Facing It: Testing AI-empowered Mental Health Companion App

UX Research

Study Design

Key Goal

To evaluate how users interact with Facing It, a mobile app for managing social anxiety, and to identify usability issues, emotional responses, and opportunities for improving user engagement across core features.

Methodology

Sessions: 5 moderated user interviews (~30-45 mins each)

Approach: Open-ended think-aloud tasks (e.g., “What do you want to do next?”)

Prompting: Used only when a feature was not discovered organically

Evaluation: System Usability Scale (SUS) used post-session

Participant Snapshot

Age: 20–30

Gender: 3 women and 2 men

Mental Health Background: All participants live with social anxiety; ~50% have tried clinical therapies

Key Findings and Insights

What Users Loved

All participants shared excitement that there is a tool available to help them conquer social anxiety
Personalization during Onboarding – all participants reacted positively to the message that the app is being set up for the personalized experience
Science behind the app – all users appreciated the fact that the app is backed by real academic studies

“I’ve never seen anything like this for people like me.”
Participant 3

Daily Challenge

Not immediately visible despite its top-screen placement
Often referred as Calendar
The manual input of personal challenges was a significant pain point; users felt unsure how to begin
Users expected step-by-step guidance or examples
Some looked for emotional support language when setting emotional states like “Terrible”
The value-alignment question was perceived as confusing or overly abstract
Lack of clear visual distinction between completed vs. outstanding tasks

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to write. Am I doing it wrong?”
Participant 1

Exercises

Highly engaging; often the first feature users explored
Compared favorably to Calm and podcasts
Voice was calming, but robotic tone affected immersion
Many would use it during commuting or mental breaks

“I like this feature, would listen to it on the way to work”
Participant 5

Beginner Journey

Users encountered this section after exploring other features, creating confusion
Many dropped off due to a bug with the navigation arrow
Several suggested merging it with a tutorial or showing it earlier

“It actually doesn’t make sense…I’m seeing this part of the app after I tried out other features”
Participant 2

Eden (AI Companion)

Hesitation due to AI stigma and prior negative experiences
Those who interacted found it “OK,” but noted grammar errors and predictable replies
A few appreciated its presence but preferred contextual integration across the app

“It’s nice, but it feels like I’m talking to a bot. I’d rather have guidance in other places.”

Participant 4

System Usability Scale (SUS)

To evaluate user perceptions of a app usability, we used SUS. Score ≥ 85 falls in the top quartile making the app easy to use, according to participants. It’s worth noting the small sample size (N=5). SUS has demonstrated stable average score in several simulations, including the one conducted by Jeff Sauro, PhD.

SUS Scores and SUS Guide

Recommendations

Reorder Feature Flow
→ Beginner Journey → Exercises → Daily Challenge
Improve Daily Challenge Usability
- Add sample challenges and walkthrough steps
- Highlight emotional feedback (especially for negative moods)
- Use distinct colors for completed vs. pending actions
Enhance Eden (AI)
- Improve language model grammar and variability
- Embed Eden in key decision points across the app
Refine Onboarding + Tutorial
- Surface Beginner Journey early
- Introduce optional micro-tutorials at critical moments
Visual & Technical Fixes
- Fix known navigation bug
- Adjust color scheme to improve clarity for key elements

Next Steps

Collaborate with product and design to prototype new feature flows
Conduct A/B tests on reordered journeys and microcopy adjustments
Re-test with a new user group post-implementation