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“F.Y.I Help”

Creators: Clad, Elijah, Kristoffer, Samuel, Luis, and Rafael
High School Students from Mouse Design League (DIIT) @ Bronx Academy for Software Engineering
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About this Project:

This design challenge addresses the problem of people with mental illnesses and them not having someone to help them. We first came up with our idea because we thought about big issues such as veterans with PTSD which was the demographic at first that we wanted to help. Next, we wanted to make a wider statement and help more people so we changed it to helping teenagers with mental issues. However, we thought about what if we could help everyone so ended with the idea of helping anyone with mental health illnesses.


After finalizing our big idea, we started to build our prototypes and transform our app wireframes into our mockups. The way our whole project would work is by signing up and making an account and picking the option of if the user is looking for help or wants to help others. Then, the user picks what topic / illness they exactly feel that they need help with or can help others with and they will also be able to request people of their choosing to help. This creates the option of working with a professional or with someone who just has been through what they have been through and can empathize with their situation.


Professionals and helpful users will be monitored, evaluated, and rated in order to make sure they are legitimate, morally and ethically sound in order to participate on the app. There will be a verification option for age when the user creates an account user certain credentials like state ID, etc.

Project Media

Images

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Slides

More About this Project

The link takes you to the Figma mockup design of the F.Y.I Help prototype.

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Community Feedback:

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Fun
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Innovative
🌎 
Helpful
🌈 
Great Design
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Makes Me Think

Feedback from the Judges:

👏 Senior Engineer at Studio MDHR — Emoti-Con Judge
This is a wonderful idea, and I love that you went in the direction of building connections and trying to pick other people up. Isolation and loneliness make any problem you're having worse, and it can really profoundly change someone's day if you can just make them feel a little less alone. I think the really hard thing would be keeping the app free of trolls and mean-spirited people, when your users are by definition people who are feeling super-vulnerable. Your note about making sure people register with state ID etc is a really good one to that end. (There's a lot of research that people behave better when their real name is attached, for starters!) Maybe you could also offer some training for people who sign up to help--basic approaches to counseling, what to do and what not to do, when and how to hand off a problem to someone with more experience than you. But just the simple act of talking to someone sympathetic could make a huge difference for so many people. I really applaud you for what you've come up with here!

👏 Sr Manager of Curriculum at Girls Who Code — Emoti-Con Judge
I love this idea and think this project is especially relevant now given the larger mental health crisis brought on by covid. We need new ideas and ways of thinking about supporting folks with a range of mental health issues. I find the idea of choosing between a professional and an empathetic ear really compelling - supporting others can be a vital part of the healing process for a person as well. I'm impressed that you are thinking about the ethical and moral implications of your app from a practical perspective. These considerations are crucial to creating an ecosystem of safety and trust. You have made great progress on your prototype and did a wonderful job explaining your concept and process. I am so curious to know more about your ideas for the interface where people connect and hope you continue working on it!

👏 Virtual Teacher at Bronx Excellence Charter — Emoti-Con Judge
Team Bronx Academy for Software Engineering, I am impressed by how well you captured your challenge evolution from supporting veterans with PTSD to teenagers' mental health support. I really love the idea of having a monthly survey to help teens identify their mental health needs. Some teens may not yet, have the tools to identify their own mental health challenges as they arise. Great innovation with providing the options to "GET HELP" or "TO HELP" others in a variety of ways. The pandemic has shown us that making mental health more accessible, especially for youth is vital and your APP innovatively addresses this challenge.

👏 East Coast - Implementation - Custom Ecommerce at Dutchie — Emoti-Con Judge
What a fantastic idea, I totally agree with your point of view - mental health is as important as physical health! I like the wireframes a lot, and the ability to choose what the user needs assistance with.

I think you guys are in the right direction, one feedback I have is to provide self-help resources, such as video content to habit base articles to enforce your wireframe workflow. Overall, great job!

Feedback from the Community:

Osei 👏 a High School Student from Bronx Academy of Software Engineering
Your idea about helping people with mental issues or PTSD is a godsend. I like your idea on how to help others and show care and empathy.
Godson 👏 a High School Student from Bronx Academy for Software Engineering
This project was really helpful. It's not often you see a game that talks about mental issues.
Aissaiyah 👏 a High School Student from New York
I Really like the idea of helping people with mental health issues and how your able to find help for the exact problem that you have. Having an array of sources to help through your struggles and get better is something we definitely need more of.
Ransom 👏 a High School Student from Bronx
I'm so happy to see such a great project being developed. This is one of the apps i can look at and recommend to people who need.

Thank you for a record-breaking 14th anniversary event! Comments are officially closed until next year.