Digital Support App for Users in Recovery
Designing for vulnerable users
Recovery app users exist in a fundamentally different emotional and psychological state than your standard app users. Notably, users of recovery apps might be experiencing emotional instability, shame, fear of judgment, or crisis moments.
Every interaction needed to account for users who might be struggling with motivation, experiencing setbacks, or feeling overwhelmed by traditional app complexity. This required rethinking standard UX patterns, particularly for notifications, progress tracking, and social features.
Progressive data collection
The app's core value proposition—personalized sobriety tracking and location-based accountability—required sensitive personal information that users might be reluctant to share.
Based on my research (and past projects), I knew users would be looking to validate the app's relevance and utility before they're comfortable providing their sobriety start date, providing location access, or personal recovery goals.
This created a unique onboarding challenge: How do you demonstrate value without the data on which that value is dependent?
Accountability without punishment
Traditional habit-tracking apps often use shame or competition as motivators, which are counterproductive and dangerous for recovery users.
We aimed to create an accountability system on positive reinforcement, encouraging progress, celebrating milestones, and providing supportive responses to setbacks. This required reimagining progress visualization, streak tracking, and other goal-setting mechanics to work in a mental health or recovery context.
Privacy and safety considerations
Location tracking for meeting verification, progress sharing, and social features aren't just privacy concerns—they can be literal safety issues for users in recovery.
The design needed to provide valuable accountability features while giving users complete control over their privacy and data sharing.
Problem Statement
Objective
Create a recovery support app that functions as a genuine daily companion, providing active engagement and accountability rather than passive content consumption.
Success Metrics
- Onboarding completion rate, particularly for sensitive data collection phases
- Daily active usage during first 90 days (critical recovery period)
- User retention after milestone achievements (30, 60, 90 days)
- Location verification opt-in rates and continued usage
- User-reported sense of accountability and support through app feedback
- Successful soft launch with positive user feedback and stakeholder validation
While analyzing the existing mental health app ecosystems, I identified 3 dominant but insufficient approaches: (1) digital journaling apps that rely solely on self-reflection, (2) guided mindfulness apps with generic meditation content, and (3) directory-style apps that function like WebMD for mental health.
None provided the active, intelligent support that recovery requires during vulnerable moments.
Recovery community insights
Research into recovery community needs revealed that the most valuable support comes from accountability partners, sponsors, and peers who understand the recovery journey. This insight informed our long-term vision for AI-powered recovery coaching and immediate design decisions around progress tracking and community features.
Users expressed frustration with apps that treated recovery like generic self-improvement rather than acknowledging the complexity of addiction.
Behavioral pattern analysis
I studied popular apps (Duolingo, Fitbit, Waze) to understand engagement mechanics, identifying ways to adapt elements for recovery contexts.
This research revealed that traditional gamification could be harmful if not carefully calibrated for recovery psychology, but that accountability, milestone recognition, and community support could be valuable when implemented thoughtfully.
Design strategy
I developed a progressive disclosure strategy that would allow users to experience core app value before committing sensitive personal information. This involved creating multiple user journeys based on different comfort levels with data sharing, designing flexible onboarding flows that could accommodate various entry points, and establishing clear value propositions for each level of engagement.
Feature prioritization
Working alongside the development team, I prioritized features that would provide immediate value while building toward an AI-powered companion.
Core features included sobriety milestone tracking with financial savings calculations, location-based meeting finder with privacy controls, progressive goal-setting with adaptable targets, and community features designed for safety over broad social connection. Each feature was designed to work independently while contributing to the larger companion experience.
Prototyping
I spent considerable time assessing the progressive onboarding flow with stakeholders as well as several of the brand's existing followers. This early testing showed that users want granular privacy controls and clearer explanations of how their data will be leveraged to build trust in the platform.
Design system refinement
Wanting to avoid the app appearing too celebratory for the serious nature of recovery, I aimed to strike balance between reassurance, encouragement, and respect for users' challenges. I pursued this goal by relying on interaction patterns for presenting sensitive content and also created some rudimentary guidelines for AI integration opportunities down the road.
Feedback & collaboration
I held several feedback sessions explicitly focused on the ethical implications of location tracking, the psychological impact of progress visualization, and the long-term vision and features dependent on AI integration. In response, design modifications were made to prioritize user agency and transparency in how their data is used.
Successful MVP design completion
Delivered a complete design system and user experience strategy that successfully balanced user vulnerability with engagement needs. The progressive onboarding strategy received positive stakeholder feedback for its sensitivity to user privacy concerns while maintaining clear value propositions. The design established a foundation for future AI integration while providing immediate utility through core accountability features.
Design innovation for vulnerable users
Created design patterns specifically adapted for mental health contexts, including non-punitive progress tracking, trauma-informed interaction design, and privacy-first community features. These patterns demonstrated how traditional app engagement strategies require fundamental reconsideration when designing for vulnerable populations.
Foundation for AI-powered expansion
The design framework successfully accommodated the team's long-term vision for AI-powered recovery coaching while delivering immediate value through human-centered accountability features. The modular design approach ensured that future AI integration could enhance rather than replace the core user experience of personal agency and community support.
Note: My design involvement concluded with MVP completion and soft launch preparation. Subsequent product iterations and growth strategies were managed by other team members.
