Realease: Senior Capstone Project

Background: What are BFRBs?

Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior disorders are a group of disorders in which an individual consciously or subconsciously causes damage to their own body. For the purpose of this project, I am focusing on the following two:

Dermatillomania is the repetitive picking of one’s own skin. Between 2-5% of the population experiences this disorder, with 75% of people affected being women. In fact, women are diagnosed 8 times more often than men.

Trichotillomania is the repetitive pulling of one’s own hair. 1-2 in 50 people will experience this disorder in their lifetime. By adulthood, 80-90% of reported sufferers are women.

Background: Fidget Toys

The market for and use of fidget toys really began to grow between 2016 and early 2017, with products like the Fidget Cube and Fidget Spinner raising millions of dollars on Kickstarter, and becoming some of Amazon’s highest-selling products. 

Fidget toys are marketed towards adults and children alike, with the idea being that having something to fidget with will increase the ability to focus. Studies have been done that prove their effectiveness in improving the ability of adults and children with ADHD (which is often a comorbid disorder with BFRBs) to focus when using a fidget toy.

Although there is a lack of scientific “proof” that fidget toys are long-term helpful tools, the sheer number of articles and blog entries by people who suffer from BFRBs recommending their favorites suggests that they are a good long-term solution in this regard. As there is a general lack of scientific research about BFRBs, there is also a lack of research in terms of BFRBs and fidget toys.

Current User Journey

Without Fidgets

With Fidgets

Desired User Journey

Information Architecture

The main function of the app is the Fidget section. This page of the app will include a variety of activities that mimic sensory experiences in the way that physical fidget toys do. Each activity has haptic vibration responses that can be customized, along with subtle color changes to keep the user engaged in the activity.

Each time a user begins an activity, the time they use it is tracked and reported in the Data dashboard. This allows users to monitor when and where they use the app most often, and helps to keep track of picking/pulling urges.

The onboarding and profile sections of the app allow for the user to tailor the experience to their needs, by pulling recommended activities based on behavior modification desires. Users can also add custom notifications to remind themselves to use REALease instead of picking or pulling at peak urge times.

Activities

The activities I chose to represent in my application are ones that involve a certain level of tension and release, to mimic the sensory experience of picking at skin or pulling at hair. BFRB disorders involve actions that can easily be repeated and leave the user feeling satisfied sensorily and visually.

With this in mind, I began sketching out potential activities based on their pattern of tension and release.

From there I began primary animations of these activities.

Visuals (So Far)

I have landed on a visual system for my application and have begun prototyping screens.