Industry
Mental Care
Duration
AUG-NOV 2023
Participation
UX, GUI, Concept (2 People)
Status
Case Study
An Immersive Emotional Journaling App Through Tea Time With an AI Chatbot
Take a moment to understand yourself over a cup of tea.
This project presents an emotional journaling app that pairs tea time with AI-guided conversations. Tea promotes relaxation and focus, while the AI chatbot encourages self-reflection with empathetic support. The app enhances emotional well-being through personalized journaling modes, habit-building missions, and emotion data visualization.
Background
"Feeling down, but afraid of counseling or psychiatric treatment..." How can we help such individuals take care of their mental health on their own?
Action
Interviews on effective mental care methods, User diaries to identify pain points in the emotional journaling process, Psychological research for solution development, and ideation.
Result
Developed a mental care service for journaling emotions while drinking tea. Implemented an AI system to assist with and categorize entries, and designed a personalized notification system.
Jump to Prototype
Mission Reminders
Get gentle notifications to keep you consistent.
Emotion Journaling
Record your emotions through guided AI conversations.
Rewards
Customize your tea time with reward items.
Emotion History
Track the cumulative ratio of your emotions over time.
Emotion Archive
Events are categorized based on the emotions they evoke.
Background
In Korea, 1 million people suffer from depression, and we are now in an era of self-mental care.
As mental health concerns rise, many avoid professional help due to stigma and insurance worries, preferring self-care. In response, self-mental care apps offering journaling and meditation are gaining popularity, with emotion tracking as a key feature for long-term stress relief.
Statistics
The number of people experiencing mental health issues is increasing, but many are reluctant to seek professional medical services and prefer to handle it on their own. People fear social stigma or discrimination in insurance about experiencing mental health issues. [Source] 2024 National Mental Health Knowledge and Attitude Survey Report
Market Research
These apps reflect the rising demand for accessible self-care tools, catering to individuals who prefer managing their mental wellness independently. They’re popular for helping users track emotional patterns and providing actionable insights to reduce stress and improve overall mental health.
Interview
The core of self-mental care is to build a long-term emotional outlet.
The core of self-mental care was identified as "establishing a long-term means of emotional expression," leading to a service direction focused on emotional journaling.
Interview Goal:
To explore the various methods people attempted to alleviate depression
Identify which methods were considered most effective and why.
Determine reasons for any methods that were not effective or not continued.
Participants
Thinking that varying levels of low mood might impact how routines are followed, we conducted interviews with four adults, each experiencing different levels of low mood and stress in their daily lives.
Mild Depression
23, university student
Coping Strategies: Eating, going out, showering, sleeping, emotional journaling, MOODA (app)
Irregular Depression
29, office worker
Coping Strategies: Crying while watching movies, journaling, counseling, Mind Cafe (app), drinking tea
Severe Depression
37, freelancer
Coping Strategies: Eating, showering, cleaning, walking, watching lectures, emotional journaling, drinking tea before bed
Chronic Depression
26, job seeker
Coping Strategies: Journaling, counseling, reading sad novels, HaruKong (app), writing on social media, walking
Findings From Interview
#1 A Long-Term Need for Emotional Outlets
Having a reliable emotional outlet is essential for mental well-being. All interviewees expressed a clear need for emotional expression, often attempting to organize their feelings through activities like emotional journaling. One participant even described releasing emotions by watching a movie and crying. However, many struggled to share their emotions with friends or anonymous communities—not due to a lack of necessity, but because of concerns such as "not wanting to show weakness" or "fearing a lack of empathy."
Despite recognizing the importance of emotional outlets, most interviewees failed to establish consistent mental care routines. Three out of four only addressed their mental health reactively, during episodes of sudden depression. While these short-term methods provided temporary relief, they did little to prevent long-term emotional struggles. Depression, which resembles a chronic condition rather than a one-time issue, requires sustainable and consistent approaches to achieve lasting improvement.
#2 Warm Beverage for Emotional Comfort
Interviewees often mentioned that changing their physical state helped improve their emotional state. Activities like eating, walking, showering, or drinking tea were common ways to relieve depression. However, activities like walking or exercise need energy and willpower, making them hard to maintain.
Drinking a warm beverage, like tea, was different. It’s simple, low-effort, and works quickly. Many interviewees said it helped them calm down right away, making it a go-to method for emotional relief. This shows how powerful and accessible warm beverages can be for mental well-being.
#3 Benefit of Conversations in Counseling for Self-Understanding
Two out of four participants had tried professional counseling and found it very helpful. They valued having someone to listen, offer empathy, and correct faulty thinking patterns. Simply having a conversation in a supportive and comfortable environment helped them explore their emotions and identify unmet needs.
However, all four participants expressed reluctance to use professional mental health services for reasons such as reluctance to admit mental distress, fear of telling parents about depression, fear of visiting a hospital, or uncertainty about the necessity of professional help.
Based on these insights, we decided to create an Emotional Journaling Service enhanced with supportive elements to encourage consistency.
Emotional journaling is the simplest and most effective method for an emotional outlet that can be done alone. However, many struggle to maintain it consistently due to a lack of motivation or structure.
Warm beverages provide immediate comfort, and the empathy and reflection found in counseling conversations inspire a more approachable and meaningful self-understanding. These solutions have the potential to encourage consistency in journaling practices.
User Diary Study
We studied user diaries to identify factors hindering consistency in emotional journaling.
We conducted a 7-day user diary study to better understand the pain points that arise when people keep an "emotional journal." We provided participants with a template. To create a more natural approach, instead of forcing participants to record every day, we asked them to write in their journal only on the days they felt willing to do so.
User Diary Study: Overview
Purpose
#1 To identify the wow points and pain points throughout the emotional journaling process
#2 To explore whether the physical stimulus of drinking tea has a positive effect during the emotional journaling process. (based on the previous insight that physical stimuli can trigger mood changes)
Participants
Five participants took part in the study: two who experience regular daily stress and three who experience feelings of sadness more frequently. We provided participants with a template.
Templates
(Page 1) Please record the time, environment, daily activities, and emotions felt throughout the day.
(Page 2) Please write about the positive or uncomfortable aspects of the recording process, and compare how they felt before and after recording.
Accompanied by Drinking Tea
Please journal while drinking tea on the days you choose. Note any changes in your physical state or mood compared to the days you didn't drink tea.
Pain Points During Journaling Process
Before Recording
Lack of Motivation
Please journal while drinking tea on the days you choose. Note any changes in your physical state or mood compared to the days you didn't drink tea.
While Recording
Difficulty in Writing and Staying Immersed
Please journal while drinking tea on the days you choose. Note any changes in your physical state or mood compared to the days you didn't drink tea.
After Recording
Failure To Feel The Effect
Please journal while drinking tea on the days you choose. Note any changes in your physical state or mood compared to the days you didn't drink tea.
Effects of accompanying Tea
Does a warm beverage enhance the journaling process?
Physical Relaxation: Reported reduced tension and a sense of calm; some mentioned relief from headaches or palpitations.
Increased Focus: The ritual creates temporal and behavioral boundaries, minimizing distractions and boosting immersion in journaling.
Psychological Research
Developed solutions for emotional journaling pain points through phychological research.
While psychological theories may not provide direct user data, they are based on scientific data gathered from large groups of people, making them highly relevant for researching an app service aimed at forming a "mental care routine."
Lack of Motivation
Building Habits Requires a Cue-Action-Reward Loop
Habits are formed through a loop of clear cues, actionable steps, and satisfying rewards, as supported by behavioral psychology.
Setting small, achievable goals provides immediate accomplishment, boosting motivation to continue the habit.
Immediate and appropriate rewards reinforce the behavior, increasing the likelihood of repetition and habit formation.
Solution 1:
Missions and rewards to support habit formation.
Difficulty in Writing and Staying Immersed
Warm Beverages Foster Psychological Comfort and Immersion
Warm beverages have been shown to evoke feelings of safety and relaxation, triggering a calming effect on the nervous system. This creates a more open and comfortable environment for self-reflection and emotional expression.
Familiar and soothing rituals, like drinking tea, reduce psychological resistance to new behaviors, making it easier to establish and maintain habits.
Solution 2-1:
Combine journaling with "tea time."
Counseling Encourages Emotional Expression Through Listening and Questions
Reflective listening helps clients feel heard and understood by mirroring their thoughts and emotions, fostering empathy and trust.
Open-ended questions encourage detailed storytelling, guiding individuals to uncover and articulate deeper emotions beyond surface-level events.
Solution 2-2:
Conversational journaling led by an AI chatbot
Failure To Feel The Effect
Objective Understanding of Emotions is Effective for Emotional Regulation
Developing self-awareness, the ability to observe one's emotions, thoughts, and their effects objectively, has been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression.
The labeling effect suggests that putting emotions into concrete words creates psychological distance, reducing the intensity of emotional reactions and enhancing emotional regulation.
Visualizing emotions and categorizing them can make abstract feelings more tangible, aiding in better understanding and control over one's emotional state.
Solution 3:
Missions and rewards to support habit formation.
Target Persona
Target: individuals managing depression alone without professional support
To refine our target, we defined two primary user personas based on types of daily lifestyle patterns. Type A represents office workers who live a structured life but require more relaxation. For this group, solutions that enable efficient emotional processing and relaxation could be beneficial. Type B includes freelance remote workers who struggle with maintaining routines and focus. For them, solutions that encourage self-efficacy through small, achievable goals and support consistent routines could be highly effective. We partially referenced the characteristics of the two individuals who participated in the previous interview.
Service Concept
Take a moment to understand yourself over a cup of tea.
This service combines emotional journaling with the comforting ritual of tea time, guided by an empathetic AI chatbot. It aims to support emotional exploration and self-awareness through:
Tea as a Tool for Relaxation: Incorporates the calming effects of drinking tea to reduce tension and improve focus during journaling.
AI Guidance: The chatbot listens, asks thoughtful questions, and summarizes emotions while minimizing judgment or assumptions.
Habit Formation: Encourages consistent journaling through missions, rewards, and emotion data visualization to track progress and reduce negative emotions.
Key Features
#1
Mission & Rewards
Missions and notifications are personalized to fit user needs.
Personalizing Options
Primary Purpose of Journaling
Preferred Frequency of Journaling
Preferred Time for Journaling
Complete missions or level up to earn rewards.
Use rewards to upgrade your Tea Time screen.
#2
Tea Time with an AI Chatbot
The Chasoom chatbot listens, asks questions, and guides conversations.
Warm-Up
Place your tea, sit comfortably, and slowly sip while reflecting on the emotions of your day.
Emotion Journaling
Record a significant emotion or event. The chatbot provides summaries or thoughtful questions to guide you.
Wrap-Up
A summary of your emotions for the day, a tea recommendation for next time, and a motivational message to end the session.
Pop-Up Tips
Provides helpful prompts based on user behavior.
After 5 seconds of inactivity
"Move to the next topic."
After a set duration
"Wrap up the journaling."
When detecting a challenging situation
"Share your thoughts."
Counseling-Inspired Journaling
Focused on journaling rather than formal counseling, it incorporates key counseling principles to encourage comfortable emotional exploration.
Chatbot Role
Active Listening
Emotion Exploration
Empathy Expression
Chatbot Rules
No Criticism
No Assumptions
No Unsolicited Advice
#3
Emotion Data Visualization and Categorization
AI-Powered Emotion Analysis
Emotion Intensity Scores
AI rates emotions on a scale of 1 to 10 and visualizes emotional trends over time.
Event Categorization
Classifies events into four emotion types based on arousal and positivity.
Identifying emotional triggers helps reduce negative emotions over time.
Usability Testing
Based on usability testing, we introduced a "Quick Journaling" mode to make recording emotions easier in various situations.
Participants preferred different journaling methods based on their test-day emotional state. Those in intense states valued empathetic prompts, while others favored a simpler quick journaling option, leading to the addition of a “Quick Journaling” mode.
Usability Testing: Overview
Purpose
Evaluate user experience and screen design intuitiveness.
Participants
Four individuals who felt the need for emotional support in the past six months but did not seek professional services.
Process
Tasks: Screen customization > Emotion journaling > Reviewing entries.
Follow-Up Interviews: Likert scale for UI intuitiveness and open-ended feedback on overall experience.
Wizard of Oz Testing
Used wireless earbuds and two devices for realistic interactions.
Simulated AI responses by triggering audio input/output in real-time.
ChatGPT-Based Prototype
Trained ChatGPT to build an AI chatbot prototype.
Achieved over 90% alignment with planned chatbot roles after multiple pilot tests.
Key Insight: The need for journaling methods varied by emotional state.
Participants all shared a general need for emotional relief in their daily lives. However, they naturally fell into two distinct groups based on their emotional states on the test day.
Group A: High Need for Emotional Relief
Experienced negative emotions or emotional turmoil. Valued the “emotional impact” of empathetic listening and conversations.
“I realized my unclear emotions and felt more at ease.”
“Talking to Chasoom felt comforting, like chatting with a friend.”
→ Existing features focused on emotional stability and organization were effective.
Group B: Low Need for Emotional Relief
Had light or no emotional turmoil. Appreciated the simplicity of answering chatbot prompts.
“I had no emotional questions, so constant prompts felt unnecessary.”“It’s ideal for quick, voice-based journaling before bed.”
→ Highlighted the need for a simpler journaling option.
Solution: Added a “Quick Journaling” option without tea.
In this mode, the chatbot minimizes additional prompts or empathetic responses, focusing instead on listening and summarizing key events and emotions.
Design System
The UI and graphic design system reflect the warmth and comfort of tea time, creating a calming user experience.
Logo & Colors
3D Assets
Font
English | Quicksand
Korean | IBM Plex Sans KR
UI Components
