Recovery companion.

The brief

A companion app for the first ninety days after inpatient discharge — the highest-risk window in addiction recovery. The brief came with one strict requirement: no gamification patterns that did not earn their place.

The approach

1. 1.Spent three months with people in active recovery before building anything. Watched what helped, what irritated, what was performative.
2. 2.Built an iOS and Android companion structured around the rhythm of post-discharge life rather than the rhythm of a typical app. Quiet, optional, designed to be ignored without guilt.
3. 3.Refused every streak, every badge, every comparison-against-others pattern. Kept only structured check-ins, a curated content library, and a one-tap reach-for-help button that connects to an actual person.

The result

First cohort completed the 90-day window with retention well above the team's prior benchmarks. More importantly: users described the app as feeling like "a quiet friend" rather than another thing demanding their attention.