Helia App

This project has three iterations:

  1. The first one was my first attempt at UX/UI design back in 2020.

  2. The second one was done in 2021, after I had built some knowledge by studying UX/UI.

  3. The third one is made in 2025, after I've already worked in the field for 5 years.

I've always believed that if you don’t cringe a little when looking back at your old work, you haven't improved. That’s why I find it interesting to compare my skills and creative perspective over the years..

Take a trip through time with me to see how my approach to design has changed, and most importantly - improved, over the years.

  • The setting

    I came up with the idea for Helia in 2020, right when the Covid-19 lockdown began. I had just lost my job due to the pandemic. Around the same period, I discovered that the field of user experience design felt like a practical and creative discipline that aligned with the direction I wanted to move in professionally. I started diving into UX/UI design and experimenting with ideas to build my skills.

  • The idea

    It was a stressful and uncertain period for everyone. As someone who had dealt with anxiety challenges, I found it frustrating that I couldn’t find an app that really fit what I was looking for. Something straightforward, focused on mental health tracking and regular check-ins, like a fitness tracker but for the mind. That gap sparked the idea for Helia, and I decided to use it as my first UX/UI project.

  • Diving in

    At this point all I had in my UX/UI toolbox was an hour long workshop on Figma. However, I did not let hinder my confidence. I looked into other tools I could try out, like AdobeXD. I relied on a mix of intuition and high-level research into the UX/UI workflow to get a sense of the process and start building from there.

The user need

The market is oversaturated with apps focusing on physical fitness. However, there is a serious lack of all-in-one platforms focusing on mental health - both tracking and maintaining, and urgent help. This is an app that would be beneficial for most people, especially as we live through strange and uncertain times. Many people are experiencing mental health issues for the first time and don't get the support, help and information needed to manage the distress.

The goal

The goal is to democratise psychology and make help and information on it easily accessible for everyone.

The design

I came up with a design that takes into consideration user needs, color psychology and business needs. This was my first attempt at creating a user interface, so I was pleased with the result.

I knew the project was far from complete and that I had skipped several important steps in the process, but it gave me a solid foundation, and, more importantly, the certainty that UX/UI was something I wanted to pursue.

Fast-forward to 2021.

By this point, I had taken several UX/UI courses, deepened my understanding through further study, and gained hands-on experience with practical tasks and projects. I had learned key design principles and best practices. I felt ready to return to the Helia project with a fresh perspective and stronger skill set.

User research

I wanted to conduct different types of research on a diverse group of people. This way I would ensure that I get as many different viewpoints as possible. I conducted interviews and usability studies throughout the design process. Mainly with people who have interest in mental health or who are actively going to therapy. However, for diversity I also included people to whom this may be the first exposure to mental wellbeing principles and practices.

I got plenty of ideas and improvement suggestions from the people I interviewed. People seemed to have a lot of opinions on the matter, giving suggestions for both design improvements and what they'd find useful in the app overall.

Pain points

Lack of an all-in-one app, that would both include information, insights and statistics for every day wellness tracking, and for urgent support. Most other apps focus only on one or the other. A lot of urgent support and breathing exercise apps out there are riddled with ads, paywalls and interfaces that are not user friendly. This can bring a lot of frustration and disappointment to users, who may already be distressed.

Paper wireframes

I learned that paper wireframes are an excellent place to start, especially for someone who does not have a clear idea or design patterns they’re used to using. This gives you a certain creative freedom. So I began there.

Low-fidelity mock up & prototype

Once my ideas started to crystallise and I was ready to test the functions and layout further, I transfered the sketch to a digital low-fidelity mock up and then created a prototype. The initial low fidelity prototype can be viewed here. This is the prototype that I had prepared for the usability study.

Accessibility considerations

Being mindful of using negative space and not over-crowding the views. Simple, straightforward and intuitive design is what I was going for.

Simple color palette, that is not overwhelming. Calming and subtle colors.

Descriptive writing under icons ensures that the app is not confusing and navigation is simple.

Refining the design

Besides the obvious fact that the initial design hadn’t been created according to all the best practices, I also thought that it was too busy. So I decided to simplify, to give the app a more sleek and modern look.

Completing the design

Now I also had a bit more confidence to work on other necessary screens of the app…

Fast-forward to 2025.

Looking back at those past iterations of Helia is… painful, to say the least! I uploaded them to my portfolio reluctantly. But for this exercise it’s most important to assess my progress over the years, and for that - looking back is inevitable and invaluable.

Let’s get to the fun part: how would I approach the Helia design today?

What has changed since 2022?

  • Tools

    I’ve waved goodbye to AdobeXD. It was good to learn it, but I've found that jumping between tools is a bad idea, if you want to be consistent. Figma has proved to be superior in recent years, so I've become an expert in using it for my own work and for seamless collaboration.

    As well as that, I've mastered other important tools, such as those for research.

    And of course - AI. This will help us with customisation and other valuable functions within our app.

  • Knowledge

    Since 2022. I’ve completed countless courses on both UX and UI. I’ve learned about everything from behavioural psychology, to microcopy, to churn busting, to service design. And everything in between! So instead of just winging my designs, there’s a method and principle behind every pixel.

  • Experience

    Over the years, I’ve gained hands-on experience. I’ve worked on real-world projects and collaborated with a range of teams and experts. It’s one thing to imagine how your design might work in theory, but actually building something reveals how many moving parts are involved. There’s so much more to consider than just creating a pretty UI. Think about responsiveness, technical constraints, scalability, and how your design fits into a larger product ecosystem.

Initial research

I began by conducting user research in a short Lyssna survey, that asked the most crucial questions for the app:

  • What functions would potential users find useful?

  • What concerns do they have?

  • Would they use an app like this at all.

As well as that, I wanted to find out whether this app would be useful only for users who already experience mental health struggles, or is this something that everyone could use, to journal and stay on the right track.

My findings:

  • The app should not pressure the user to use it every day.

  • Confidentiality and data privacy is important.

Information architecture