About the project

Empatia is a public sector institution committed to providing psychological support for students. In collaboration with the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (UWM), they aimed to develop a user-friendly screening platform that provides students with anonymous mental health self-assessments and guidance for further support.

This initiative was an answer to the rising mental health challenges faced by young people today. Such a tool would foster a space for honest self-reflection and encourage students to take the first steps toward better mental health.

What did our client need?

Noticing a concerning decline in students’ mental health, UWM authorities have decided to take action to address the issue. The solution was to create a questionnaire enabling self-assessment of well-being (e.g., anxiety level) and to offer a platform with educational materials on emotions, anxiety, relationships, and more.

Empatia's project to scale mental health support services at the university level faced challenges typical of public sector clients. They needed a software development company which would assist them through:

1. Data Privacy & Compliance: Handling sensitive mental health data securely, in compliance with GDPR, while ensuring anonymous use.

2. Efficiency in Decision Making: As with most public sector initiatives, the approval process for technical solutions involved multiple layers of stakeholder engagement, making it crucial to offer clear communication and transparency throughout the project.

3. Integration and Scalability: Empatia required a tool to integrate seamlessly into their existing student support infrastructure and scale with the increasing demand for mental health services.

Our goal was to support Empatia by developing a psychological screening questionnaire that would respect users’ privacy and provide actionable insights for students in crisis.

How did we approach the project?

While working with Empatia, we focused on ensuring data privacy and security, which stemmed from the need to provide the anonymity of students using the tool. We ensured all data handling was GDPR-compliant, using encrypted protocols to protect personal information and foster users' trust.

The platform was designed to be mobile-first for ease of access. We knew that students experiencing stress or anxiety might find complex processes overwhelming. Thus, we focused on designing an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that minimised effort and ensured clarity throughout the screening process.

Also, we wanted to maintain accessibility and inclusivity, so we complied with the WCAG 2 standards. This way we ensured that students with disabilities could fully engage with the tool, addressing a broad spectrum of users’ needs.

We aimed to provide students with instant, actionable insights based on their responses. The answers given by the questionnaire help them understand their mental state and guide them towards the appropriate support channels without delay.

Last, Empatia and UWM wanted a solution capable of evolving alongside their growth. Thus, we decided to use a modular architecture that ensures flexibility and scalability, allowing later features or updates to be easily added as the platform evolves.

Focusing on these critical areas, we provided Empatia with a tailored solution that met their immediate needs while offering a secure, accessible, and scalable foundation for the future.

You can check out the developed tool here. Bear in mind that the questionnaire is in Polish.

What we delivered?

Thanks to this project, we had an excellent opportunity to turn a complex challenge into an innovative solution for an organisation operating at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

By focusing on security, user-centred design, and scalability, we delivered a digital tool that not only meets regulatory and privacy requirements but also empowers institutions to provide better mental healthcare.

The questionnaire has been a cornerstone in enhancing student support, offering instant, user-friendly mental health assessments, which is crucial for digital platforms looking to make an immediate and measurable impact.

Development of an innovative online tool for early recognition of difficult situations and psychological crises among students at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn together with a website as part of the project entitled [PL] „Żagiel możliwości – model dostępności UWM w Olsztynie‟, number POWR.03.05.00-00-A046/18 was co-funded by the European Union under the European Social Fund.