Intro

Problem

Solution

Design Decisions

Testing

Outcomes

Next Steps

Learnings

Bridge

Bridge

Helping people get back to work after using social media through a short intervention.

Helping people get back to work after using social media through a short intervention.

What is Bridge?

Bridge is a guided two-minute exercise that helps you get back to work after doomscrolling.

After you doomscroll, your brain is left in a haze where focusing feels impossible. Bridge helps you back to a focused state through light movement and speaking your intentions out loud.

Nomination Link

the impact

Testing revealed that Bridge works best for people who've already tried to quit doomscrolling and failed. More on that below.

Testing revealed that Bridge works best for people who've already tried to quit doomscrolling and failed. More on that below.

0.0/7

Easier to Refocus

Users rated how much easier it was to return to their task after Bridge.

Users rated how much easier it was to return to their task after Bridge.

+20

Net Promoter Score

from people who had struggled with social media interventions

from people who had struggled with social media interventions

80%

Satisfaction

Everyone who'd been failed by other tools rated Bridge 4+ out of 5.

Everyone who'd been failed by other tools rated Bridge 4+ out of 5.

0/7

Ease of Use

Average Single Ease Question score across all participants.

Average Single Ease Question score across all participants.

The pitch video for Bridge!

the Problem

You take a quick break from work, check your phone, and end up doomscrolling for 15 minutes. When you stop, your brain is in a haze.

This isn't laziness and it's not your fault. It's a dopamine crash that makes focusing physically impossible. Bridge is a guided two-minute exercise that walks you back to work through movement and setting intentions.

the context

Solutions that stop you from scrolling

Solutions that stop you from scrolling

Solutions that stop you from scrolling

Solutions that help you recover

Solutions that help you recover

Solutions that help you recover

Every existing tool tries to stop the scroll. Nothing is built for the moment after the phone goes down.

But Why does this matter?

Social media keeps you scrolling by hijacking your brain's reward system.

Social media keeps you scrolling by hijacking your brain's reward system.

Closing social media after doomscrolling leaves your brain in a haze.

Closing social media after doomscrolling leaves your brain in a haze.

THE SOLUTION

When you close a social media app, you get a notification.

If you choose to open it, the Bridge intervention opens.

The intervention has three steps:

Step 1

Walk around

Why this works

Movement releases dopamine and norepinephrine, the brain chemicals that sharpen focus, clearing the mental haze left by scrolling

Reference

Step 2

Speak out loud. What's on your mind?

Why this works

Naming a feeling out loud calms the brain's emotional response, so you can let it go instead of carrying it into your work

Reference

Step 3

Speak out loud. What tasks do you have to do next?

Why this works

Saying your intentions aloud makes them stick better than just thinking them, so you return to work with a clear direction.

Reference

Step 1

Walk around

Why this works

Movement releases dopamine and norepinephrine, the brain chemicals that sharpen focus, clearing the mental haze left by scrolling

Reference

Step 2

Speak out loud. What's on your mind?

Why this works

Naming a feeling out loud calms the brain's emotional response, so you can let it go instead of carrying it into your work

Reference

Step 3

Speak out loud. What tasks do you have to do next?

Why this works

Saying your intentions aloud makes them stick better than just thinking them, so you return to work with a clear direction.

Reference

Why EaCH STEP Should work

Moving your body pulls your brain out of the haze

Moving your body pulls your brain out of the haze

Naming what you feel turns down the noise.

Naming what you feel turns down the noise.

Planning out your tasks makes starting easier.

Planning out your tasks makes starting easier.

Design Decisions

If Bridge is enabled, whenever a trigger app is closed, the Bridge notification pops up.

Bridge can be enabled in three ways:

Schedule Based

Active during the hours and days you choose.

Active during the hours and days you choose.

Location Based

Activates when you arrive at a saved location.

Activates when you arrive at a saved location.

Manual

Activates for a set time that you choose.

Activates for a set time that you choose.

Everything starts from the Home Screen

Everything starts from the Home Screen

The home screen shows whether Bridge is on standby or active, and lets you turn on Bridge mode for a set time.

Choose which apps trigger the Bridge notification

Choose which apps trigger the Bridge notification

Everyone gets distracted by different apps, so I let users set their own instead of guessing for them.

Some other ideas I explored before I arrived at this one

Some other ideas I explored before I arrived at this one

  • Letting go of your thoughts to help you get back to work

    The user speaks while holding on to the button. When they are done, they let go to symbolize that they have put what was on their mind out into the world and have let go. This didn't work because while the interaction had meaning, I felt that 'letting go' was not the message I wanted to push.

  • Draw a random shape before moving to the next step in the intervention

    The app prompts you to draw a random shape on your phone between each step of the exercise. This didn't work because the shape exercises didn't add anything to the intervention and additional steps in between the three intervention steps became a burden.

  • Showing yourself some positivity before moving to the next step

    The user has to show themselves smiling and giving a thumbs up before moving to the next intervention step. This didn't work because of the friction it created in between each step and because the forced positivity became detrimental to the purpose of the intervention after the first couple of uses.

  • Fog clearing to show an actual bridge with each step

    This shows the user an abstract image of a bridge with fog clearing up with each step to show a fully made bridge at the end. This didn't work because the visuals became unnecessary after a couple of uses and because holding the phone in landscape was awkward.

  • Letting go of your thoughts to help you get back to work

    The user speaks while holding on to the button. When they are done, they let go to symbolize that they have put what was on their mind out into the world and have let go. This didn't work because while the interaction had meaning, I felt that 'letting go' was not the message I wanted to push.

  • Draw a random shape before moving to the next step in the intervention

    The app prompts you to draw a random shape on your phone between each step of the exercise. This didn't work because the shape exercises didn't add anything to the intervention and additional steps in between the three intervention steps became a burden.

  • Showing yourself some positivity before moving to the next step

    The user has to show themselves smiling and giving a thumbs up before moving to the next intervention step. This didn't work because of the friction it created in between each step and because the forced positivity became detrimental to the purpose of the intervention after the first couple of uses.

  • Fog clearing to show an actual bridge with each step

    This shows the user an abstract image of a bridge with fog clearing up with each step to show a fully made bridge at the end. This didn't work because the visuals became unnecessary after a couple of uses and because holding the phone in landscape was awkward.

Lessons from Early Ideas

The interface needed to be almost invisible

The interface needed to be almost invisible

There should be nothing between each step

There should be nothing between each step

The intervention needed to be a choice at all times

The intervention needed to be a choice at all times

What does the app look feel like?

Bridge is a nudge, not a push.

  • Intentionally Simple

    During the intervention, there's one clear action on screen at a time. This is intentionally done because when someone is in a foggy post-scroll state, extra visual clutter competes for attention. Also, flashy interfaces and attractive visuals fade away after the fourth or fifth usage.

  • Calm and Unhurried

    Generous spacing, soft radial glows behind elements, and rounded forms give every screen room to breathe. Nothing feels dense or urgent. The pacing of the visuals matches the goal of the app in slowing you down and easing you back to focus.

  • No Statistics or Gamification

    While these elements can create positive feelings with higher numbers of success, they can also feel negative in the opposite situation. I avoided all such 'engagement farming' methods and kept the intervention true to what it was.

  • Warm, not Clincal

    Generous spacing, soft radial glows behind elements, and rounded forms give every screen room to breathe. Nothing feels dense or urgent. The pacing of the visuals matches the goal of the app in slowing you down and easing you back to focus.

  • Soft and Approachable.

    Rounded buttons, gentle shadows, and warm, friendly typography set the whole tone of the app. Every element is designed to feel calm and unintimidating, so opening Bridge feels welcoming rather than clinical.

  • Every permission is off by default

    Bridge asks for nothing up front. Location and voice access are disabled unless you choose to turn them on. If you want extra features like voice recording or transcripts of what you said, you can enable them yourself, but the app never assumes that access.

  • Intentionally Simple

    During the intervention, there's one clear action on screen at a time. This is intentionally done because when someone is in a foggy post-scroll state, extra visual clutter competes for attention. Also, flashy interfaces and attractive visuals fade away after the fourth or fifth usage.

  • Calm and Unhurried

    Generous spacing, soft radial glows behind elements, and rounded forms give every screen room to breathe. Nothing feels dense or urgent. The pacing of the visuals matches the goal of the app in slowing you down and easing you back to focus.

  • No Statistics or Gamification

    While these elements can create positive feelings with higher numbers of success, they can also feel negative in the opposite situation. I avoided all such 'engagement farming' methods and kept the intervention true to what it was.

  • Warm, not Clincal

    Generous spacing, soft radial glows behind elements, and rounded forms give every screen room to breathe. Nothing feels dense or urgent. The pacing of the visuals matches the goal of the app in slowing you down and easing you back to focus.

  • Soft and Approachable.

    Rounded buttons, gentle shadows, and warm, friendly typography set the whole tone of the app. Every element is designed to feel calm and unintimidating, so opening Bridge feels welcoming rather than clinical.

  • Every permission is off by default

    Bridge asks for nothing up front. Location and voice access are disabled unless you choose to turn them on. If you want extra features like voice recording or transcripts of what you said, you can enable them yourself, but the app never assumes that access.

How I know it works

Giving a functional prototype to 13 users for a multi-day test

After recruiting testers from LinkedIn and University forums, I helped them set up the intervention on their phones, for the apps of their choice. Using iOS Shortcuts and Macrodroid on Android, the core functionality of the app was replicated.

Testing showed that

The Unbothered

The Unbothered

The Unbothered

Hasn't really tried

Hasn’t really tried

Hasn’t really tried

Put in minimal effort to cut down social media. Bridge was fine, but they didn't need it.

Put in some effort to limit social media. Bridge was fine, but they didn’t need it.

Bridge works best for them.

Bridge works best for them.

The Frustrated

The Frustrated

Tried hard, nothing worked

Tried hard, nothing worked

Tried hard, nothing worked

Put in real effort with blockers and timers, but kept failing. Bridge helped them most.

Put in real effort with blockers and timers, but kept failing. Bridge helped them most.

The Satisfied

The Satisfied

The Satisfied

Already found what works

Already found what works

Already found what works

Put in effort and it worked. They liked Bridge but already had their own systems.

Put in effort and it worked. They liked Bridge but already had their own systems.

Three Important Metrics

1

Ease of Use

Someone in a post-scroll haze won't push through a complicated flow. Bridge had to be effortless or it would never get used. The score shows the design wasn't a barrier. People didn't have to work through a long interface to get the value.

Someone in a post-scroll haze won’t push through a complicated flow. Bridge had to be effortless or it would never get used. The score shows the design wasn’t a barrier. People didn’t have to work through a long interface to get the value.

0/7

Ease of Use

Average Single Ease Question score across all participants.

2

Friction

The moment after you put your phone down is when doing anything feels like effort. If starting Bridge added friction there, people would skip it every time. While the quote seems negative, it shows that the friction was large enough to intervene but small enough to not be annoying.

The moment after you put your phone down is when doing anything feels like effort. If starting Bridge added friction there, people would skip it every time. While the quote seems negative, it shows that the friction was large enough to intervene but small enough to not be annoying.

"It's just a tap. That's why it's tolerable. If it was anything more than a couple of taps I'd have deleted it"

3

Effectiveness

The main job of the intervention is simple: help people get back to work after they've been pulled away. Everything else (how easy it is, how little friction it adds) only matters if it delivers on this. The score shows that Bridge does what it promises. People genuinely found it easier to return to their task after using it.

The main job of the intervention is simple: help people get back to work after they’ve been pulled away. Everything else (how easy it is, how little friction it adds) only matters if it delivers on this. The score shows that Bridge does what it promises. People genuinely found it easier to return to their task after using it.

0.0/7

Easier to Refocus

Users rated how much easier it was to return to their task after Bridge.

People used it in situations beyond what it was designed for

People used it in situations beyond what it was designed for

Friction at the moment of need is the core design problem.

Friction at the moment of need is the core design problem.

Whats next?

Bridge is continuing beyond the capstone.

The study produced strong enough results to continue development. Three participants explicitly requested to keep using Bridge after the test ended. The next phase involves building a fully native Android application with deeper OS integration, a more polished exercise flow using Rive animations, and a larger scale study. Most digital wellness tools are built around prevention. Bridge is the only one built around recovery.

How does this shape my future work?

Go extremely deep into the problem.

Go extremely deep into the problem.

Prototype early, prototype fast.

Prototype early, prototype fast.

Test early. You might be surprised.

Test early. You might be surprised.

Don't be afraid to put your work out into the world.

Don't be afraid to put your work out into the world.

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