Universities and other educational institutions around the world are continuously striving to be supportive of the immensely important feeling of personal well-being among students. It is believed that personal well-being is essential for optimal learning outcomes in educational settings. A study from Hong Kong has shown a link between long-standing positive effects of personal well-being on university engagement and associated learning outcomes, confirming the belief of causality between learning and well-being. Another research has shown that digital mental health interventions can be effective for improving anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being among college students.

This thesis aims to determine how a digital solution can be designed to contribute to positive well-being among university students at Aalborg University. Based on both a state-of-the-art literature review on mental health and well-being among university students, and a review of the most recent study environment surveys, an online survey was conducted to further empathize and define the problem and user needs. Respondents of the survey were university students currently enrolled at the Faculty of Humanities at Aalborg University and were presented with multiple-choice questions with the ability to further elaborate on their thought process by being able to type in text to each question presented.

The empirical data were then used in the project's design methodology to generate ideas for a prototype that conceptualizes a digital mental health intervention that can improve personal well-being for the students at the Faculty of Humanities at Aalborg University. Analysis of the responses demonstrated that the well-being of the students had declined compared to previous study environment surveys from previous years, and there were a lot of students who sometimes or often felt lonely. Furthermore, the students revealed that they thought there was a lack of social events at the university between faculties, and there was a consensus that this problem needed to be addressed for better well-being among students.

On these grounds a platform was designed to bridge the gap between the students’ social and academic life, and this was done by following the structure of Stanford d.school’s Design Thinking Process. The goal was to fulfill the three basic needs of the self-determination theory and to create communities of practice.

The results indicated that a digital solution could be a solution to the decline in well-being among students at The Faculty of Humanities at Aalborg University by being a tool for communication and planning, thus allowing the students to come together between faculties whilst engaging in their academic life.