The Jacobs Center for Health Innovation partnered with UC San Diego students for more than two years to develop Willo, a free mental health and well-being app that streamlines student’s access to the university’s wellness resources. Willo is the first mental health app to be introduced on a university campus.
Funded by $5 million from the State of California, UCSD developed Willo in response to the rise in mental health-related issues on university campuses by compiling the vast wellness services available on campus onto one platform using artificial intelligence. These resources include, but are not limited to, Counseling and Psychological Services, The Hub Basic Needs Center, online mental health screenings, and Triton CORE, UCSD’s mobile crisis response team.
The app is made “By and For Students”, as the development process involved students in designing and beta testing the app.
Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla spoke to UC San Diego Today, addressing the development of Willo and its importance in our community.
“Willo is designed specifically to address the mental health needs of our diverse community,” Khosla said. “This trailblazing app reflects the collaborative nature and innovative ethos of our campus and long history of leadership in AI. By introducing this transformative AI algorithm, we are delivering on our mission to prioritize student health and well-being, with a strong focus on mental health support.”
Executive Director of Student Health and Wellbeing Ed Junkins identifies accessibility as a barrier to students using the wellness resources.
“All students pay for mental health services as part of their tuition and our on-campus counseling is free, yet only 10% of our 43,000 students use our counseling services,” said Junkins. “We know demand is increasing, and we also know that we need to make it easier for students to access these services easily and in a way that is tailored to their unique, personal needs.”
Willo’s key features include:
- Personalized recommendations to services based on students’ interests.
- Scheduling and tracking health appointments through MyChart.
- Information on the upcoming wellness events held by the university.
Upon first signing into the app, students can select from a wide range of categories that best fit their needs — from anxiety management to grief, and even athlete wellbeing.
Junior PhD student at the Human-centered eXtended Intelligence research lab, Manas Bedmutha, was a student designer on the Willo development team. He emphasized the importance of incorporating human-centered AI into the structure of the app.
Human-centered AI strengthens an already existing system rather than replace humans entirely. Willo functions to improve student accessibility to campus wellness services based on what is most relevant to their needs. This ensures that the university’s resources aren’t replaced, but rather amplified.
“Our team defined what the user needs or wants first, rather than building out the technology and then figuring out if people like it,” Bedmutha said.
Along with services provided for student heath, Willo offers resources for academics, physical health, and careers. These resources include acquiring Recreation Center Passes and informing students about internship opportunities or organizations such as the Triton LinkedIn group.
“Wellness has different types and forms. It can be about your academic and personal growth, it can be about your mental and physical state, or it can be about your sense of social belonging,” Bedmutha said.
Willo monitors users’ activity, adjusting the recommended services based on the resources that students previously searched for or read about. Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, the app is programmed to recommend resources relevant to significant academic events, such as midterms and finals.
