About
Waves is an app that aims to help those with depression. Waves provide tools that are designed to engage its users in accomplishing their daily goals and bring people together as a community in which they are able to have a stronger support system and continue to stay motivated throughout their journey. Although Waves is not meant to be a solution to depression, our goal with Waves is to encourage people to be consistent with their self care, physically and mentally, and be on track to overcoming their struggles.
Features
When the user enters Waves, they are asked to fill out the Gauge Depression Questionnaire that will provide waves more information about the user’s level of depression in order to personalize goals that are more adapted to the users’ needs. Afterwards, they are prompted with three main features: Tasks, Distress Button, and Forums.
Tasks
The purpose of having a tasks section is to help the user accomplish small tasks that they may otherwise have difficulty doing due to their depression. The tasks start out simple such as stretching or playing music. As the user completes more of them, they can customize their own tasks and make bigger goals.
Distress Button
The distress button is there to calm the user if they are having an anxiety attack and gives them two options. There are calming cards where they can relieve themselves by selecting a guided mindfulness exercise or re-grounding technique. The other is a call for help where the user can ask the community, while remaining anonymous, for support. The user will write their status, and this will alert others on the app to respond to them with comments. They are also given emergency hotlines if the situation requires it. Contacts list feature: The user is able to input their personal contacts that they trust can help them during anxiety attacks.
Forums
Users are able to interact with each other through the forums tab by creating topics for discussion, and they will be able to comment and like them. Being able to anonymously view and comment on experiences that they share will help users feel less alone and receive support. There are main topics and trending topics at the top of the page for users to easily access. Another feature at the user’s disposal is bookmarking forums that they may connect with most,so they can return to them with ease.
