Breaking into the Mental Health Industry as a Designer

Working in the mental health industry is super rewarding because you get to create tools that genuinely help people—whether it’s supporting someone through therapy, making resources more accessible, or reducing the stigma around mental health.

At the same time, it can be a bit challenging. Mental health is a sensitive area, so it takes a lot of empathy and thoughtfulness to design solutions that feel safe, supportive, and approachable for users. There's also a ton of rules and privacy standards, like HIPAA, to keep in mind throughout the process.

That being said, if you’re passionate about helping others and willing to take on the complexity, it’s a fulfilling industry to be part of. With mental health awareness growing, there’s a real demand for designers who care and can create thoughtful, impactful products. Here are my tips to help you make a successful entry:

Research the Industry

Start by getting to know the mental health space—there’s so much happening, and it’s exciting to see how different solutions are helping people in meaningful ways. Start by taking a look at major players to get a sense of the leading solutions and their unique approaches to mental health. Study what makes them successful, the types of users they target, and the problems they solve. For example, some platforms focus on connecting users with licensed therapists, while others prioritize self-help tools like meditation, mindfulness exercises, or mood tracking. These might include:

• Therapy platforms: Apps that connect users with therapists for virtual sessions, like BetterHelp, Talkspace, or Grow Therapy.

• Mindfulness and wellness apps: Tools like Calm and Headspace that offer meditation, breathing exercises, and stress management techniques.

• Clinical management tools: Platforms like Alma and Headway, which help therapists and clinics manage their practices through scheduling, billing, and patient communication.

• Self-help resources: Apps that provide guided journaling, CBT exercises, or mood tracking, such as Clarity or DailyBean.

Know the Regulations

When designing for mental health, understanding data privacy rules is super important—it’s all about keeping users’ sensitive information safe and building their trust. A good place to start is with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). It’s a set of rules that protect patient health data, and it impacts how you design things like login systems, messaging, and even how data is stored. For example, if your app lets people message therapists or schedule sessions, you’ll need to ensure everything is secure and private.

Depending on where your product will be used, you might also run into other regulations:

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): This applies in Europe and gives users a lot of control over their data—like the right to access or delete it.

• CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act): Similar to GDPR but specific to California, it focuses on transparency and user control over personal data.

• FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act): If you’re working on anything related to students and mental health, this one governs how their records are handled.

  
  

When designing, you’ll need to think about how these regulations shape your product. For instance:

• Privacy by design: Build features with privacy in mind from the start, such as anonymizing data and using secure authentication methods like two-factor authentication.

• User control: Allow users to easily access, update, or delete their personal data in compliance with GDPR and similar laws.

• Clear communication: Use plain language to explain what data you’re collecting, why, and how it will be used. Users should feel informed and safe using your product.

  
  

Focus on User-Centered Design

Designing for mental health means putting the user’s well-being at the heart of everything you create. Many people who use these products are in a vulnerable place, so your design needs to feel safe, supportive, and approachable. This is where empathy-driven design comes in—it’s about understanding their experiences, challenges, and emotional needs, then creating solutions that truly help.

Start by prioritizing user comfort. This means crafting an interface that feels calming and easy to navigate. Avoid overwhelming users with too much information or complex features, and instead guide them with gentle cues and clear, intuitive pathways. For example, use soothing colors, simple language, and reassuring microcopy to make the experience feel less intimidating.

Accessibility should also be a top priority. People come to mental health tools from all walks of life, with varying abilities and needs. Ensure your product is inclusive by offering options like:

• Text-to-speech or voice navigation for users with visual impairments.

• Flexible font sizes and contrast settings to help those with visual or cognitive challenges.

• Clear, simple layouts that reduce cognitive load for users who may be overwhelmed or anxious.

Finally, privacy is non-negotiable in mental health design. People need to feel confident that their personal information and interactions are secure. Build trust by being transparent about how data is collected and used, offering robust security features like encrypted messaging, and allowing users to control their data. For instance, make it easy for them to delete messages, adjust privacy settings, or understand exactly who has access to their information.

When designing, ask yourself: How would I want to feel if I were in this situation? Would the product make me feel cared for and empowered, or would it add to my stress? By keeping the user’s comfort, accessibility, and privacy front and center, you can create mental health products that truly support and uplift the people who need them most.

Mental Health Awareness

If you want to design meaningful mental health products, it’s super important to understand the challenges your users might be going through. Take some time to learn about common conditions like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. This knowledge can help you create features that feel supportive and really resonate with people’s emotional states. Start by learning the basics of these conditions:

• Anxiety: Anxiety often involves feelings of excessive worry, restlessness, or difficulty concentrating. Designing for this might mean avoiding overwhelming interfaces, using calming visuals, and ensuring features are easy to access without requiring too many steps.

• Depression: People experiencing depression may feel low energy, reduced motivation, or difficulty focusing. Your design can help by being straightforward, encouraging small steps (like daily check-ins), and using supportive, uplifting language.

• PTSD: PTSD can involve triggers, flashbacks, or hyper-awareness. A trauma-informed approach might include giving users control, like the ability to opt out of certain features or personalize their experience to feel safe.

• Bipolar Disorder: Bipolar I and Bipolar II disorder involves cycles of emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). Designing for this might mean offering features that help users track their mood over time, providing tools for self-regulation, and avoiding overwhelming or overly stimulating interfaces during manic phases.

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): People with OCD may experience intrusive thoughts and compulsions to perform certain actions to relieve anxiety. To support them, consider creating a user experience that feels predictable and structured, with tools for managing routines or practicing mindfulness to reduce stress.

• Eating Disorders: Conditions like anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder can involve complex relationships with food, body image, and control. Your designs could include gentle encouragement for healthy behaviors, a focus on self-compassion, and avoiding imagery or language that might trigger negative feelings.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): While not a mental health condition per se, many autistic individuals use mental health tools. Designs should prioritize clarity, consistency, and reduced sensory overload, while also allowing users to customize their experience to suit their needs.

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): ADHD can involve difficulty with focus, organization, and impulsivity. Design with features like reminders, task breakdowns, and simple, distraction-free layouts to help users stay on track.

• Social Anxiety: This involves intense fear or discomfort in social situations. For users with social anxiety, designs should feel non-judgmental and supportive, with features like guided breathing exercises or encouragement for small, manageable steps toward connecting with others.

• Panic Disorder: People with panic disorder experience sudden and intense panic attacks. Your designs could include quick-access calming tools like guided breathing, soothing visuals, or grounding exercises to help users regain control during an attack.

It’s not just about understanding specific conditions, though. Broaden your perspective by learning about emotional challenges like loneliness, burnout, or low self-esteem, which lots of people face. Think about how your design can offer support without judgment—maybe by using gentle, empathetic language or encouraging users to take small, manageable steps.

Explore Therapy Methods

There’s a real benefit to exploring a variety of therapy methods, from mindfulness to Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Each approach offers unique tools and techniques that can inspire your designs and make them more effective for a diverse range of users. Whether it’s helping someone regulate intense emotions, challenge negative thoughts, or practice mindfulness, understanding these methods allows you to create features that truly support users in meaningful ways. By integrating these principles into your designs, you’re not just building a product—you’re offering a tool that can genuinely improve mental health outcomes.

Mindfulness-Based Practices: Mindfulness focuses on being present and cultivating awareness without judgment. It’s effective for reducing stress and managing anxiety. In your designs, you could include:

• Guided meditations with calming visuals and audio.

• Breathing exercises that adjust pacing based on user input, like tapping or holding a button.

• Daily check-ins that prompt users to reflect on their feelings or list moments of gratitude.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on identifying and reframing negative thought patterns. Features inspired by CBT might include:

• Thought-tracking tools to log worries or negative beliefs, paired with tips to challenge them.

• Interactive exercises that walk users through common cognitive distortions like “catastrophizing” or “overgeneralization.”

• Habit-building tools that help users set small, achievable goals and celebrate progress.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT is particularly useful for managing intense emotions and is often applied in cases like borderline personality disorder or PTSD. It emphasizes skills like distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Design ideas:

• Crisis management tools, such as quick-access calming techniques like grounding exercises.

• Emotion regulation charts that help users track and manage their emotional states.

• Role-playing scenarios to practice effective communication skills in social interactions.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT helps users focus on their values while accepting difficult emotions rather than fighting them. It’s great for building resilience. Incorporate it into your designs with:

• Value exploration tools that guide users to identify and reflect on what matters most to them.

• Acceptance prompts, like encouraging users to sit with discomfort through journaling or guided reflections.

• Behavior alignment trackers to show how their daily actions align with their values.

Build a Portfolio with Mental Health Projects

Creating a portfolio that highlights your ability to design for mental health is a great way to showcase your passion, creativity, and understanding of this field. Here are some example side-project prompts to help you get started:

Mindfulness and Stress Management

• Daily check-in app: Design an app where users can log their mood, thoughts, and energy levels, with tailored mindfulness or grounding exercises based on their responses.

• Guided breathing tool: Create an interactive breathing exercise with customizable options for pacing, visuals, and sounds.

• Calm zone widget: Design a quick-access feature (like a mobile widget) that provides soothing visuals, sounds, or short exercises to reduce stress.

Therapy Access and Management

• Therapist finder tool: Prototype an app that helps users find a therapist based on their needs, including filters like specialties, insurance, or session types (in-person vs. virtual).

• Session prep guide: Build a tool that helps users prepare for therapy sessions with guided journaling prompts or questions to reflect on beforehand.

• Progress tracker: Create a feature that helps users track goals, milestones, and insights from therapy sessions.

Support and Community

• Peer support platform: Design a safe, anonymous space for users to connect with peers experiencing similar mental health challenges. Include moderation and privacy controls.

• Support network builder: Prototype an app that helps users identify and engage their personal support system, with tools like scheduling check-ins or sharing updates.

Education and Awareness

• Mental health resource hub: Design a website or app that provides accessible, bite-sized information about common mental health conditions and coping strategies.

• Interactive psychoeducation modules: Create engaging, gamified lessons that teach users about therapy techniques like CBT or DBT.

• Stigma reduction campaign: Prototype a campaign or digital tool that encourages open conversations about mental health in schools or workplaces.

Self-Care and Resilience

• Personalized self-care planner: Build a digital planner that recommends activities based on users’ moods, energy levels, and interests.

• Sleep support app: Design an app with guided sleep meditations, white noise generators, or a bedtime journaling feature.

• Mood-lifting challenge: Create a gamified experience where users complete small, achievable tasks designed to improve their mood (e.g., writing a gratitude list or taking a 5-minute walk).

Crisis Management

• Emergency support tool: Prototype a feature for quick access to crisis resources (e.g., hotlines, grounding exercises) tailored to different levels of urgency.

• Trigger tracker: Design a tool that helps users identify and manage emotional triggers with strategies for coping or avoidance.

• Calming escape: Build a VR or AR experience that transports users to a soothing environment when they’re feeling overwhelmed.

For Specific Conditions

• ADHD task manager: Design a task management app tailored for users with ADHD, featuring visual reminders, focus timers, and a low-clutter interface.

• Anxiety de-escalation tool: Create a chatbot or interactive tool that helps users calm down during moments of intense anxiety with grounding exercises or affirmations.

• Trauma-informed journal: Prototype a journaling app designed for users with PTSD, offering safe, guided prompts and tools for tracking progress in therapy.

If you’re looking for collaborative opportunities, contribute to mental health-focused non-profits, open-source projects, or hackathons. These initiatives often need design support and provide a chance to work on impactful projects while connecting with like-minded professionals.