UX / Product Design Learning Design

Designing a conversational learning experience for complex psychological concepts

Schema Compass uses guided conversation to help adults apply schema therapy concepts to their own experience. Mira the cat leads learners through emotions, triggers, schemas, unmet needs, and a practical coping skill . one stage at a time.

Audience Adults exploring schema therapy concepts
Tools Voiceflow, instructional design, conversational UX
Role Sole designer and developer

The Problem

Schema therapy is a well-evidenced framework with an access problem.

Workbooks, questionnaires, and academic texts are written for clinicians. For most adults wanting to understand their own patterns, the complexity is a barrier before the learning begins.

The design problem was not about simplifying the content. It was about finding a format that could scaffold complex, emotionally engaged learning without a therapist in the room.

Design brief
How might we guide reflective adults through schema therapy concepts . so that they can recognise their own patterns and apply practical coping skills . without needing a therapist present?
Learning objectives
  1. Identify and name an emotion and connect it to a situational trigger.
  2. Apply schema therapy concepts to a personal example to recognise which schema is active.
  3. Explain the unmet need associated with their identified schema.
  4. Select and apply a practical coping skill matched to their schema and emotional state.

Design Rationale

Why conversational learning?

Schema therapy is about applying a framework to lived experience . not memorising a taxonomy. That requires reflection, personalisation, and guided questioning. A chatbot can provide all three. A static resource cannot.

Scaffolded progression

Each stage builds on the previous one. Complexity is introduced only after the prior concept is grounded in personal experience.

Chunking

Each exchange covers one concept. Short steps reduce cognitive load and prevent the overwhelm that makes dense schema resources inaccessible.

Situated learning

Learners apply concepts to their own emotions and experiences . not a hypothetical scenario . which increases relevance and supports transfer.

Guided discovery

Rather than defining schemas and asking for recall, the conversation guides learners to identify their own schema through questioning. Insight is arrived at, not delivered.

The Solution

A five-stage structured learning sequence

Each stage mirrors the therapeutic process and corresponds to a learning objective. Learners do not read about schemas . they apply the framework to their own experience as the content unfolds.

Schema Compass conversation flow diagram showing the full Voiceflow architecture from start through five stages to end

Conversation flow. Full Voiceflow architecture mapped before content development began. Every path resolves . no dead ends.

Opening screen. Mira introduces herself and asks whether the learner would like to explore their feelings.

Welcome. Mira sets tone and purpose before schema content is introduced.

Trigger identification. After selecting Anxious, the learner is offered three trigger options as choice buttons.

Stage 2: Triggers. Emotion selection routes to contextually matched trigger options.

Skill delivery showing the Grounding technique with a photograph and numbered steps.

Stage 5: Skills. Each skill includes a photograph and steps the learner can use immediately.

Accessibility decisions

Key Design Decisions

Choices that shaped the learning experience

Decision 1
Learning sequence derived from the therapeutic process, not imposed on it

The five stages follow the same order as the schema therapy framework because the concepts depend on each other. You cannot name a schema without first grounding it in an emotion and a trigger. The sequence is the pedagogy . each stage is a prerequisite for the next.

Decision 2
Choice buttons instead of free text . for learning reasons as well as UX reasons

Free text would require learners to already know the vocabulary of schema therapy. Buttons reframe the task to recognition rather than recall . a lower-demand cognitive task at the right point in the sequence. They also ensure every path reaches a coping skill, the actual learning outcome.

Decision 3
A character guide rather than a system voice

Mira creates tonal distance from clinical authority, making the experience feel exploratory rather than diagnostic. The learning task requires examining uncomfortable patterns . learners are more likely to do that in a context that feels curious rather than evaluative. User testing confirmed the voice landed as intended.

Decision 4
The skill is the deliverable, not the insight

Each conversation path ends with a coping skill matched to the schema and emotion the learner identified . with step-by-step instructions and a photograph. This is the transfer moment. Without it, the session is reflection without application.

Design Process

How Schema Compass was built

1

Domain analysis and content architecture

All 20 schemas mapped from primary sources across 5 domains . each with unmet needs, maladaptive beliefs, schema modes, healthy adult responses, and linked skills. Fourteen coping skills documented with step-by-step instructions. This reference system became the architecture for the branching logic before any Voiceflow build began.

2

Design brief

A "How might we" brief framed the problem before solution development. Learning objectives were developed from the brief to define what success looks like for a learner completing the experience.

How might we brief template
3

Conversation flow mapping

Full architecture mapped in Voiceflow before any content was written. Every path reviewed for dead ends. The goal: no learner path terminates without reaching a skill.

4

Content writing in Mira's voice

Every response written in plain language . warm, direct, non-clinical. Skill content written for immediate practical use, with numbered steps rather than abstract guidance.

5

User testing with five participants including a psychologist

Structured protocol across three phases: before use, immediately after, and on reflection. Two iterations made in response: voice playback added, name input friction removed.

User Testing

What five testers said

Deb
"It was well structured and clear. The cat assistance and lots of question prompts were what I liked most. I would like to see more skills and tools as options."
Alan
"I can see potential, despite this being a very limited demo. He tried it again with the volume up and said the voice makes it better."
Margi
"Reasonably clear from the start. Entering my name was what frustrated me most."
Allison, psychologist
"I felt very guided. The practical strategies were easy to use. Send it to me when it's fully up and running . I'll use it."
Patrick
"The voice is perfect . trustworthy, without being elite. For schema education and practising different responses I think this app idea is excellent."
Measure (1–5) DebAlanMargiAllisonPatrick
Ease of use54Easy55
Helpfulness52355
Engagement52245

Alan's lower ratings reflect unmet expectation of broader functionality . consistent with his written feedback that he could see the potential.

What a future evaluation would measure . Kirkpatrick Level 2
  • "I can identify and name a current emotion and connect it to what triggered it."
  • "I could identify one of my own schemas during or after the conversation."
  • "I understand the unmet need connected to my schema."
  • "I learned at least one practical coping skill I could apply immediately."

Content and clinical framing

Schema Compass is an educational tool, not a therapeutic one. All content was developed from primary sources (Young et al., 2003; Bricker and Young, 2020) and reviewed by a practising psychologist, who confirmed the educational framing was appropriate and expressed intent to recommend the tool to clients for use alongside therapy.

Outcomes and Reflection

What was validated and what comes next

What testing validated

  • Ease of use consistently high across all five participants.
  • Character voice confirmed as appropriate by the psychologist participant.
  • Educational framing validated as suitable for use alongside therapy.
  • Two iterations shipped: voice playback added, name input friction removed.

Next development priorities

  • Run a formal Kirkpatrick Level 2 evaluation before any feature work.
  • Expand the coping skills library based on which schemas are most frequently reached.
  • Integrate the YSQ-R as an optional self-assessment entry point.
  • Explore LMS integration for use in psychology training programs.

The most useful critique came from Alan: his expectation of broader functionality identifies the real gap between proof-of-concept and a tool that earns sustained engagement. Testing also revealed a limitation in the evaluation design . close-ended questions limited what participants could tell me about what they had actually learnt. Future testing would add open prompts tied directly to the learning objectives.