Freelance Work
Create an intake system for a mental health private practice that is easy to use and not intimidating for clients.
A freelance job in the mental health for-profit sector.
Result: Increase in intakes
My Roles
Tools
Google Drive
Time
Design- 2 weeks
Research - 2 weeks
End Users
Mental Health Counselors Users seeking therapy
Team
Me
The Problem
Problem Statement
Chicago Therapy and Wellness needed a way for potential clients to contact therapists to start appointments. What are the specific questions that a therapist and a client need answered before meeting in order to feel comfortable starting a therapeutic relationship?
Design Method
Empathize
As work this project, it is important for me to remember that I am not the user. I have a lot of opinions on what questions should go on an intake form, but this was not for me this was for the therapists and potential clients at this practice.
User Interviews
Counselor Interviews
The client indicated to me that they and their colleagues were “technologically challenged” and wanted something that they could use, understand, and would work. From my conversations with the counselors at the practice, everyone seemed comfortable with the Google Workspace but other programs intimidated them.
When it came to what questions were important to counselors they wanted to know, presenting problems, name, insurance, and availability.
Potential Client Interviews
I reached out to my participants who participated in the website interviews and wanted to know what was important for them for their therapist to know before seeing them for the first time.
The main things that were important for clients were a counselor's gender, age, speciality, and identification. Potential LGBTQ clients and clients of color I talked to said it was important that they get the feeling that the practice cares about social justice in their intake and that it wont be brushed over. When asked about how this can look on a intake, future clients reported that asking for pronouns and giving them the autonomy to voice their opinions of what kind of therapist they want was important to helping them feel the practice cared.
Define
After my interviews, it became clear that the intake form needed to be a mix of getting the practical information that the counselors needed as well as a space where future clients can feel empowered and safe. It was also important for the counselors that the collection of the data was straightforward and integrated in their Google Workspace.
Design
I went into Google Forms and created a setup where the answers to the questions will go right to an organized Google Sheets page. This way, the counselors will just have to look at the sheet and minimal interaction is needed on the users end. I set up notifications for whenever someone completes the form so the administrator knows to look at the sheet. Using the data I got from the interviews, I created 8 questions and added them to the Google Form and Google Sheet.
Due to patient confidentiality and HIPPA regulations, I cannot show the whole form but these are example intakes.
Ideal Status Flow for Counselors
The counselors indicated that they are not super comfortable with technology, so I wanted to make the solution as simple as possible. This ideal flow has the user getting the information they need in one click. The only decision the user needs to make is whether to email or call the client. This whole system is also located within a system the user is comfortable in.
Testing
Due to time constraints, I was unable to conduct another round of interviews with future clients, but I was able to speak to the counselors again and they all approved of the questions and flow for receiving intakes.
Conclusion
I really focused on how to keep the system simple and what questions the counselors and clients wanted for this project. It was a challenge to balance the wants between the two, but I was able to successfully create an intake form that asks the essential questions while helping a client feel empowered and comfortable. Although I would have loved to design a new intake system, it was important to remember the tools that the counselors wanted and felt comfortable with using. They were thrilled that it was built within a system they are comfortable in and didn't have to learn anything new.
