Empathie - Inclusive & Accessible Mental Wellness For Asian Americans

Asian Americans navigate unique mental stress and have limited culturally informed resources. These challenges, rooted in cultural dynamics and expectations, ignited the inception of Empathie during my UC Berkeley Master of Design program.

Addressing the scarcity of diverse therapists, I enlisted licensed Asian American therapists to create original mental health content, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity in support.

We developed this MVP solution after shipping 3 iterations of our private beta and conducting several rounds of Kano Model feature prioritization testing — providing focus on our feature set. In collaboration Stanford Ph.D AI expert, our clinical director, and our CTO, I designed and developed a more complex ML content personalization model to address cultural complexities beyond just Asian American identities. This was my Master of Design thesis at UC Berkeley.

Our dedicated team established a streamlined educational framework for effectively conveying mental health concepts and strategies. Through rigorous user testing cycles, we continuously refined our learning content.

To swiftly gather feedback from 50 users within 1-2 weeks, I developed and tested a no-code app over three iterations, adhering to the constraints of Glide app's guidelines. Prior to implementation, we brainstormed and refined a streamlined structure to host our introductory mental health content.

Collaborating with the PM intern and advisor, I drove the product vision and principles — prioritizing inclusivity, approachability, simplicity, accessibility, and insightfulness. To guide our MVP and future iterations, I led a design sprint involving our engineering lead, Clinical Director, and a team of designers to develop a compelling vision.

Starting as a mere idea, I initially doubted my ability to cultivate a team and develop a product from scratch. Yet, in a mere six months, the founding team expanded to three members, while our overall team grew to encompass over 18 talented individuals spanning marketing, design, product, engineering, and clinical fields (including therapists).

We were honored to receive the Hack for Mental Health award from Microsoft and secured a place in Berkeley Skydeck's incubator, along with winning several grants. Notably, we partnered with my former employer, Dropbox, for a mental wellness event specifically tailored to our Asian affinity group.

Throughout this transformative journey, I learned to embrace my strength in challenging the norm and embracing my authentic self, unafraid of the perceived foolishness of my ideas. Amidst tears, insecurities, and fears of failure, I allowed my unwavering passion for creating tangible change to propel me forward. Those who supported us could feel the intensity of my passion, ultimately finding themselves moved by its undeniable force.

During my intense 1.5+ year journey as a full-time entrepreneur, primarily dedicated to my design bootcamp business at Product Design Fam, the weight of financial uncertainties and anxieties took a toll on my mental well-being. Simultaneously, I discovered a powerful truth about myself — I thrive when immersing myself in the realms of design and product development, rather than spreading my focus across business, legal matters, and seeking funding opportunities.

Although Empathie, our venture, received accolades and recognition, the recent economic downturn had a profound impact on our team members' priorities. Acquiring the necessary startup funding has become increasingly challenging, directly impeding Empathie's potential for success.Through these experiences, I have grown and learned invaluable lessons, both personally and professionally. They have sharpened my passion and unwavering commitment to pursuing design excellence while reinforcing the importance of financial stability for sustainable growth.