An interactive thought visualization tool for insomnia treatment

Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disorder, characterized by chronic problems with the initiation and/or maintenance of consolidated sleep. Emotional distress and sleep-related dysfunctional thoughts are common reinforcing factors of insomnia. A method to overcome emotional distress is by challenging irrational thoughts throughout practice which will be effective for the patients to adopt healthier thoughts. This well-established principle is an important part of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI). We designed a tool intended to create awareness on dysfunctional thinking patterns by providing visualizations and conceptualized as a web-based platform. Thoughts are released via mobile application and collected on a cloud-based system and then visualized based on frequency and emotional intensity. Initially, a cultural probe study was carried out where participants who perceived to have sleep problems recorded their thoughts for seven days, and then shared their experience in a post interview. The concept was visualized with an interactive mock-up, evaluated with usability studies and clinical expert interviews. The results showed that the tool is easy to use, visualizations are clear and has potential to be an educative platform for cognitive part of insomnia therapy. Based on the results, requirements are settled and design is finalized. The next step is to conduct validation studies by using a fully functional prototype and investigate the tool's effect on the treatment of insomnia related disorders.