Jiminy Pocket Care
Duration
~1 year
Project Type
Native Mobile Application (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 alleviate the mental health toll due to the COVID pandemic.
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.
According to the CDC, Americans reported significant increase in anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women, minorities, people with preexisting health conditions, and adults under 34 all reported higher rates of fear and anxiety.
Over 178,000 people reported frequent suicidal ideation when COVID-19 first started rapidly spreading in March 2020. September 2020, 37% of people reported having thoughts of suicide more than half or nearly every day.
Initial Problem Statement
The problem we suspected is: people have a lack of accessibility to mental health resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We asked ourselves, how might we provide necessary resources to those in need; particularly young people-of-color or in marginalized groups?
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 felt traditional therapy is unhelpful unnecessary, and more stressful than relieving. They didn’t want access to therapy.
They wanted connection, understanding, and tools to help themselves manage their own mental health along with supported social activity.
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
With the goal of helping users learn about and manage their mental health and some initial features in mind, we created user flows to visualize the process of how users will check in on themselves and with a friend 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:
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
To address each of these constraints moving forward, we might:
Expand moderator AI capabilities with NLP experts, potentially seek HIPA approval
Develop a trauma-informed content library with licensed professionals
Secure ethical partnerships or funding with organizations prioritizing community mental health
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.