Self Savior
Using Narrative Identity, Habit Formation, and the Psychology of Small Wins to Support Mental Well-Being
Design Strategy Course
MDes program at UC
My Role
Product designer and researcher (me), 3 design students
Testing Outcome
“For the first time, my goals felt within reach, and the story I wrote about who I wanted to become gave me a deep sense of commitment and purpose.”
BACKGROUND
This project has been selected along with UN Sustainable Goal #3.
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UN Sustainable Goals - Goal #3
Ensure healthy lives and promote well being for all at all ages.
Target 3.4: Promote mental health and well-being by 2030
Project Overview
Self Savior is a psychology-informed habit-building concept designed to support individuals experiencing low motivation and depressive symptoms. The project explores how narrative identity and small, repeatable actions can help users regain a sense of agency and direction.
Rather than positioning the app as a treatment, the design focuses on behavioral scaffolding to help users take manageable steps toward their desired future self.
This project was developed in a design strategy course, but approached as a research-driven exploration of behavioral change design.
Design Challenge
Many habit-tracking tools assume users already have stable motivation.
However, individuals experiencing depression often struggle with:
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Reduced motivation
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Difficulty sustaining routines
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Loss of future-oriented thinking
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Emotional disengagement from goals
How might we design a system that supports behavior change when motivation itself is unstable?
Theoretical Foundation
This project was grounded in behavioral and psychological frameworks:
Narrative Identity Theory
People construct meaning and motivation through stories about who they are and whom they want to become. Future-self visualization can strengthen goal commitment.
The Psychology of Small Wins
Research shows small accomplishments build momentum, self-efficacy, and emotional resilience.
Habit Formation Theory
Repeated actions in stable contexts can become automatic, reducing cognitive burden.
Research Approach
To avoid designing based on assumptions, I used a mixed-methods exploratory approach.
1. Literature Review
Reviewed research on:
• Depression and motivation loss
• Behavioral activation therapy
• Habit formation mechanisms
• Self-narrative and identity-based motivation
Key insight:
Motivation often follows action, not the other way around.
This shifted the design focus from “motivate users” to “enable action first.”
2. In-Depth Interviews (Exploratory)
Conducted semi-structured interviews with 3 participants who self-identified as experiencing depressive periods.
Key themes:
• Difficulty maintaining routines
• Emotional fatigue around unfinished goals
• Desire for change but low activation energy
• Disconnection from future aspirations
Representative quote:
“I know what’s good for me, but I can’t keep my routine long enough to feel the benefit.”
3. Empathy Mapping
From interviews, I synthesized an empathy map:
Says
“I should be doing better.”
“I’ll start tomorrow.”
Thinks
“I don’t trust myself to follow through.”
Feels
Overwhelmed, discouraged, guilty
Does
Starts routines → drops them → avoids tracking
Insight:
Users are not avoiding improvement — they’re avoiding emotional disappointment.
Core Insight
Users didn’t just need tracking tools.
They needed emotional safety and reinforcement of their identity.
This led to the design principle:
Design for self-compassion, not performance.
Design Principles
1. Identity before productivity
Start with who users want to become.
2. Reduce cognitive load
Small steps > complex plans.
3. Celebrate progress, not streaks
Avoid guilt-based mechanics.
4. Support reflection
Help users see growth over time.
leader board
Points
Free subscription
Therapy session coupons
Readings
Videos
Tutor
Podcast
Workshops
Personal coach
Companion
Making story
Showing results
Sharing
Reminders
Group classes
Summary
Making movie of dreams
Motivation
Tracking
Coach
Reward
Education
Rather than relying solely on gamification, I prioritized intrinsic motivation and narrative building.
Information Architecture
Key Design Decisions
Future-Self Narrative Onboarding
Instead of asking “What are your goals?”, we ask:
“Who do you want to become?”
This reframes motivation around identity.
Visualizing Small Wins
Progress is shown as building blocks rather than streaks, reinforcing accumulation over perfection.
Evaluation Plan
Though the app wasn’t launched, I designed a validation roadmap:
Usability Testing
Task-based testing on onboarding and routine creation.
Longitudinal Study
Tracking emotional response to progress visualization.
Behavioral Metrics
• Routine adherence
• Drop-off points
• Self-reported motivation shifts
Anticipated Impact
If validated, the system could:
• Reduce abandonment of habit tools
• Increase self-efficacy
• Support gentle behavioral activation
Reflection
This project taught me:
• Designing for mental health requires ethical sensitivity
• Motivation is a result of design, not an input
• Behavior change systems must prioritize emotional safety
If I iterated further, I would:
• Partner with clinicians
• Conduct longitudinal testing
• Explore adaptive personalization via AI