JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digital interventions for mental health and wellbeing are increasingly moving beyond screen-based applications toward more embodied approaches, necessitating design methodologies that emphasise bodily experiences. Soma Design offers a distinctive interaction design approach that integrates bodily awareness with aesthetic appreciation, viewing the mind and body as an inseparable whole.

Objective:

This scoping review aims to map and analyse the emerging applications of Soma Design within digital mental health and wellbeing interventions, offering a comprehensive overview of this holistic design methodology for researchers and practitioners.

Methods:

This review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Studies were included if they reported on the use of Soma Design in digital mental health or wellbeing contexts.

Results:

Ten papers were eligible for inclusion. The interventions varied in their stage of development: five were conceptual design concepts created by adolescents, while five were prototypes or experiential artefacts developed by researchers. One prototype involved a “somatic connoisseur” in the design process. All interventions incorporated soma awareness exercises, with Feldenkrais lessons being the most commonly used. Toolkits, such as Soma Bits and the Menarche toolkit, supported the design of two interventions. Soma Design methods benefited both designers and users: designers used embodied practices to inform interaction design, while users reported increased bodily awareness, full-body engagement, and relaxation.

Conclusions:

Soma Design represents a valuable approach for developing embodied, user-sensitive digital mental health and wellbeing interventions. It offers a participatory, holistic co-design methodology that can meaningfully engage diverse end-users. However, many interventions identified in this review remain in early stages of development and lack systematic evaluation. Advancing the field will require interdisciplinary collaboration among mental health professionals, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers, industry partners, and individuals with lived experience. These partnerships are essential for co-designing, testing, and implementing interventions that are both effective and scalable, ultimately extending the reach and impact of Soma design in digital mental health contexts.