Testing Virtual Hope Box

Virtual Hope Box is one of the most downloaded apps offered by the Defense Health Agency. A mental health toolkit designed to support active duty service members and veterans. After completing a full redesign of the app, our team wanted to validate our design decisions through structured usability testing before the next release.

Working with the DHA WMT Usability Lab, I co-facilitated a moderated usability study focused on the Guide Me section of VHB, one of the app's most complex features, housing Coping Cards, an Activity Planner, and a Secure Storage Plan. I designed the test protocol, built a clickable prototype, and conducted sessions with five veterans and military-adjacent participants.

The study produced eight documented findings ranging from carousel navigation issues to language that participants found legally concerning and emotionally off-putting. The resulting recommendations report was submitted to stakeholders and directly shaped the next iteration of the app. The redesign earned a System Usability Scale score of 87.5, just below the industry benchmark of 88.1, giving us a quantitative baseline to build from.