Wah DuDem

Wah DuDem (W.D.D.) takes a unique and holistic approach to suicide prevention and mental health awareness. They believe in a lateral or "soft approach" that emphasizes compassion, connection, and community.

Client
Hilla Bundem

Year
2023

Overview:

In this UX case study, I will showcase my process for creating the website for Wah DuDem: WAHDUDEM.WORLD, a lateral suicide prevention and mental health awareness organization.

The main mission of W.D.D. is to stop suicide, and the website will play a crucial role in achieving this goal. This organization website aims to be engaging and interactive, providing users with a unique and memorable experience unlike any other suicide prevention websites.

Roles and Responsibilities:

As the UX designer for wahdudem.world, my role was to lead the design process on a team of three designers to ensure that the final product met the needs of the users and stakeholders. I was responsible for conducting user research, creating wireframes and prototypes, and overseeing the testing process to ensure that the website was intuitive, user-friendly, and met the project's goals.

To accomplish this, my team and I sought to understand the needs of the user, define the target audience, and create a website design that is user-friendly and visually appealing to ensure the website is effective in achieving its mission.

Problem Statement:

W.D.D. needs a website that effectively communicates their mission of suicide prevention and mental health awareness. The website should be designed to engage and educate the target audience, promote their paid services, and encourage visitors to donate to their cause.

Focus or Area of Impact:

Wah DuDem’s mission centers around creating accessible mental health resources and fostering meaningful community connection through a culturally driven approach to suicide prevention.

Primary Audience

The platform was designed to support:

  • Individuals at risk of suicide

  • People seeking mental health resources and support

  • Community members and advocates

  • Potential sponsors, collaborators, and artists aligned with W.D.D.’s mission

Key User Insights

Through research, we identified an opportunity to better connect with audiences who are often underserved or less engaged by traditional mental health platforms.

Special emphasis was placed on designing for:

  • Creatives and artists in urban communities

  • Men ages 15–35

  • First-generation individuals navigating identity, pressure, and belonging

Design Considerations

Because the subject matter is emotionally sensitive, the experience needed to feel:

  • approachable rather than clinical

  • community-driven rather than institutional

  • expressive, engaging, and emotionally safe

These insights directly influenced the visual direction, tone, and overall user experience strategy throughout the project.

Design Process:

To guide the project, we used the Double Diamond framework — a user-centered design process focused on exploration, clarity, and iterative problem-solving.

The process was divided into four key phases:

  • Discover — researching users, competitors, and community needs

  • Define — synthesizing insights and identifying core problems

  • Design — developing wireframes, visual direction, and user flows

  • Deliver — refining solutions through testing and iteration

Why This Approach?

Wah DuDem serves emotionally vulnerable users, it was important to use a process that prioritized empathy, research, and intentional decision-making before moving into visual design.

The Double Diamond framework helped create structure throughout the project while ensuring both user needs and stakeholder goals remained central to the final experience.

Discover:

During the Discover phase, we conducted user surveys and competitive research to better understand the needs of Wah DuDem’s audience.

Key Focus Areas

  • User needs and emotional pain points

  • Gaps in existing mental health platforms

  • Opportunities for a more community-driven experience

Key Insight

Many existing suicide prevention websites felt overly clinical and lacked emotional connection, especially for younger creatives and underserved communities.

Define:

During the Define phase, we transformed our research findings into actionable insights that helped shape the direction of the experience.

Using user personas, journey mapping, and problem statements, we identified the emotional and behavioral needs of Wah DuDem’s audience — particularly users experiencing loneliness, emotional distress, or a lack of community connection.

Key Insights

The research revealed that users were not only looking for mental health resources, but also:

  • a sense of belonging

  • emotional escape through music and art

  • meaningful social connection

  • accessible community events

User Persona Development

To better understand these needs, we created personas representing individuals navigating emotional stress, financial pressure, and social isolation while trying to maintain connection within creative and urban communities.

Journey Mapping

The user journey helped visualize how someone might move from feelings of loneliness or emotional overwhelm to discovering support through community, music, and live events.

This phase helped ensure the final experience felt:

  • emotionally engaging

  • community-driven

  • approachable rather than clinical

  • aligned with the real experiences of the target audience

Design:

During the Design phase, we translated research insights into wireframes, prototypes, and interactive layouts focused on creating a more engaging and community-driven experience.

Design Goals

The experience was designed to feel:

  • immersive and culturally connected

  • easy to navigate

  • emotionally engaging rather than clinical

  • centered around music, events, and community participation

Key Design Decisions

Based on user needs and stakeholder feedback, we developed:

  • calendar and list views for event discovery

  • simplified navigation and information hierarchy

  • visually immersive event pages

  • clear calls-to-action to encourage community engagement and event participation

Iteration & Collaboration

The designs were refined through continuous feedback from both users and stakeholders. This iterative process helped improve usability while ensuring the final experience aligned with Wah DuDem’s mission, brand identity, and audience needs.

The final direction successfully balanced expressive visuals with functional accessibility, creating a platform that felt both impactful and easy to use.

Deliver:

During the Deliver phase, final wireframes and prototypes were annotated to support a smooth handoff to the client’s development team.

Deliverables Included:

  • Annotated wireframes

  • Interaction and navigation guidance

  • Information architecture documentation

  • Design specifications for development implementation

Final Outcome

The handoff process ensured the final product stayed aligned with the intended user experience, visual direction, and accessibility goals established throughout the project.

Stakeholders and Target Audience:

My primary stakeholder in this project is Hilla Bundem, the founder of W.D.D. The target audience includes volunteers, sponsors, artists, and individuals who may be at risk of suicide or who are seeking mental health resources.

Scope and Constraints:

Our scope was to create a website that was fun, engaging, interactive, and informative, with a focus on providing users with an enjoyable and memorable experience unlike a government website for mental health resources

Constraints:

  • Promote the importance of suicide prevention and mental health awareness

  • Keep the feeling of talking and connecting with someone one can trust IRL

  • Meet accelerated timeline

  • Ensure that the website is accessible and user-friendly for people of a wide range of ages and abilities

Outcomes & Results

The final design delivered a visually engaging and user-friendly experience that aligned with Wah DuDem’s mission of promoting mental health awareness, community connection, and suicide prevention.

Key Outcomes.

The platform was designed to:

  • increase awareness of W.D.D.’s mission and resources

  • encourage community engagement through events and programs

  • create a more approachable and emotionally connected user experience

  • support donations, sponsorships, and audience participation

Success Metrics

Project success was measured through:

  • website traffic and user engagement

  • event participation and community interaction

  • donation and sponsorship opportunities

  • overall accessibility and ease of navigation

The final experience balanced expressive visual storytelling with usability, helping create a platform that felt both impactful and community-centered.