Stakeholders Open Space
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Game On: Co-Creating Future-Ready Mental Health Solutions with Young Minds
Engaging Stakeholders Through SMILE’s Innovative Approach: The ‚Game On‘ Workshop Experience
At the Open Living Labs Days (OLLD) in Timișoara, held from September 25th to 27th, 2024, the SMILE team collaborated with stakeholders in dynamic workshops designed to simulate real-world applications of digital tools, specifically the SMILE Companion App. This event, hosted by the European Network of Living Labs (ENOLL), highlighted SMILE’s commitment to interactive, experiential methodologies that integrate cutting-edge technologies with everyday applications—a cornerstone of the project’s mission.
The workshop featured innovative exercises, including:
- ”In Their Shoes”: Participants adopted persona viewpoints to uncover key insights and empathise with user experiences.
- ”In Their Shoes Results“: Participants provided structured feedback based on each persona’s perspective.
- ”Real-World Testing Journey”: Stakeholders contributed their voices to explore the seven key phases of SMILE’s implementation journey.
These activities offered an invaluable opportunity for user-centered design and interactive stakeholder engagement, equipping the SMILE team with actionable feedback to refine both the Companion App’s features and its broader implementation strategy.
[Download the Full Report HERE]
Summary of First Workshop Exercise – ”In Their Shoes”
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Summary of Second Workshop Exercise – ”In Their Shoes Results“
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Summary of Third Workshop Exercise – ”Real-World Testing Journey”
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SMILE Living Labs Across Europe: Co-Creation in Action
At SMILE, we believe that the future of youth mental health must be designed with young people, not just for them. That’s why the SMILE project has implemented a co-creation methodology across seven European countries through Living Labs. These Living Labs are not simple user testing sessions, they are real-world innovation spaces where young people aged 10 to 24 collaborate with psychologists, researchers, designers, and educators to co-create inclusive, evidence-based digital tools that genuinely respond to their needs.
SMILE Living Labs are structured participatory workshops held across all seven pilot countries. In each pilot country, up to 300 young people are taking part in a pilot study to evaluate the digital tools and identify barriers and opportunities for wider implementation across Europe. Each session was carefully designed to gather age-appropriate, context-sensitive, and ethically guided insights to refine two flagship digital tools:
- 📱 The Companion Mobile App, a mobile resource offering self-management strategies, daily mental health tips, and accessible crisis support.
- 🎮 The Serious Video Game, an emotionally engaging, interactive experience that builds emotional literacy and resilience through narrative gameplay.
More than feedback sessions, these Labs positioned youth as active contributors to tool design, from visual preferences and user flow to content relevance and emotional impact. Additionnally, some of the Living Labs included broader context encouraging reflection on the digital landscape and expanded their understanding of digital well-being.
What Makes the SMILE Approach Unique?
- Age-Stratified Participation: Workshops were tailored for three age cohorts (10–14, 15–19, 20–24) to match cognitive development, digital behaviours, and emotional maturity.
- Multi-Stakeholder Facilitation: Each lab brought together youth facilitators, mental health professionals, designers, and local educators to ensure multidimensional perspectives.
- Ethical & Inclusive Design: Guided by safeguarding protocols, all sessions centred on respectful, trauma-informed engagement, fostering a safe space for authentic input.
- Cultural Adaptability: Labs were flexibly adapted to reflect local languages, societal contexts, and educational settings across Europe.
- Iterative Development Integration: Youth feedback directly informed ongoing design decisions, refining features, navigation, tone, accessibility, and emotional resonance.
- Creative & Interactive Methods: Sessions included storytelling, gameplay walkthroughs, empathy mapping, card sorting, and collaborative prototyping, empowering diverse expressions.
“This isn’t about usability testing, it’s about shared ownership, trust, and impact. We treat youth as co-designers of their mental health journeys.”
The collective insights from the Living Labs are now feeding into the final development stages of SMILE’s digital tools, influencing our pilot trials and long-term sustainability planning. Through this human-centered approach, we ensure SMILE tools are culturally relevant, psychologically grounded, technically accessible, and emotionally resonant. the SMILE Living Labs embody our core vision: youth-driven, science-based, and socially inclusive mental health innovation for Europe. Several sessions concluded with warm and social activities to foster trust, open dialogue, and a sense of belonging between youth participants and facilitators. These moments help build the psychological safety essential for meaningful co-creation.
SMILE Stakeholders Surveys: Help shape the future of Youth Mental Health
The SMILE project is commited to making a real impact on youth mental health by developing innovative digital tools and fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Your insights and expertise are crucial to ensuring that our solutions are effective, inclusive, and impactful. For this purpose, we have designed two targeted surveys, each focusing on a unique aspect of our project:
- Stakeholder Alignement: Let us know how our project aligns with your interests, goals, and expectations.
- Stakeholder Composition and Contribution: Let us know your expertise and the level of engagement you envision with SMILE.
Thanks to the collaboration between stakeholders — including researchers, educators, healthcare professionals, families, young people, policymakers, and the general public — the SMILE tools and resources are shaped by your input. Together, we are ensuring that the design of SMILE tools is tailored to meet real needs, our co-creation process is guided by diverse perspectives, and our shared efforts create a lasting impact.
To contribute, click on the images below to access the surveys or scan the QR codes to participate in the Survey on Alignement and the Survey on Composition and Contribution.
