Last week, the Mood Challenge semi-finalists convened for the Innovators’ Boot Camp, a hands-on two-day session designed to help them turn their proposals into Round 2 submissions of designs for ResearchKit studies.

An incredible group of experts in ResearchKit, iOS UX/UI, medical research, and psychology led the semi-finalists through a series of sessions on topics including best practices for the use of ecological momentary assessments, a crash course in ResearchKit capabilities, the importance of security and privacy in research data, and a discussion on big picture thinking called Delighting in the Possible. Throughout the Boot Camp, the semi-finalists were guided through several rapid prototyping exercises to quickly test new ideas with mentors and other teams.

“It’s been this iterative agile process. Every time we come up with something, being able to share with all the mentors and then quickly change has accelerated our designs and sparked new questions,” said David Haddad of Aware Study.

Boot Camp kicks off the Virtual Accelerator period, during which semi-finalists will also have access to expert mentorship as they continue to refine their studies. We would like to thank our Virtual Accelerator mentors, who have graciously donated their expertise to the Challenge.

In September, the five semi-finalists will present their designs to the judges at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey to decide two finalists. Stay tuned for the finalist announcement in October! Sign up to receive Challenge updates here.