<aside> <img src="/icons/push-pin_green.svg" alt="/icons/push-pin_green.svg" width="40px" /> tl;dr: Designed a mindful news consumption app

Doomscrolling is a term coined early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as people became increasingly obsessive with checking the news for updates. The term is used to describe the behaviour of people who are constantly scrolling through social media feeds [1]. This practice has a negative impact on people’s mental health [2]. I researched current literature on doomscrolling and mental health; identified the gaps; and reviewed the research that has been undertaken. In addition, understanding your news source is crucial in having a balanced view of the world. The intention with this project is to empower people to take control of how they consume their news. How might we enable people to mindfully consume news through an app remains to be seen and tested.

The survey is still up.

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Research

<aside> <img src="/icons/search_green.svg" alt="/icons/search_green.svg" width="40px" /> To understand people’s news consumption behaviour, I conducted anonymous research to uncover any unknowns.

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What I found:

• all respondents consumed their news through social media, amongst others
• a few respondents felt a negative impact after consuming news
• those that use a mindfulness app, did NOT feel the need to use one after consuming news
• a number of respondents wanted to know how biased the news they’re consuming are

Wireframes

<aside> <img src="/icons/pencil_green.svg" alt="/icons/pencil_green.svg" width="40px" /> Starting with pen and paper, I wireframed a couple of different ideas.

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Sketching out ideas for the ‘feed’.

More ideas for the ‘feed’.

Wireframes of how might the article look like.

Better sense of scale with digital wireframes