HEALER: Exploring AR-Based Therapeutic Product-Service system For Emergency Department Nurses with PTSD
Product service system design-
Explore self-rescue with peer support strategies for emergency department nurses with PTSD symptoms through AR therapy
system based on scene exposure therapy and speech retelling therapy. In consideration of trauma-informed design.
Identify & Explore
Problem statement
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a delayed-onset or persistent mental health condition triggered by exposure to severe psychological trauma. Recent literature indicates a growing prevalence of PTSD among emergency department nurses, who are frequently exposed to high-stress, life-threatening situations in their work environment.
Design challenge
How might we design a product–service system that supports emergency department nurses in preventing, alleviating, or managing PTSD symptoms effectively?
In-depth user research
Interviews across 5 medium-sized hospital emergency departments
Recruitment
Self-recruitment was employed to identify participants for in-depth, one-on-one
interviews with emergency department
nurses within the target research area.
I visited the emergency departments of five
large and medium-sized hospitals and successfully conducted detailed interviews with ten nurses currently working in these settings.
Key findings - PTSD Triggers
Through symptom analysis of the interview data, I found that most participants had experienced two or more traumatic scenarios that contributed to the development of PTSD symptoms.
Some helpful quotes from the in-depth interview, where I identified pain points and design opportunities
Research synthesis
Pain Points Identification
Through preliminary desktop research and semi-structured interviews, several recurring pain points were identified from three perspectives: the general public recognition, healthcare institutions, and social media environments.
The findings indicate a systemic absence of structured psychological counselling mechanisms and increasing demand for societal attention toward the mental health challenges faced by emergency department nurses experiencing PTSD symptoms
Design Opportunities
Facilitating a self-exposure therapy as a mean of gradual symptom management.
Developing a peer-support model (“the cured partner”) to create mutual understanding, shared recovery experiences, and emotional resilience within workplace
Ideation_
Personas
In order to gain a deeper understanding of users' goals, needs, experiences, and behaviours, I created 3 personas based on the user interviews: 3 emergency department nurses with different work experiences.
Ideation_
Brainstorming
Through concept generation, I defined the features of the product system as the following three pillars: Online communities, Self-help, Education
Ideation_
Insights to inform design concept
By balancing evidence-based research with creative design thinking, an insight-to-design mapping approach was applied, linking therapy concepts and user needs to concrete design elements to inform the development of the service.
Prototyping_
Based on the previous research
and findings, I developed the product–service system illustrated
in the diagram in the right.
A service blueprint emphasising functional processes and a brief
user flow is illustrated below, along with the user storyboard interacting with the final physical product.
Prototyping_
User Interface design
Once the service issues were resolved, I moved on to design the final screens in Figma. My goal was to create a visual identity that’s aligned with the mobile users. The main interface is shown in the picture below: Wake up, Self-test, Match companion for healing.
Prototyping_
Product design
I also designed the physical product, drawing inspiration from the interaction model of a gamepad and integrated AR technology to visualise the scene-exposure healing process.
The first applied scenario with exposure therapy
Near-death body mutilation
The second applied scenario with exposure therapy
Near-death
The third applied scenario with exposure therapy
Workplace violence
My reflection through the journey
Design sensitivity and empathy when facing with trauma-informed scenarios
Working on this project helped me understand the importance of design with empathy and sensitivity when addressing users who may have experienced trauma.
At the time, my focus was primarily on heuristic innovations, but later, the existing concept of trauma-informed design was brought out after I worked on another project aimed at designing a safe online community for women who have been through cult and domestic violence.
This experience forced me to re-examine the HEALER project. I realised that the core principles of trauma-informed design —such as safety, trustworthiness, and peer support —should be thoughtfully applied to digital services. And it goes beyond accessibility or emotional appeal.
In the context of HEALER, these principles can help designers align with the trauma-informed design values, for instance, by presenting the information in ways that avoid re-triggering, and designing UI system that conveys a sense of stability and care. I came to realise that even subtle details can have a significant impact on final delivery, such as the tone of language, the pace of user flow. Moving forward, this experience has truly motivated me to keep studying the relevant design methods in diverse project context.