SFUnwind is a free iOS application designed to assist sufferers of panic & anxiety related disorders through the use of proven, psychotherapy-based interventions & grounding techniques.
GitHub Repository: https://github.com/b1skit/SFUnwind
Project Development Overview:
SFUnwind was planned & implemented in 5 weeks as a Software Engineering course (CMPT 276) term project by a team of 4 developers. The application was selected by the Simon Fraser University Health & Counselling services department as one of the top three applications developed in the course.
SFUnwind was developed using Swift 3.0 via xCode for MacOS & is compatible with iOS 9.0 or higher on iPad or iPhone 4 devices or better.
Personal Contributions & Accomplishments:
- Project Management
- Lead a team of 4 developers from initial concept to final implementation
- Programming
- Primary programmer for the “Panic Alert” feature
- Contributing programmer on all other application features
- Design & Documentation
- Created initial application concept & authored design document & co-authored system requirements & quality assurance documents
- Designed application structure & created all system models & UML diagrams
- Created UX design mockups, UI art assets, icon design & application styling
Project Goal
SFUnwind was developed with the theme of building a healthy community within Simon Fraser University. Research revealed that 28% — the most common reason each year — of all visits to the SFU Health & Counselling Service were self-reported to be related to anxiety. Furthermore, 1.3 million Canadians report suffering from panic or anxiety related disorders each year. Anxiety & panic disorders typically begin in late adolescence and young adulthood, with women being twice as likely to develop a panic disorder as men. Given that SFU’s student body has an average age of 21.7 years and a demographic majority of female students (as of 2015), an application designed to assist sufferers of panic & anxiety represented a high impact opportunity to benefit a large portion of the SFU student community.
Application Features:
1. Positive Affirmation Mantras
- Users can create & save a library of custom positive affirmation mantra messages
- System notifications can be scheduled as reminders to regularly repeat mantra messages throughout the day, encouraging practice & internalization of new thought processes
- A database of over 60 pre-written positive affirmation messages is included
2. Meditative "Square Breathing" Exercise
- Users trace the edges of the square with their eyes, timing their breath with the growing & contracting animated circles located at each corner
- The phone vibrates soothingly in time with the target breathing rhythm
- Progression statistics are tracked & displayed to motivate users as they work to improve the time it takes to regain control of their breathing
3. “5-4-3-2-1” Interactive Grounding Exercise
- On-screen prompts guide users to capture images using the iPhone’s camera
- Users capture 5 images of things they can see, 5 things they can hear, & 5 things they can touch
- The sequence is repeated, counting down the number of images for each category per round: Users capture 5, 4, 3, 2 & then 1 image as they satisfy each category
- Users are presented with a positive affirmation message & gallery of images after the exercise is completed
4. Panic Alert System
- Pre-write & store up to 5 custom alert sms text messages
- Alerts can be instantly sent with the press of a button
