Battling depression with Beyond Blue

For the last 20 years, the folks at Beyond Blue have made a huge difference in the lives of Australians who suffer from anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. Unfortunately, some communities within Australia—specifically LGBTIQ, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders—are at greater risk of suicide. In a recent initiative, Beyond Blue set a goal of alleviating the burden felt by those specific populations.  

Beyond Blue started looking for ways to put personalized suicide safety plans into the hands of those who need it most. A good plan helps a person identify and document concrete steps they can take in order to feel safe during particularly difficult times in their life. Beyond Blue has a ton of experience creating these plans for others—they just needed to make them accessible to members of these overburdened communities.

We built an app that helps people reclaim their lives and actively fight their depression.

Two Bulls/DEPT® partnered closely with Beyond Blue in the development of Beyond Now, a mobile app that lets each user build their own suicide safety plan and carry it with them wherever they go.  We knew that the success of Beyond Now would rely heavily on our ability to make real connections with real people and build trust in the product. Through honest and candid conversation with Beyond Blue, we learned about the sensitivities that surround mental illness, we learned about the communities we were trying to reach, and then we built an app that puts the user at the center of the experience.