Design Mapping: A Framework for Co-Designing Digital Mental Health Programs in Partnership with End-Users

Collaborating with target end-users in mental health research improves program effectiveness and engagement, but there is currently a lack of practical guidance on how to co-design digital health programs in collaboration with end-users. As a result, several common barriers prevent co-design initiatives from providing maximum benefit from digital health supports. For example, end-users are often excluded from the early stages of program design, diversity in their experiences and needs is overlooked, projects omit to use tools that facilitate creative and egalitarian collaboration, and/or usability is favoured over robust research methods. To address this gap, we present a novel framework, ‘Design Mapping’, for developing digital mental health programs, that applies tools for meaningful and creative user collaboration often used in Design Thinking, within a robust and systematic research methodology inspired by Intervention Mapping. The Design Mapping framework also considers factors pertinent to developing both mental health and digital support programs. We illustrate, test, and refine the Design Mapping framework by applying it to the development of a novel early childhood parenting program (‘Active Play’). Preliminary outcomes from pilot testing of the Active Play program suggests that Design Thinking may help produce programs that are feasible, effective, and engaging.