Designing an Evidence-based Mental Health Intervention Alongside University Students.

Digital mental health tools can help university students access cost-effective and timely resources for mental health challenges. However, direct involvement by university students during the design of these tools has been limited. Early involvement can help design teams understand how mental health applications can tailor support to student’s unique needs alongside evidence-based interventions. We used a participatory design approach to understand how we might translate an in-person, evidence-based intervention into a mobile application for university students. Our findings indicate that students perceived the need for the application to (1) provide healthy reminders, (2) connect with peers and counselors, (3) support personalized experiences and (4) teach informational and instrumental life skills. We discuss implications for designing evidence-based mental health applications for university students to balance their need for customized support for self-help and professional help.