Snehal Khatavkar
UX Research. Service Design
Building growth strategy for mental health startup
Developed 5-yr strategic roadmap by testing critical business assumptions, developing new offerings and identifying new partnerships.
Brief
Happy Pillar, an AI-driven Parent-Child Interaction Therapy provider, partnered with ID for a 7-week project to enhance their business model. The collaboration focused on improving customer retention, scaling product adoption, and identifying new partnerships to increase reach. Using a design-driven approach, the team defined project scope, iterated on the business model, and tested critical assumptions to mitigate risks.
Impact
Collaborated with the CTO, Founder, and SMEs to understand the company's purpose and develop a 5 yr strategic roadmap that is aligned with their goals, using the EY Future Back framework.
.png)
Context
1 in 5 kids has a mental or behavioral health disorder however only 20% of those children have access to care
Families with children aged 2-7 face increased behavioral and mental health challenges due to technological changes and the aftermath of COVID-19. Traditional methods like psychoeducation and 1:1 therapy lack personalization, accountability, and affordability, often excluding many demographics.
You have all this fear and guilt. Should we have done all the COVID [precautions]? Should we have been so cautious, or should we have jumped right in...I felt really guilty. I was desperate to find what was available. You know what I mean? There's like a desperation to it. Evidenced-based therapies tailored for specialized populations are lacking - Happy pillar user
“The COVID ramifications were just really hard for [our child] and for us” - Happy pillar user
Introducing Happy Pillar
Happy Pillar, a tech startup, bridges this gap by offering an AI-powered
parent-child interaction therapy that guides parents to practice 5-minute intentional skills for happier and emotionally intelligent kids
Challenge
Happy Pillar struggles to establish itself in the market and reach its intended audience to become a leading provider of mental healthcare for
children and families of all demographics.
Identify ways to sustain their customer base
Sustain themselves financially while delivering affordable mental healthcare for families
Explore ways to expand operations at scale
Goals
Solution
How can Happy Pillar become a leading provider of accessible, personalized, and effective mental healthcare for children and families of ALL demographics?
Our team interviewed the founder to understand their overall vision and
Chief technology officer to understand current technologies they exploring
Understanding Happy Pillars current operation
.png)
Skill learning and feedback
Happy Pillar provides access to practice PCIT skills through an app, that listens to the conversation between the parent and the child and gives constructive feedback to improve their therapy sessions.
.png)
Users that trust mental therapy
Happypillars current users are parents of children aged 2-7, often with a personal or professional connection to therapy or mental health practices
.png)
Freemium model
Happypillar runs a freemium (B2C) business model with a single free and a single paid tier. The free tier covers the basic functionality needed for PCIT and the paid tier adds further learning, analysis, and customization.
Solution: Purpose statement
Based on our insights into Happy Pillar, we co-created their purpose statement with Happy Pillars team
Families across income levels, cultures, and locales
Equal access through private and public channels and insurance models
On-demand, evidenced-based and culturally relevant mental health therapy for the whole family
Personalized guidance and instruction powered by AI tech
Trusted partner in the digital mental health care delivery ecosystem
Our purpose is to empower parents and caregivers with the evidenced-based therapy techniques and personalized coaching necessary to confidently support happy and healthy families.
Happy pillar will realize their purpose and vision over a period of 5 years by
Proposed strategy for Happy Pillar
Build trust to develop a community of users that trusts and recommends Happy Pillar as a useful, effective, and
personalized product
Phase 1
Build connection with critical stakeholders to form a ecosystem that supports families in their pursuit of helping children overcome mental health and behavioral health issues
Phase 2
Delivering the product through public and social channels to extend access to lower income groups
Phase 3
Over the period of 5 years
Scaling Access Through Managed Care Organizations and Corporations with Pay-Per-Treatment Services
Expanded offerings
The team crafted a 5 year implementation plan for happy pillar
.png)
Click to see the full report including research and recommendations to Happy Pillar
Client
Happy Pillar
Duration
October - December 2023
Methods
Desk research, Experiment testing,
My Role
Design Researcher
Design Strategist
Team
Andrew
Mary Morgan
William Rutter
PROJECT DETAILS
Instructors
Tiago Baccarelli Justino
Michael Botos
Phase 2: Expand offerings to build connections within the family and beyong the home
Integrating Beyond the Home for Holistic Child Development
Happy Pillar is currently generating revenue through a freemium model. But this model has proportional outcomes.
Through research and experiments into potential partnerships we crafted a value proposition for Educational institutions and healthcare providers that will enable Happy Pillar to provide personalized insights into a Child's behavioral progress while simultaneously developing a holistic profile for children.
Phase 1: Immediate business model changes to build trusted customer base
Interviews with both regular and lapsed users revealed a key issue:
many don't see the value in using the app consistently, leading to more drop-offs and poorer outcomes for children. The extensive features on the free tier also deter users from upgrading to paid plans.
Building trust in the offering by introducing onboarding to encourage consistent engagement with the app along with a refined business model to support parents in their daily practice.
Cultivating Consistency for Optimal Results
Enhance onboarding procedures to underscore the importance of daily, focused 5-minute sessions dedicated to practicing Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) skills.
Empowering Personal Progress and Engagement
ntroduce a feature that allows parents to take assessments that help them set personal goals, monitor progress and work towards achieving their goals.
Ensuring Fair Compensation for Value Delivered
Introduce a 14 day free trial that allows parents to see the effectiveness of consistent 5 min practice sessions.
