with people suffering from MHD.
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Design
I wanted to create a product that empathised with its users and became their companion. This began my explorative design journey into making several low fidelity wireframes highlighting features that would reflect inclusivity and empathy, along with providing support and inspiration in the form of an AI companion (explained below).
02
Define
The research revealed that holistic health solutions to mental health disorders (MHD) had a lasting impact on health. Thus, the need for 360 degree wellness solution led to defining the problem statement as designing a solution that fosters a long lasting behavioural change towards a holistic lifestyle and encourages sustained wellness and mental wellbeing.
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Deliver
The designs went through several iterative cycles and user testing methods like A/B testing, card sorting, tree testing, interviews, heuristics analysis and so on and the final prototype was developed as an MVP.
The MVP is a no-code AdobeXD prototype and thus open to more iterations in the future.