The University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) has recently unveiled the Willo app, a groundbreaking innovation designed to enhance student well-being. This achievement marks a significant enhancement in the university’s ongoing efforts to tackle mental health challenges within its student body. Developed through an intensive collaboration involving over 100 contributors and backed by a substantial $5 million from the State of California, Willo reflects an extraordinary blend of extensive student involvement and cutting-edge technology. This app is aimed at creating a comprehensive wellness ecosystem tailored specifically for the needs of UC San Diego students.
Development of Willo
Key to the development of the Willo app was an unwavering focus on understanding and catering to student input and needs. Over the course of two years, a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff from UC San Diego’s Student Health and Well-Being and the Jacobs Center for Health Innovation (JCHI) contributed to this ambitious project. This development phase involved a series of interviews, workshops, surveys, focus groups, and user testing sessions to ensure that the app remained both student-centered and user-friendly. The ultimate goal was to integrate the university’s extensive health and well-being services into one seamless platform, thereby promoting self-care among students and providing them with the necessary resources to effectively manage their health.
The principal idea behind the creation of Willo was to offer UC San Diego students a resource developed by their peers. This student-driven approach did not only manifest during the app’s development but also in its subsequent marketing campaign, which actively featured UC San Diego students. The app addresses multiple aspects of student well-being, neatly categorized under the widely recognized wellness wheel. This model encompasses dimensions such as emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual well-being. To suit the unique needs of the university, Willo modifies these dimensions and organizes them into specific categories including academic, arts and culture, basic needs, careers, communities, mental health and wellness, physical health, and spirituality.
Addressing Mental Health Challenges
A growing trend worldwide indicates an upsurge in mental health-related incidents on university campuses, accompanied by an increased demand for well-being support. UC San Diego recognized this global issue and consequently secured state funding to develop a mental health platform specifically designed for its students. Despite the fact that students’ tuition fees cover mental health services and free on-campus counseling, it was noted that only about 10% of UC San Diego’s 43,000 students were utilizing these services. This considerable gap highlighted a critical need to make mental health resources more accessible and appealing to students, an objective that was central to the mission of the Willo app.
To provide effective support for student well-being, the Willo development team first needed to understand what students personally required from such an app. Their research indicated that simply aggregating university resources wasn’t sufficient. Instead, the app needed to reduce the cognitive load on students by offering AI-enabled recommendations personalized to suit their individual needs. This approach aimed to guide students to the right resources before a clinical intervention became necessary while streamlining the process of obtaining more intensive support when needed.
User-Driven Design
The Willo app’s final design was strongly influenced by student input and preferences, ensuring it met their expectations for customizable and accessible self-help resources. Students were actively involved in every step of the process, making sure the app promoted a sense of belonging and connectedness. Fourth-year cognitive science and interdisciplinary computer and arts major, Jarenz Castillo, strongly emphasizes the significance of student involvement in shaping the app. This extensive engagement led to an app that not only addressed students’ needs but also helped reduce feelings of isolation and stress among the student body.
The well-being wheel’s dimensions offer a comprehensive array of resources. These include Counseling and Psychological Services, career-related programming, recreational activities, workshops, peer counseling, and student-centric communities. By integrating and showcasing these diverse resources, the app ensures that students can easily find and utilize what they need. This holistic approach, driven by student feedback, makes Willo a unique and valuable tool for fostering student well-being.
Technological Integration and Human-Centered AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a cornerstone role in the app’s functionality. Far from being a simple feature, AI is essential for personalizing the user experience by adapting to and learning from user interactions with Willo. AI-driven recommendations, based on selected tags, help guide students to the most relevant resources, much like the functionality of hashtags on social media platforms. This AI component was meticulously designed to respect user privacy while providing personalized support within a secure, HIPAA-protected data environment seamlessly connected to UC San Diego’s health systems.
Students logging into Willo with their campus credentials can link their accounts to MyStudentChart and select wellness areas they are interested in. The app then offers tailored recommendations in areas such as mental health, fitness, academic support, and social activities. Enhanced search functionalities, category exploration, and real-time updates from various university departments significantly elevate the user experience.
Student Involvement and Future Directions
The University of California San Diego has introduced the Willo app, a revolutionary tool designed to support student well-being. This advancement represents a significant leap in the university’s ongoing efforts to address mental health issues among its students. The app was developed through a rigorous collaborative process that included over 100 contributors and was funded with a generous $5 million from the State of California. Willo is a testament to the remarkable fusion of substantial student involvement and state-of-the-art technology.
The purpose of the Willo app is to create an all-encompassing wellness ecosystem that is specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of UC San Diego students. By integrating various aspects of mental health support into a single platform, it aims to provide comprehensive resources that enhance students’ overall well-being.
The development of Willo involved extensive input from the student body to ensure that it addresses real concerns and challenges. This input has helped shape the app into a tool that is both effective and user-friendly. The collaboration between students, developers, and the state reflects a shared commitment to improving mental health services on campus. With its launch, UC San Diego is poised to set a new standard in student wellness initiatives, demonstrating a progressive approach to mental health support in higher education.
