Triggaware is a mobile app designed to support recovering alcoholics avoid their addiction triggers and stay accountable to a sober buddy. It assumes that the user is also receiving professional treatment for their addiction, and is only intended as a supplement to support them on this journey.

Clickable prototype

Research
For this course, we were asked to design a mobile app which would tackle one of the many topic areas within the UN's Sustainable Development Goals for Health. In my research on alcohol addiction, I found that the relapse rate for recovering alcoholics is extremely high, especially in the first year of sobriety. Several rules of thumb within the recovery community help addicts to avoid triggers and stay sober, but can be a lot to manage on their own. Moral support and surrounding yourself with sober friends is crucial to recovery.

Design process
The design process began with an initial series of rough screen sketches to hone into the core functionalities of the app. Sketches became more refined with each iteration, incorporating learnings from rapid and informal testing. Paper sketches were eventually translated into digital prototypes using Sketch and Invision, followed by further iteration and testing with people.

My major limitation during this project was not having access to anyone within the target user group, which is a very specific group of people with very specific needs. With every design decision made, I tried to be aware of the ethical implications for this vulnerable group of people and strike the right balance of encouragement and respect, and between accountability and consent. Given more time, I would have liked to explore these issues further.