At Youth-GEMs, young people are not only the intended users of the Gemmy app — they are active contributors to its development. One way the project sustains co-creation is through collaborations with schools. By connecting educational programmes to real-world research, students are given the opportunity to apply their skills while contributing meaningful insights to an international project.
Recently, students from Roercollege in Roermond (the Netherlands) participated in such a collaboration through their Research & Design programme. In the testimonial below, they share their experiences of working with the Gemmy app, how they approached their assignment, and what they learned throughout the process.
Our Research & Design Assignment with the Gemmy App
Over the past few weeks, we — Phileas Rutten, Niels Clephas and Finn Bremmers, students at Roercollege in Roermond, the Netherlands — have been working on an assignment for the subject Research & Design (R&D).
In R&D, you work in small groups on real-life challenges for a company or organisation. You develop key skills such as creative thinking, teamwork, planning and presenting. In each project, you go through several steps, including:
- drawing up a project plan,
- conducting preliminary research,
- carrying out research or creating a design,
- writing reports,
- presenting your findings to the client and your class.
Our assignment with the Gemmy app, part of Youth-GEMs, fitted perfectly with this way of working.
Our experiences with the Gemmy App
During our pilot, we installed the Gemmy app and used it for several weeks. Gemmy helps you explore your feelings, focus on what you need and take small steps to support your mental wellbeing. The app can be particularly helpful during stressful moments, such as exam periods or busy days.
We found it interesting to see how Gemmy makes it easy to pause and reflect on what you are feeling and what you need, without it becoming complicated.
How we approached our assignment
We systematically gathered our experiences:
- we tracked which features of Gemmy we used,
- we discussed with each other what worked (and what didn’t),
- and we compiled our feedback in a clear and structured report.
In doing so, we not only experienced the app ourselves but also actively contributed insights that Youth-GEMs can use for further development.
Guidance and Collaboration
Our pilot did not stand alone. We were supervised by Lisette van der Poel from Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, who helped us formulate our questions and share our findings clearly with external partners. In addition, @ease Roermond (www.ease.nl) played an important role as a partner in this project. It was the place where our student group met regularly and where we further developed the approach and implementation of the research. Deborah op ’t Eijnde and Dominik (a volunteer at @ease Roermond) provided guidance and encouragement. Together with them, we brainstormed about the research design, recruiting participants and refining the questions we used to interview participants.
We also gained insight into the technical side of the app. We learned that Gemmy is developed by Ab.Acus, the (research) organization that worked together with international young people to design and build the app’s functionality.
“The strength of Youth-GEMs lies in involving young people in the design of tools for young people. When students contribute ideas and test the app through an R&D assignment, it ensures that the feedback is genuinely useful for further development. This is exactly what we aim for within Youth-GEMs.”
Prof. Dr Bart Rutten, psychiatrist and coordinator of the Youth-GEMs study.
What We Learned
This R&D pilot showed us that technology and mental health can work well together; especially when young people are genuinely involved in the process. We found it meaningful that our experiences matter and that we carried out this work not only for school, but also for a real international organisation.
Thank you to Phileas Rutten, Niels Clephas and Finn Bremmers (students) and John Klok and Patrick Raemaekers (R&D teachers at Roercollege) for your valuable contribution to Youth-GEMs.
