Case studies
Ripple: Building digital technology for mental health support
A collaboration between Blue Tea and Ripple to transform online searches into life-saving support.
About the Client
Ripple Suicide Prevention is a UK-based charity founded by Alice Hendy MBE after losing her brother, Josh, to suicide. The organisation’s mission is to provide immediate, compassionate intervention for individuals in crisis by intercepting online searches related to self-harm and suicide, and signposting users to 24/7, free mental health support.
Ripple simply wouldn’t exist without David and the Blue Tea team. Their kindness, generosity and technical expertise have turned an idea into a practical tool that continues to save lives.
Alice Hendy, Founder and CEO of Ripple Suicide Prevention.
The Requirements
Ripple partnered with Blue Tea to turn its vision into a functional and scalable digital tool that could provide help at the moment of crisis. The project required a browser-based solution able to detect self-harm-related searches and display a calm, supportive message that offered immediate access to help.
The challenge was to design the system to be secure, ethical and privacy first. No user data could be stored or transmitted externally. It also needed to be accessible and adaptable for large-scale deployment across public and private-sector organisations.
The initial launch focused on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, the two browsers covering most online searches at the time.
Our Solution
Here’s how Blue Tea responded:
Building a privacy-first foundation
Blue Tea created the first version of the Ripple browser extension as a secure, privacy-first solution that runs directly in the user’s browser. The tool identifies harmful searches and displays an immediate on-screen pop-up with a calm, supportive message offering access to help. All processing happens locally keeping all data private and secure.
Designing for accessibility and empathy
Working with Ripple’s founder and a volunteer UI developer, Blue Tea created several layouts for the intervention pop-up. User testing with universities, councils and charities helped shape a clear and inclusive design that feels calm and supportive for users in distress. Accessibility and empathy guided every design decision.
Expanding the technology
In 2023 the Ripple tool evolved into a scalable, multilingual platform. The word bank grew to more than 10,000 terms, covering a broad range of mental health challenges including eating disorders, gambling, substance misuse, financial wellbeing and LGBTQIA+ struggles.
Adding smart tools for flexibility
Blue Tea implemented a Snooze Function that allows professional users and researchers to temporarily pause the extension when analysing sensitive content. A Keyword Collection Tool was also introduced to capture new or missed terms and continuously refine the system through both internal review and public suggestions.
Extending protection across networks
Blue Tea supported the integration of the Ripple Wi-Fi Solution, powered by Netsweeper’s DNS filtering technology. The solution protects users across public and organisational Wi-Fi networks, analysing over 224 million web requests each day and extending Ripple’s safeguarding beyond the browser.
Enhancing reach and security
In 2024, Blue Tea enabled Ripple browser extension support for YouTube and introduced age-specific signposting for students.
As of today, Ripple holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, and Cyber Essentials certifications. It also maintains WCAG 2.1 compliance and undergoes regular penetration testing, confirming its reliability and security.
From the start, our focus was on designing technology that does more than perform – it protects, Ripple proves that empathy and engineering can come together to make a real difference.
David Savage, Director at Blue Tea.
Project Benefits
Global reach and multilingual coverage
Ripple is now available in 14 languages and operates in 50 countries and territories. It supports all major browsers – Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox and Opera – covering over 97% of web searches.
Proven life-saving impact
Ripple protects close to 2 million weekly users and has intercepted more than 100,000 harmful online searches. Thirty-two individuals have directly contacted the organisation to say that Ripple saved their lives.
Security and accessibility
Ripple is certified to ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials standards. It also complies with WCAG 2.1 and is regularly tested by independent security specialists to maintain system resilience.
Recognition and collaboration
Ripple’s crisis intervention tool has been deployed by over 700 organisations globally. It has received multiple awards for innovation, technology for good and social impact, including The King’s Award for Enterprise – Innovation.
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