<aside> <img src="/icons/link_gray.svg" alt="/icons/link_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Portfolio site: BethBuchanan.com

</aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/send_gray.svg" alt="/icons/send_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Contact me via: [email protected]

</aside>


Below you will find all of the work involved with bringing Canary to life during my final year of university:

First semester (Sept 2023-Jan 2024)

IXD501 - Major Project Prototyping

Second Semester (Jan 2024 - May 2024)

IXD503 - Major Project

Link to final Prototype

https://www.figma.com/proto/CTWWbUbnxPBKXBYx2sEMra/Canary-semester-2?page-id=952%3A48688&node-id=2290-130579&viewport=5689%2C908%2C0.08&t=YcJZO8scyF2l4tIJ-1&scaling=scale-down&starting-point-node-id=952%3A50469&show-proto-sidebar=1

What is Canary?


Canary is a multi-device app aimed to help people suffering from agoraphobia (an anxiety disorder that causes people to become fearful of leaving the house, or go to specific places alone). Agoraphobia has many different causes, and so this made my research scope vary broad, however I was able to break it down to design for two user groups - agoraphobia with, and without panic disorder.

Canary aims to help patients complete exposure therapy, and gradually introduce them to triggering environments ****in small, bite-sized steps (via audio, image, video, and VR exposures). It will also track heart rate throughout, and quiz patients on how their exposures went before allowing them to progress - therefore easing panic attacks.

The Final Outcome


The goal was to create a functional prototype - with multiple flows to demonstrate how the app worked, and what the various different features did. The final outcome consisted of a mobile prototype ideally used in tandem with a VR headset.

My Goal


The main goal with Canary was to reduce the level of panic attacks patients experience during exposure, and ultimately to reduce the dropout rate of exposure therapy.