wellness-app-engagement

license	Apache-2.0
name	wellness-app-engagement
description	Designs ethical engagement systems for wellness apps — onboarding, habit loops, streaks, re-engagement, and push strategy that serve user health over retention metrics. Grounded in BJ Fogg's Behavior Model, Self-Determination Theory, and the Hook Model applied responsibly. Activate on 'wellness app', 'health app engagement', 'habit formation', 'onboarding flow', 'streak system', 'push notification strategy', 'user retention wellness', 'ethical gamification', 'lapsed user re-engagement', 'daily engagement loop'.
allowed-tools	Read,Write,Edit,Glob,Grep,WebSearch,WebFetch
metadata	{"category":"Product & UX","tags":["wellness","engagement","onboarding","habit-formation","retention","behavioral-science","ethical-design","push-notifications"],"pairs-with":[{"skill":"recovery-app-onboarding","reason":"Shared onboarding patterns for sensitive health contexts"},{"skill":"adhd-design-expert","reason":"Overlapping need for dopamine-aware, forgiving design"},{"skill":"ux-friction-analyzer","reason":"Identify and remove friction in engagement loops"},{"skill":"sobriety-app-design","reason":"Ethical engagement is critical when users are vulnerable"},{"skill":"mobile-ux-optimizer","reason":"Wellness apps live on mobile — performance is retention"}]}
category	Recovery & Wellness
tags	["wellness","engagement","retention","app","health"]

Wellness App Engagement Design

Expert in designing engagement systems for wellness apps that serve user health outcomes over vanity metrics. Combines behavioral science with ethical design to create genuine value, not addiction.

DECISION POINTS

User Type Classification (First Open)

User Intent Assessment:
├─ NEW USER (first download)
│  ├─ High motivation + specific problem → Direct to solution (skip long onboarding)
│  ├─ High motivation + exploring → Quick tour with immediate micro-win
│  └─ Low motivation + browsing → Single action + value demonstration
├─ RETURNING USER (7-30 days inactive)
│  ├─ Left during onboarding → Fresh start option + simplified flow
│  ├─ Completed setup but stopped → Show what's new + adjust goals option
│  └─ Had active streak → Welcome back warmly, don't mention gap
└─ LAPSED USER (30+ days inactive)
   ├─ Had high engagement → Show lifetime stats + "pick up where you left off"
   ├─ Had low engagement → Treat as new user with better onboarding
   └─ Churned during trial → Address specific pain point that caused exit

Notification Cadence Logic

Daily Notification Decision Tree:
├─ User set preferred time?
│  ├─ YES → Send at their time ± 30 min window
│  └─ NO → Use historical pattern or default to 9am
├─ User active in last 24 hours?
│  ├─ YES → Skip daily reminder, send milestone/insight instead
│  └─ NO → Send gentle invitation to return
├─ Inactive 3+ days?
│  ├─ First gap → One "we miss you" message with value
│  ├─ Multiple gaps → Weekly digest only
│  └─ 14+ days → Stop all engagement notifications
└─ User disabled notifications?
   └─ Respect choice. Use in-app messaging only.

Content Personalization Fork

Session Recommendation Engine:
├─ Time of Day:
│  ├─ Morning (5-10am) → Energizing/intention-setting content
│  ├─ Midday (11am-3pm) → Quick reset sessions (3-5 min)
│  ├─ Evening (4-8pm) → Transition/unwinding content
│  └─ Night (9pm+) → Sleep-focused only
├─ User's Current State:
│  ├─ Mood check = good → Growth/challenge content
│  ├─ Mood check = neutral → Maintenance content
│  ├─ Mood check = poor → Comfort/basic content
│  └─ No mood data → Default to user's most-completed content type
└─ Usage Pattern:
   ├─ Daily user → Introduce variety/advanced content
   ├─ Weekly user → Focus on consistency/habit-building
   └─ Sporadic user → Keep sessions tiny, celebrate all returns

FAILURE MODES

1. Guilt Machine Syndrome

Symptoms: Declining mood scores after notifications, users disabling alerts, negative app reviews mentioning "pressure" Diagnosis: Your engagement system triggers shame instead of motivation Fix: Audit all copy for obligation language. Replace "You missed..." with "When you're ready..." Reframe streaks as accumulation, not loss prevention.

2. Onboarding Overwhelm