Solomiya –
a mental health app
case study

Case study of mental health app development

mHealth

Industry

7 specialists

Team size

Germany

Location

2 months

Project duration

[ App development context ]

This project was initiated by the SOLOMIYA network – a partnership between 5 German and 20+ Ukrainian health care system institutions that work in the fields of mental health, traumatology, and emergency medicine.

The partners are developing a dynamic needs-based support platform for the Ukrainian population who are experiencing stress and trauma due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Solomiya is a popular Ukrainian female given name, derived from the Hebrew shalom, which means ‘peace.’ The idea behind the Solomiya mental health app was to help users overcome stressful situations and return to their normal state after traumatizing events using mobile health technology.

Targeting primarily Ukrainians who relocated to European countries to escape the war, Solomiya will provide free information, strategies, activities, and other tools to deal with stress, anxiety, PTSD, insomnia, and related issues.

Project scope, participants, and tasks

Solomiya is a minimum viable product (MVP).

Most of the product’s logic is done on the front-end which is developed by another team located in Germany.

Onix was responsible for the back-end development.

Onix’s designers developed the mental health mobile app’s user experience (UX), user interface (UI), and Solomiya’s logo and parts of branding.

Onix’s part of the product development team included:

﹂ 1 UI/UX designer

﹂ 1 design manager

﹂ 2 back-end engineers

﹂ 1 QA engineer

﹂ 1 PM

﹂ 1 account manager

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Mental health app development phases

Quick project start

The client approached us with a project specification in hand. This helped to facilitate a quick project start on our side.

Design task

Onix’s specialists began with the design task including the preparation of wireframes and clickable prototypes of the mental health app.

Front-end development

The front-end development team in Germany started their coding after receiving the first designed screens to work with.

Back-end development

After the final MVP feature set and final design version were agreed upon, Onix’s programmers proceeded with back-end development.

The mental health app and its features

Solomiya provides:

Structured plan

A structured plan (a course) with a variety of exercises and activities to choose from

Information to educate

Information to educate users about common mental health issues, why they occur, and how to address them effectively

The app’s key features

Personalized recommendations

The user flow begins with a survey that helps assess the user’s mental state and detect any problems the app may help to alleviate. In further versions, the app will recommend meditation courses or techniques based on each user’s response.

Weekly plans

Each weekly plan includes various educational videos, quizzes, intervention activities, etc., to help users improve their condition.

Users can unlock the next week’s plan only after completing the previous week’s tasks and assessment. This ensures a more structured approach to mental health – just as in real life.

Users will retain access to all exercises and videos after completing the program.

Favorites

Users can save educational content and interventions that proved to be most helpful, which they enjoyed most, or which they would like to practice after completing a week’s course. The goal is to create a “treasure box” with activities that users can go back to wherever they want.

Eventually, Solomiya may offer a wrap-up of 6 weekly plans (similar to “Spotify Wrapped”) summarizing their favorite and most-watched videos, interventions, and activities they have done.

Regular reminders

Users will receive several types of push notifications:

a weekly notification reminding them to use the app, e.g., “You have completed Week 1” or “Press here to view content of Week 2”.

daily reminders to do their homework, such as look at their cards and do one of the positive activities/resource activation.

Users will select the time when they want to receive these reminders during the app set-up.

Progress tracking

Users will complete weekly surveys (a PHQ depression and insomnia checklist) so that Solomiya can assess their psychological condition and sleep quality while also tracking improvements.

Reward system

After weekly assessments, scores are awarded for positive results (and withdrawn if the user’s condition deteriorated). Users can track the dynamics in the personal profile. This will help visualize their progress in handling their problems and will motivate them to continue.

Mental health app design

UX/UI design solutions

Color palette:

Soft shades of blue, green, and other pastels dominate the app interface. These colors help evoke a sense of tranquility, peace, and hope, and contribute to the users’ emotional healing and mood stability.

User-friendly interface:

The app interface is clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate. The focus is on the video programs and activities. Clear icons and labels help users identify app sections and activities quickly and easily. Large easily legible fonts and well-positioned elements contribute to a comfortable app use.

Images:

The app includes images that help users calm down and find inner peace and promote emotional well-being. Natural landscapes and abstract visualizations of emotion help create a positive mood.

Animations:

Sophisticated video animations, such as flowing water, clouds, and animals help catch the users’ attention, add dynamism to the user experience, and create a sense of movement and progress on the user’s journey to better mental health.

Logo & branding

The app’s name and logo:

The name Solomiya, besides associations with shalom-peace, also implies a pioneering spirit. The logo includes an icon that looks gentle but confident, a stylized image of a lotus flower associated with enlightenment combined with outstretched arms symbolizing growth and resilience. Petrekivka-style flowers are immediately recognizable, adding Ukrainian flavor to the logo.

Brand voice:

The brand voice is compassionate, supportive, and encouraging. The language used in the app conveys understanding, hope, and reassurance.

Cultural sensitivity:

Targeting displaced Ukrainians means that the app may incorporate Ukrainian symbols or other references that resonate with them.

Connection and support:

The branding should emphasize a sense of community and cohesion.

Offline symbolism:

Incorporating symbols of strength and growth, such as trees, leaves, or lotus flowers, the design should convey a message of resilience, hope, and renewal.

Core technology stack we used

PHP,

Laravel,

Flutter

Designers’ instruments

Miro,

Figma,

Photoshop,

Illustrator

[ Results ]

The MVP is being prepared for publication.

The clients plan to add new features gradually, such as functionalities enabling users to customize their app experience through interface tweaks or to communicate, support each other, and share their success stories.

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