Stanza MVP: FDA-Cleared CBT App for Fibromyalgia

The impact

73% of pilot participants reported improved well-being. FDA pivotal trial launched on time. Stanza became the first FDA-cleared CBT app for fibromyalgia.

I partnered with Swing Therapeutics to build the MVP for Stanza, a mobile cognitive behavioral therapy app for chronic pain. My work translated clinical insight into a scalable, compassionate, and trial-ready product on iOS and Android - HIPAA-compliant, FDA-ready, and built around the real constraints of people managing fibromyalgia.

How we got there

Fibromyalgia is a condition that makes everything harder - including using software. Patients live with chronic fatigue, cognitive fog, and unpredictable pain episodes. Designing a daily therapy experience for this population meant every decision had to weigh clinical integrity against real-world usability. A session that required 45 minutes of focus was not a session patients could complete on a bad day.

I worked directly with clinicians to define a 15-minute daily treatment model built on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) structure, then established the lesson architecture - chapters, daily goals, and reflections - that gave the program its clinical coherence. I created a YAML-based CMS that let content be delivered across text, audio, and image formats without requiring engineering intervention for every update, and built pacing logic, behavioral nudges, and gating rules aligned to the clinical trial protocols the FDA would audit.

The internal alignment work was just as important. Terminology, information architecture, and publishing processes had to be consistent across clinicians, engineers, and product - otherwise the system would fracture the moment anyone tried to update content or run QA. I established shared language early and built protocols for ongoing publication and clinician review.

What this built

• The first FDA-cleared CBT app for fibromyalgia. A clinical-grade iOS and Android product that passed FDA audit and launched into a pivotal trial.
• A reusable digital therapeutic platform. The lesson architecture, CMS, and content delivery patterns Swing built for Stanza could extend to other chronic conditions and therapeutic programs.
• A product experience designed for the patient, not the protocol. Flexibility for flare-up days, structure for the trial - and 73% of pilot participants reported feeling better for it.