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Just For Today

Providing alcoholics with easy access to tools based off of 12-Step recovery with a focus on positive reinforcement and real-time connection to their support system.

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Project Type

Passion Project

Tools

Skills

​App Design ·  Qualitative Research · Quantitative Research · Observational Research  · User Interviews · Information Architecture · Personas · Market Research  · Opportunity Analysis · Wireframing · Prototyping · Design Systems · Usability Testing 

Figma · Miro

OVERVIEW

Problem Space

How can we better support alcoholics to maintain their sobriety and successfully work their 12- Step program by leveraging the power of positive reinforcement. 

RESEARCH

In-Depth Interviews

Through the AA Cincinnati Intergroup and other connections within the AA communities in Cincinnati and Dayton, I arranged 1-hour in-depth interviews with various recovering alcoholics and their key support groups. These interviews helped me better understand the challenges of successfully working through a 12-step program.

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Female Alcoholics/ Sponors In Recovery

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Male Alcoholics/ Sponsors  In Recovery 

Therapist With A Specialty In Addiction 

Addition Intervention Specialist

Defense Attorney With A Specialty inAddiction Cases

Executive Of A Treatment Center

RESARCH

Mapping Key Relationships

The key relationship in recovery is between the alcoholics and their sponsor.  Sponsors are A.A. members who have worked the 12 steps of A.A. as a way to attain sobriety and are often in the best position to share their experience, understanding of the A.A. program, and outline the 12 steps.

Stakeholder Map

RESEARCH

 Interview Quotes

"There can be signs, but sometimes, you really don’t realize they’re struggling until it's too late." - Sponsor

"One day you’re in a controlled environment, and the next you’re back in the real world, where everything that led you to drink is still there. It can be hard to prepare for that and can be overwhelming to feel like you have to figure it on your own again." - Alcoholic In Recovery

"Treating recovery like a checkbox on a form rather than a complex process and sending addicts to a (12-step) program without addressing the underlying issues or providing any real support sets them up for failure." - Defense Attorney

"We celebrate small victories in recovery, it helps them see their own strength...They are already battling deep feelings of shame... so reinforcing their achievements in recovery empowers them to see themselves as capable, whereas shaming them for setbacks just takes them back to the narrative they’ve been fighting." - Addiction Therapist

RESEARCH ANALYSIS 

Key Problems

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01

The current transition process from treatment to the real world is precarious and lacks structure and consistency.

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No consistent way to shift a pro- drinking and drugging social network to a pro-abstinence social network.

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02

Parole officers are punitive and current methods for sending addicts to 12-Step program are ineffective.

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No means for those in early and long term recovery to visualize actual progress and consistency.

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03

No means for an alcoholic's support system to know if they are participating in the activities that keep them sober or to see early signs of relapse.

RESEARCH ANALYSIS 

Personas/ User Narratives

RESARCH

Behavior Based Research

One of the biggest elements in the research included understanding the psychology of addiction in terms of how people become addicts, how they become clean and sober, and then how they manage staying in recovery. To understand the process of how individuals create habits, you must understand operant conditioning.

 

Operant conditioning is a behaviorist theory based on the idea that behaviors that are reinforced will continue while behaviors that are punished will eventually end. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence. This theory was developed by behaviorist BF Skinner. 

 

Behavior which is immediately followed and reinforced by positive consequences is more likely to be repeated, and behavior followed by negative consequences is less likely to be repeated. Positive reinforcement immediately following a desirable behavior is the most powerful and long lasting of the four types and a key factor in shifting undesirable behaviors into desirable and sustainable new behaviors. In the field of behavioral psychology, if a behavior can be repeatedly, constantly, and precisely reinforced over time, the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated crescendos. Basically, every discipline, no matter how small, is an opportunity to apply positive reinforcement to a recovering alcoholic for taking steps in choosing to be sober

RESARCH

Understanding The Skinner Approach

Skinner stipulated two instances of adding a stimulus:

 

1) Reinforcement for correct behavior (ex: getting a message of support from your sponsor for attending an A.A. meeting)

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2) Reinforcement for incorrect behavior (ex: getting a notification that you did not attend a meeting that you had committed to attend)

 

Although not necessarily intuitive, both are adding a stimulus to increase a behavior; and therefore, both are instances of positive reinforcement. Skinner advised that positive reinforcement for incorrect behavior only increases that behavior to meet minimum requirements, and as a result, is difficult to sustain in the long run.

 

Skinner also proved that repeated positive reinforcement for correct behavior engages discretionary behavior where the participant chooses to repeat the behavior because they want to, and not because they feel they have to repeat it. This is a key feature of operant conditioning – focusing on giving credit for what is done correctly.  

RESEARCH ANALYSIS 

Opportunity Analysis

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01

Immediate Recognition 

Human and system reinforcement is applied immediately after completing as discipline then enabling successful operant conditioning

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02

Ease of Transition 

Brings more consistency to the transition out of treatment and back into everyday life

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03

Micro Social Support

Shifts pro drinking and drugging

network to pro abstinence network.

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04

Progress Feedback 

Gives users an overview and history of their progress letting them know where in their program they are succeeding and where they can make improvement 

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Convenient Program Management

Human and system reinforcement is applied immediately after completing as discipline enabling successful operant conditioning.

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Engaging Discretionary Behavior 

Repeated reinforcement for correct behavior engages discretionary behavior where the user choses to repeat the behavior because they want to, not because they feel they have to.

IDEATION

Key Screen Wireframing 

FINAL CONCEPT

Discipline Management

The app provides a calendarized, customizable menu of 12-Step daily disciplines which the alcoholic completes on a daily basis. A menu of the daily discipline options allows them to add and edit to build their day.

Home Page: Daily Discipline Management

Adding a Discipline To Your Program

FINAL CONCEPT

Sensor Completion

The successful completion of most of the daily disciplines can be sensed by the app and the smartphone’s sensor and data technology. For example, the technology can sense that the user called his sponsor on the correct time each day because his sponsor’s phone number link was activated in the app.

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Discipline Completion Prompt and Details

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List of Completed Daily Disciplines

FINAL CONCEPT

Human and System-Driven Reinforcement

This key feature of the app enables a micro social network with intention and capability to be supportive in a way that goes beyond what currently exists. It transitions the app from being punitive to supportive and dispels Big Brother concerns by catching users in the act of being primarily correct rather than incorrect.

 

Human Reinforcement (Boosting)

Support system members will be prompted to share positive reinforcement (labeled as boosts) in the form of text, voice message, or even a phone call immediately following the completion of one of the daily disciplines. Over time, as the user becomes consistent in completing the daily disciplines, the app asks the support system to reinforce less frequently.

 

System Reinforcement

The app knows if the daily disciplines have been completed or not completed on time, which allows the app to provide the behavior reinforcement messaging in real-time. System-based behavior reinforcement has the advantage of providing impeccable reinforcement timing at the moment of completion which is a key aspect of the mechanism of operant conditioning.

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Sponsor Tasked With Positively Reinforcing (Boosting) Sponsee For Completing Discipline

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System Postive Rienforcement

FINAL CONCEPT

Progress & Accountability

Within each discipline is a color coded accountability meter to help users visualize progress. This color score is also present next to each calendarized discipline within the home screen. The app also offers an analytics page that provides a history preview for each discipline to show improvement or decline over time.

Accountability Indicators

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Discipline Details Accountability Meter

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Discipline Progress Analytics

(showing progress changes over time)

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