Inspiration
Mental disorders are a widespread problem, affecting people across the U.S. The world health organization estimates that one in four people will be affected by a mental illness or neurological disorder at some point in their lives. We were inspired to make our app, Happi, because adolescents are the most vulnerable to developing mental illnesses. Many high school students may be struggling with a mental illness and not even know it. Through Happi we want to give users the ability to recognize symptoms and put an end to the stigma surrounding these illnesses.
What it does
Happi serves to educate people about mental illnesses. "Education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world." - Nelson Mandela.
How we built it
We built the app using the MIT App Inventor Software, using skills learned in both our NAF multimedia and programming classes.
Challenges we ran into
We learned that the first idea isnt always the best idea. That it takes many revisions and edits to even come close to the final product. It was challenging communicating between designer and programmer, but in the end we combined our ideas to create a fully functional and visually appealing app.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're most proud of the game feature we added to the app in our 3rd version. It allows you to take a randomize quiz with true or false questions about mental disorders. You can gain or lose points, depending on how you answer the questions. It was the most difficult component of our app to complete.
What we learned
During the challenge we learned about the long process it takes to developing a fully functional application. It was frustrating and tedious at times, but it taught us a lot about patience and communication.
What's next for Happï
We will continue to add and update features on the app and in the near future we will hopefully be publishing Happi for broader use. We are excited to expand the range of disorders and add more games to test what users have learned.
