Shaardhool Madabhushi Shreenath

Final Project

My background

I wasn’t always a design student. I did my undergraduate degree in Journalism back in India. Before getting here, I had only experienced a life as a trainee journalist covering city events and politics. While I enjoyed it greatly, I also pursued graphic design as a hobby. My introduction and first impression of UX Design was created when I did a crash course by Google on the Fundamentals of UX Design.

I was instantly hooked! I loved conversing with family and friends and learnt about problems they faced using daily everyday digital applications and went about creating better and more usable designs. I was offered some freelance jobs based on my work and decided I wanted to continue my journey in the field of UX when I decided to apply for a master’s course at Loughborough University.

The Therapyst application (major project)

My project titled “Improving the well-being and work effectiveness of counsellors and psychotherapists” was an attempt to understand and identify design opportunities within the therapy space and produce a product/service which helps mental health practitioners perform their duties more effectively and efficiently while not compromising on their own well-being.

Therapyst is a mobile application that provides psychotherapists quick access to useful information and resources on therapy business development. Something that is not really covered in any undergraduate or master’s degree. The resources are compiled by the product team in collaboration with experts from the field, so it makes all information provided credible and reliable. The app also provides space for users to organize, manage and plan their short-term and long-term business goals. This would help users have more control over their business and feel relieved/confident when conducting work. Finally, this will be an exclusive space for therapists, creating a strong and more closely knit community of therapists all sharing the same passion for work and make the world a better place.

My identity & strengths

The field of UX is diverse and multi-disciplinary. It has helped me develop a plethora of skills including user centred research techniques, prototyping, interface design and user testing methods.

However, my biggest strengths as a designer is my ability to problem-solve and communicate well. Even with the major project, I enjoyed interacting with users and really connected with each of them. This led to me generating some very rich and detailed insights. Giving that space to really understand my user’s concerns during the various stages of the project, really shaped and added value to the final product.

My final design outcome directly tackles and addresses each and every concern mentioned by the users. And as a user-centred designer, that is my biggest achievement with this project.

Therapyst product demo

This is the product demo showcasing the various features of the Therapyst Mobile Application.