What Keeps Me Motivated - Thryvia
A collaborative activity that helps teens with bipolar disorder and their parents define personalized motivators to support consistency and engagement through changing moods
What Keeps Me Motivated
A collaborative activity that helps teens with bipolar disorder and their parents define personalized motivators to support consistency and engagement through changing moods
Overview
What Keeps Me Motivated is a collaborative activity in a teen mental health app designed to help teens with bipolar disorder identify external supports that help them stay engaged with treatment and daily routines.
The feature allows teens to suggest motivating actions their parent or supporter could take, such as recognition, privileges, or shared activities. Parents then review these suggestions and build a structured list of supportive actions they can realistically provide.
Together, the activity creates a shared system of motivators that help teens stay engaged when mood shifts make progress difficult.
This case study is a portfolio-safe adaptation of a real mental health product protected by an NDA.
The flow has been reframed for bipolar disorder, and all branding and proprietary details have been removed or altered. The design process and interaction patterns reflect the real project, while research insights and outcomes are realistic equivalents based on bipolar mental health literature and digital health best practices.
My Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
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Synthesizing clinical research and psychological insights
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Defining the experience architecture
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Designing the full interaction flow
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Creating wireframes and prototypes
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Collaborating with clinicians, engineering, and leadership
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Preparing the experience for development
Team
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CEO / Product Lead
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Clinical psychologists
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Engineering team
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Additional UX designers
Tools
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Figma
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FigJam
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Journey mapping
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Interaction flow modeling
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Collaborative design workshops
Problem
Teens living with bipolar disorder often experience periods where motivation drops significantly due to depressive symptoms or emotional overwhelm.
During these periods:
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Everyday goals can feel harder to maintain
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Teens may withdraw from routines or treatment activities
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Parents want to help but often don’t know what support is actually helpful
This can lead to a frustrating dynamic where:
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Parents try strategies that miss the mark
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Teens feel misunderstood or unsupported
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Small setbacks escalate into disengagement
Clinicians emphasized the need for a structured way for teens to communicate what actually motivates them, while also helping parents translate those ideas into consistent supportive actions.
Solution
The feature introduces a two-part collaborative activity:
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Teen Suggests Motivators:
Teens select actions that could help them stay motivated when things feel difficult.
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Parent Builds a Support Plan:
Parents review those suggestions and create a structured plan for providing them.
The result is a shared list of motivators categorized by how frequently they can realistically occur (daily, weekly, or monthly). This transforms abstract encouragement into clear, repeatable support behaviors.
Design Principles
Collaborative Support
The activity is intentionally co-created by teen and parent, preventing support strategies from being imposed unilaterally.
Small, Repeatable Actions
Sorting motivators into daily, weekly, and monthly categories encourages consistent support instead of occasional large rewards.
Teen Voice First
Highlighting teen-selected items ensures their preferences remain central to the conversation.
Low Cognitive Load
Using tap-to-select pills allows teens to quickly choose options without needing to write or explain complex thoughts.
Positive Reinforcement
The activity focuses on encouragement and recognition, which can be particularly helpful when motivation drops during depressive phases.
Impact
This feature helps families:
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Turn vague encouragement into specific supportive actions
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Reduce guesswork for parents trying to help
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Reinforce positive behaviors and routines
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Maintain engagement during challenging mood periods
Clinicians noted that structured reinforcement can help teens maintain small forward momentum, even when motivation fluctuates.
What I Learned
Designing this feature reinforced how critical shared understanding is in family-supported care. Giving teens a structured way to express what motivates them not only increased engagement, but also reduced friction between teens and parents who were often guessing how to help.
I also learned that motivation isn’t one-size-fits-all, especially with bipolar disorder. What feels supportive during one mood state may not work in another, so designing for flexibility (daily, weekly, monthly support) was key.
Finally, this work highlighted the importance of translating emotional needs into concrete actions. Simple, repeatable behaviors, like acknowledgment or small privileges, can have a meaningful impact when they’re clearly defined and consistently applied.