An interventional, adaptive mirror designed to help people work through eating disorder recovery.
TIMEFRAME
Sept 2021 - May 2022
MY ROLE
UX Researcher
Interaction Designer
TOOLS
Figma
Rhino
Keyshot
After Effects
PROBLEM
Body image issues are an incredibly complex problem that millions of people struggle with. They can manifest in either obsessing over body image (known as body checking) or avoiding one’s reflection completely.
However, current outpatient treatment methods, such as CBT therapy, aren’t equipped to help someone through tough times at the exact moment they’re experiencing it.
RESEARCH
100+
Stories gathered from ED patients in recovery
45
Interviews with therapists, dietitians, and people in recovery
16
Early concept tests with therapists, dietitians, and people in recovery
Not all eating disorders are associated with body image issues, and not all body image issues are associated with eating disorders - but there is an overlap.
- ED therapist
- ED Patient 1
- ED Patient 2
AND IT CAN LOOK LIKE…
Body Checking
Fixating on one’s appearance in the mirror
Body Avoidance
Avoiding appearance in mirrors - viewing one’s reflection may trigger mood changes or ED behaviors
How might we…
help people work through body checking or body avoidance by introducing treatment strategies at the exact moment someone needs to use them, and support them at all stages of their journey?
Onboarding
An onboarding assessment kicks off the experience, with our algorithm setting either the body checking or avoidance workflow
Body Checking
If someone stands in front of the mirror for longer than 2 minutes, the mirror fogs.
They then receive a notification on their phone and are prompted to complete an exercise.
BODY CHECKING
Exercises were developed using body neutrality and Health at Every Size (HAES) frameworks.
It helps to break someone out of their obsessive behavior at the moment it happens.
After the exercise is completed, the mirror resets.
Body Avoidance
At rest, the mirror is fogged and displays their custom affirmations.
Working similarly to exposure therapy, the mirror unfogs on a programmed cadence each day. The user completes an exercise while looking into the mirror. Once done, the mirror fogs again.
Progress Tracking
Progress can be tracked (or opted out of)on the home dashboard.
Dashboards are different based on the workflow the user is on - checking or avoidance.
SHARING & CUSTOMIZATION
Journal responses can also be shared with one’s therapist (if opted into).
Fogging settings can be adjusted ad-hoc, with a weekly check-in activity also re-calibrating the workflow.
Prototyping
We had 2 big components of Maeve to prototype - the mirror and the app.
We developed a prototyping strategy to get feedback as quickly as possible, including mini-prototypes to test different assumptions.
User Testing
We tested Maeve in-home with someone in ED Recovery for 72 hours.We also tested in shorter sessions with 8 dietitians, therapists, and people in recovery.
LEARNINGS & NEXT STEPS
This project is incredibly personal to me.
It was borne out of my own needs during my ongoing ED recovery. It’s not often that you’re able to design a product where you’re the target audience - and there were a lot of ups and downs associated with it.
We’d love to keep this project going. There are so many people this could help, and we heard from therapists and dietitians that their clients would love it.
The next steps are to get an IRB study for more clinical efficacy data and optimize the mirror design to scale for production!
NEXT PROJECT
