Project Overview

Cue heartbreak anniversary by Giveon, grab a box of tissues, and maybe even a tub of ice cream. Could you picture a time when you were here? I bet almost everyone who read that imagined a breakup with a former flame or partner, and you're right, although your go-to heartbreak song probably was different from mine. How did you heal yourself from those emotions? Did you long for a friend? Someone to understand what you're going through? Look no further; Neveah is here!

"Neveah" is a play on words and is heaven spelled backward. She is an emotionally designed virtual companion/smart mirror who guides you as you are going through a heartbreak.

Team: Alyssa Binda, Brendon Gabriel, Mohammed Hosen

Timeline: January - May 2021

My Role: UX Researcher, Product Designer

Deliverables: Explainer, User Interviews, Persona, Empathy map, competitive review, co-designs, Crazy 8’s, moodboard, prototype, Project Pitch, Final Presentation

Our Process

Breakups are Universal

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Heartbreak's Best Friend

We issued interviews to 6 people who have been ghosted to find out how people feel and react to getting ghosted. Interviews asked people to create a mood board with images of how they felt and match it to emotional word using Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions. We found that:

Feelings associated with Ghosting and heartbreak are annoyance, apprehension, anger, disgust, and grief.
people mostly rely on the support of their communities, be it, family and friends, to get them through a breakup
Venting is a therapeutic coping mechanism that helps people feel comforted during their heartbreak.
Music helps one's mood during a breakup.
Rebounding or attempting to move on with someone else sometimes occurs to help cope with a breakup.
However, some people think it is "silly" or "stupid" to burden their close families and friends with venting.

How do

we handle breakups?

User Interviews

We Get by With a Little Help From Our Friends

Learning Outcomes & Next Steps

Healing from heartbreak is not an easy thing to do. I can attest to that! However, at Neveah we believe that to be vulnerable is to be courageous. Vulnerability also inspires healing which is our ultimate goal.

While this project taught us a lot about heartbreak and healing, I believe that moving forward it would be cool to create a prototype with a full app experience and refine our designs. Nonetheless I had fun creating Neveah with my teammates.

Breakups are a universal part of life, yet the emotions that we get from breaking up with someone (no matter the length of the relationship) are indeed painful. Studies say that the loss of a romantic relationship or heartbreak bears the feelings and resemblance to physical pain. Anyone who has ever been through a breakup can attest to this. It's not just a scientific fact; it's the truth. And if you're a number person, this one's for your statistical heart:

Google results for the term "breakup" yield 251 million results.
Google Trends data shows that the relevance and popularity of the topic "breakup" is high as its popularity score is over 50%

In 2018, surveys completed by 100 thousand users, by Elite Singles, Psychology Today, Vice, Mashable, etc. showed that:

70% of unmarried couples break up within the first year
72% said they had been ghosted by a partner
65% admitted to ghosting someone themselves.
58% of singles admitted to being in a messy breakup

Research

"Situationships"

& horrible millennial dating trends can inflict heartbreak

No matter the length or duration of a relationship, people still report feeling a sense of loss, confusion, and/or heartbreak. Watch my explainer video that surveyed my Instagram followers on the infamous millennial dating trend, Ghosting!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the music within the video.

Read Other's Stories

Once a user vents to Neveah and their emotion is detected, Neveah pairs it with other users who feel a similar way. These user's cloud badge will be highlight on the map where Nathan can click and read their experience.

User stories are anonymous to retain their privacy. However, this community feature is meant to show our user's that there are other's who feel the same way.

Empathy Map

Given our results from the moodboard activities and user interviews, we created an empathy map which allowed us to understand all the emotions an individual may experience when going through a relationship loss. With these thoughts, feelings, and actions we were fully able to empathize with our primary users and create ideas to help them cope with their emotions.

Persona

Nathan is a 28 year old social media influencer who streams playing video games online. Due to his career, Nathan is used to interacting with new people online. During the pandemic, Nathan was feeling lonely and downloaded Tinder in hopes of finding love.

On Tinder Nathan met a girl who he really liked. They had been texting for weeks until one day she stopped picking up his calls, and left him on read. He knew he had just gotten ghosted and wondered what he had done wrong?

Nathan feels confused, angry, and sad upon being ghosted. Although the relationship did not last long, he can't seem to understand his pain. He wonders if anyone else feels the same way, but is too embarrassed to tell his friends he is hurt that he got ghosted.

NEVEAH is designed to be comforting, empathetic, & Reflective

Neveah is the first heartbreak and wellness app that combines AI technology to determine one's emotions and offer consolation through voice and text recognition. We believe that healing begins through introspection, or by examining, or observing one’s own mental and emotional processes.

Learn how to use Neveah below

1st Smart Mirror designed for healing from Heartbreak

Inspiration from Competitors

Break Up Boss

App designed to help people get over a breakup
a mobile best friend
30 Day guide with self help techniques

RX Break-Up

App designed to help people get over a breakup
a mobile best friend
30 Day guide with self help techniques

Calm

Guided meditations, sleep stories, breathing programs, stretching exercises, and relaxing music

Headspace

Tracks your progress and time spent meditating
Buddy up and add friends to meditate with you

Crazy 8's

Begin Healing With NEVEAH

Pair Neveah with App to onboard

To begin pair Neveah with your smart phone. The Neveah app can be used to view user stories, write messages to yourself, and receive app alerts.

Facial Recognition to unlock Neveah

Neveah uses facial recognition to unlock to help keep your data and healing journey private.

Personalized Greeting

Once your face is recognized, Neveah greets you by your name. It feels like a close friendship!

Home Screen

The home screen provides users with a positive affirmation to encourage them to continue their healing journey. Additional home features include:

weekly progress tracker
User stories from the Neveah community
voice control for venting to Neveah
Spotify to listen to music while using your mirror

Face and Voice detection

Neveah uses face and voice detection to pick up on an individual's emotional responses as they are venting. Emotional words are detected and color-coordinated to match Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion. The emotions and their corresponding colors are as follows:

Red = Anger
Yellow = Joy
Purple = Disgust
Blue = Grief or Sadness
Green = Acceptance
Orange = Anticipation

Every recording is then stored for when a user wants to go back and view their growth

Show Support with Cloud Badges

To foster a community of support and healing, we created interactive cloud badges that users can share. Cloud badges can be customized and sent to someone whose story you read and wish to offer encouragement.