Jiminy Pocket Care

Duration
~1 year

Platform
Mobile (iOS/Android)

Role
Strategy Lead, Prototype Lead, UX/UI Designer, Visual Design Contributor

Client
Personal initiative — co-created by three women of color

Goal
Build a mobile app to deliver actionable food safety insights from USDA and FDA data to food production and allied companies.

The Process

Context

Jiminy began in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when 5.4 million Americans lost health insurance due to job layoffs. The mental health toll was immense, especially for marginalized communities. I co-created this app with two fellow women of color who, like me, have struggled to find spaces where mental health conversations feel safe, accessible, and culturally aware.

We asked:

What can we build for people who are suffering mentally but can’t afford therapy, or don’t trust the systems that offer it?

Lens

We interviewed seven users, ages 26–30, who had experienced new or worsening mental health challenges during the pandemic. We approached the research process with deliberate care and ethical sensitivity, crafting a research and interview guide that centered empathy, cultural awareness, and trauma-informed inquiry.

Key Insights from Affinity Mapping:

  • Therapy isn’t always accessible — due to cost, representation gaps, or complex search processes

  • Pandemic-induced stress was overwhelming, especially for those new to mental health struggles

  • Users craved social connection, but didn’t know how to reach out or set emotional boundaries

  • Social media was a double-edged sword — offering comfort but often intensifying negativity

Personas

Norah (26, Brand Manager)

“Nobody wanted to hear my stories… I felt insignificant.”

  • Believes therapy is important but inaccessible

  • Wants connection but feels alone

  • Craves culturally competent support

Marc (30, Programmer)

“My goal is to rely on myself. I don’t feel therapy is necessary.”

  • Overwhelmed by isolation and negativity

  • Unfamiliar with mental health language or tools

  • Interested in self-regulation over professional help

Pivot

Our original goal was to make therapy more accessible — but our research told us that users didn’t want therapy. They wanted connection, understanding, and tools to help themselves.

So we reframed the problem:

How might we help users like Norah and Marc process emotional experiences in a space that balances independence with connection — without overwhelming them?

Explore

Competitor Analysis

We studied mental health apps like Therapeer, Moodpath, Calm, and Headspace. Most fell into one of two categories:

  • Solo-focused (meditations, journaling, mood tracking)

  • Social-focused (peer support or forums)

We saw a gap: no app allowed users to choose between self-guided and collaborative support, or to do both safely.

MVP Feature Prioritization

We used prioritization matrices to define a feature set that supported both independence and safe connection:

  • Daily Mood Check-In

  • Reflective Journaling

  • AI-Moderated Guided Discussions with Trusted Contacts

  • Personalized Dashboard

  • Insights & Saved Resources

  • Accessibility-First Design

We designed user flows for solo check-ins and guided discussions to visualize what the experience would feel like across multiple mental states.

Align

Usability Testing: Round One

We conducted usability testing with 6 participants in our target demographic.

Findings:

  • Users felt confused by the moderator prompts

  • Some wanted more time to talk with their friend without AI interruptions

  • Lack of clarity in interaction design led to cognitive overload

We realized that even our UI needed to be emotionally supportive — not just functional.

Iterations

  • Clarified moderator prompts and added onboarding guidance

  • Extended space for organic conversation before AI re-engagement

  • Switched mood logging to a spectrum toggle for flexibility

  • Made friend check-in visibility more obvious based on user feedback

A/B testing of iconography for starting conversations increased discoverability by 28%.

Refine

Final Features in MVP:

  • Personalized home dashboard

  • Mood check-ins with emotion tracking

  • Reflective journaling with optional prompts

  • AI-guided discussions with trusted contacts

  • Insight archive for saved resources

  • Meditation and education modules paired with user mood

  • Friend feedback visibility for mutual emotional awareness

Visual Design Principles:

As the visual design lead, I focused on:

  • Accessibility: calming color palette, reduced contrast strain, autism-sensitive spacing

  • Familiarity: intuitive UI with familiar patterns to avoid cognitive overload

  • Transparency: clear privacy policies and expectations

  • Comfort: “Jiminy” evokes the gentle, dependable presence of Jiminy Cricket — a guide, not a therapist

The logo includes antennae-like “i” dots that symbolize lightbulbs turning on — a nod to small moments of emotional clarity.

Constraints

Technical:

  • AI language processing and tone recognition

  • Safe, real-time moderation of emotionally charged conversations

  • Data privacy compliance for sensitive user logs

Ethical:

  • Consent and opt-in design for every step involving emotional disclosure

  • Avoiding harm or emotional overload, even unintentionally

Monetary:

  • Pre-revenue phase: no monetization until ethical safeguards are ensured

  • Commitment to not exploiting user data like other mental health apps have been caught doing

Reflections

This was one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on — not just because of the emotional subject matter, but because it forced me to slow down and design ethically, even under pressure.

We didn’t just want to create another feel-good app. We wanted to build something real — something that would feel safe, supportive, and non-performative to people like us.

Jiminy showed me that great UX isn’t just about features or flows — it’s about creating structures for people to feel seen and supported.

Next Steps

  • Expand moderator AI capabilities with NLP experts

  • Develop a trauma-informed content library with licensed professionals

  • Secure ethical partnerships or funding with organizations prioritizing community mental health