Development and usability of an online CBT program for symptoms of moderate depression, anxiety, and stress in post-secondary students

Internet-based intervention programs can improve mental health outcomes, and may offer a novel medium for reducing emotional distress in post-secondary students. This paper describes the development and usability testing of a new cognitive behavioral therapy-based program, “Feeling Better” designed to reduce symptoms of emotional distress in post-secondary students. An iterative qualitative usability testing approach was used to assess the program’s usability (i.e., ease of navigation, clarity, efficiency and acceptability). Three cycles of participant feedback and feedback from counselling centre staff was coded and used to iteratively modify the interface. Changes were both structural (e.g., shortening sections) and stylistic (e.g., aesthetic features), remodeling “Feeling Better” into a user-friendly platform ready to be used and its effects evaluated in further studies.