AIMHEALTH Lab

GLOW: An AI chatbot that delivers DBT support through conversational therapy

DESCRIPTION

GLOW AI is an evidence-based chatbot designed to support emotional regulation using DBT and chain analysis. As a UX Designer and Research Assistant, I helped bridge user needs and clinical practices to develop a more trustworthy AI mental health tool.

CONTEXT

AI-powered mental health chatbots often lack clinical validation and struggle to deliver consistent, empathetic, and digestible support. Our team set out to design a more grounded solution rooted in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) techniques and user research to offer support to both the patient and clinician.

MY ROLE

UX Researcher & UX Designer

TOOLS

Figma

Figjam

Problem

Existing AI-powered mental health chatbots lack the involvement of trained mental health professionals, resulting in fragmented therapeutic frameworks and unvalidated effectiveness in improving user well-being.

Proposed Solution

To address these gaps, there is a need for an evidence-based chatbot incorporating clinical tools like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) techniques and user engagement research to deliver personalized, effective, and sustained behavioral interventions

User Interviews: What are we trying to learn?

13

User Interviews

were conducted to understand (1) how they define mental health, (2) what effective support looks like, and (3) how they feel about AI’s role in that space.

Our research surfaced key themes around empathy, agency, and discomfort with AI as a full substitute for a therapist.

Organizing the Chaos

1. Jotting down valuable statements for each participant

2. Affinity Mapping: Grouping users’ statements depending on common themes

Key Takeaway

A majority of participants had similar beliefs that:

  1. AI would be better suited serving as a tool for therapy than being the therapist itself.

  2. The largest factor that goes into effective mental health support is empathy.

Exploring the Right Form of Intervention

We brainstormed everything from self-tracking journals to structured skill modules. But it was only after reflecting on users' desire for timely, ongoing, and emotionally attuned interaction that we started gravitating toward:

a conversational interface.

The chatbot format emerged as the best way to:

  1. Deliver DBT-based tools contextually

  2. Offer a channel to flag high-risk moments for therapist review

  3. Not give an AI tool full autonomy over patient care

  4. Create space for both independent reflection and clinical oversight

The Features

Onboarding

Because GLOW supports users through sensitive and vulnerable moments, establishing trust from the first interaction is essential. Our onboarding process introduces the platform in a friendly, informative tone, breaking down both the chat-based interface and the concept of chain analysis.

The onboarding process breaks down the medical and therapeutic jargon into digestible explanations. This allows users to understand exactly how this platform is meant to be used and how it’s meant to help them.

From Chat to Chain

At the heart of GLOW is its ability to transform everyday conversations into structured behavioral insights.

Using principles from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), GLOW guides users through a chain analysis, a visual breakdown that maps out the sequence of events, thoughts, and emotions leading to a problem behavior.

This feature not only surfaces patterns but also generates actionable recommendations, empowering users to understand and interrupt harmful cycles.