Dr. Michelle Morales

This summer research project gives students the opportunity to help design and build a mobile app prototype focused on supporting college students with social anxiety. Students will work on "Soft Steps", a digital therapy research project that explores how small, manageable social challenges, combined with reflection and optional AI support, can help reduce anxiety over time. Participants will gain hands-on experience with mental health research, app design and evaluation, and software development, while learning how digital therapies are created responsibly and ethically. No prior research experience is required, and students will be mentored throughout the summer as part of a collaborative and interdisciplinary team.

Undergraduate student (with experience in Python, e.g., data science, backend development, or scripting) will contribute to backend development, including:
 1. Designing and implementing components of the Python-based backend for the mobile app prototype 
 2. Managing data structures for surveys, reflections, and app interactions 

Undergraduate student (with experience in JavaScript, e.g., web or mobile development) will contribute to frontend and mobile development, including:
 1. Building components of the mobile app prototype interface using JavaScript-based frameworks
 2. Implementing core user flows such as onboarding, daily check-ins, and reflection prompts

High school students (no prior experience required) will focus on research and design support, including:
 1. Reviewing and summarizing academic articles on social anxiety and digital therapy
 2. Systematically engaging with and documenting existing digital anxiety interventions (e.g., publicly available apps) to analyze how therapeutic approaches described in the literature are implemented in practice, including collecting and organizing screenshots, user flows, and design patterns from similar apps
 3. Maintaining shared research documents and spreadsheets

All students will participate in design discussions, collaborative problem-solving, and research synthesis. 

Ideally, at least one team member should have experience in Python and one team member should have experience in JavaScript, though students with any prior coding background will be considered for 2 of the 4 roles. An existing mobile app codebase will be provided to scaffold student learning, enabling participants to make incremental contributions as they develop technical skills over the course of the project.  Helpful but not required background includes coursework or interest in psychology, sociology, public health, human-computer interaction, or data science.

Intended outcomes include the development of a functional mobile app prototype, preparation of a research poster for presentation at the summer research expo, and opportunities for students to contribute to the broader research pipeline, including background work supporting an IRB submission for a future pilot study evaluating the intervention.

Hybrid
Mondays (1-2 Hours)
One extended in-person meeting per week focused on setting weekly milestones and direct skill-building. These meetings will provide hands-on training in the project's core competencies, including version control (GitHub), software development best practices and systematic literature review methodologies. 

Brief daily virtual check-ins (10–15 minutes) to share progress, identify challenges, and set short-term goals

One end of week guided reflection session to celebrate weekly achievements and encourage thoughtful engagement with research questions, design decisions, and team collaboration.