Diall is launching a mental health app to connect people with specialized crisis support
Founders Jonah Salita and Marcel Johnson came up with the idea while discussing racial tensions in the U.S. in mid-2020. Johnson, who identifies as a queer black man, had felt particularly afraid of being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, to the point where he wasn’t sure he would be alive at the end of the year. He felt endangered, but since he couldn’t call 9–1–1, he wasn’t sure where to turn.
“I’d seen many people posting resources on social media,” said Johnson. “As helpful as it was to see these resources being shared on Instagram, the reality was that if I needed help, Instagram would not be the first place I would go to look for it, nor would it have the technology that would allow me to access those resources in an easy way.
“I realized that there was no other technology solving this problem. When thinking about what new technology could address this, I knew that resources needed to be easier than dialing 9–1–1 and truly inclusive of everyone. If this could be achieved, people would feel uplifted to seek support, get help and stay safe.”
They quickly developed a name and branding that matched their idea of what they wanted Diall to be. The name refers to a keypad, which has specialist services for each number on a phone, and the additional ‘l’ in Diall represents the inclusive nature of a service that works for all.
“There is a lot of information out there for people, but there isn’t a centralized location where all of these resources and information can be easily accessed,” said Johnson. “So it’s not a question about whether these resources exist, but rather how inaccessible they can be for people. That’s a very real challenge that we’re trying to solve with Diall.”
The pair have spent countless hours vetting resources and partner organizations so that users get the best information and support for their specific needs. Buttons include contact phone numbers that are available free of charge 24/7, so that people can get the help they need, when they need it.
“It’s faster than 9–1–1, it’s more specific than 9–1–1, and it gets you to a mental health professional,” said Salita. “What we’ve done is really vetted these partners, curated it, distilled it and put it into this easy to select area.”
It’s been an exhaustive process of manually vetting and verifying the partners and resources available on Diall, but they’re nearly ready to launch the app. The startup’s beta launch will begin with users who’ve signed up on a waitlist in March, and they aim to launch the app to the general public once they’ve finished their first round of feedback.
“We have millions of ideas for features and upgrades later on, but we want things we know can make a tangible difference now,” said Salita. “A really important question for us is ‘what would people be most disappointed about if it wasn’t in the app?’, because framing it this way means we can get really honest feedback.”
A guiding light throughout every stage of building Diall has been the experience of the end user, which is why they’re keeping their feedback loop as close as possible. The pair say that approach will be central to everything they do throughout the trial and launch of the final product, which they will determine a success when people can rely on Diall and have it be a go-to point for issues they’re experiencing.
