“Kate made sense of the chaos. She aligned our clinicians, engineers, and designers without missing a beat—and she was instrumental in refining our lesson plan flow.”
Biz/Org
Swing Therapeutics
Year
2019 - 2020
Digital Therapy
Clinical UX
Product Overview
“After Stanza, I have come to value what I can do… It’s going to improve so many people’s lives. You’re awesome!!” – Stanza patient testimonial
People living with fibromyalgia needed more than medication—they needed tools that met them where they were. I partnered with Swing Therapeutics to design and build the MVP for Stanza, a mobile cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app for chronic pain. My work translated clinical insight into a scalable, compassionate, and trial-ready product.
Established a repeatable lesson program architecture: chapters, daily goals, and reflections
Created a lean CMS to deliver content across text, audio, and image formats
Defined pacing logic, nudging, and gating aligned to clinical trial protocols
Built HIPAA-compliant MVPs for iOS and Android, ready for FDA audit and pivotal trial use
Prioritized 15-minute daily treatment model for usability during pain and fatigue episodes
Product Goals
How might we bring accessible, evidence-based therapy into patients’ pockets—especially for those with chronic pain, fatigue, and limited access to care?
Therapy isn’t always accessible, especially when you’re in pain, exhausted, or navigating a complex condition like fibromyalgia. Stanza’s goal was to make clinically validated CBT available in daily, digestible pieces—on a patient’s terms, from their phone.
Defined daily pacing aligned to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) structure
Enabled real-time patient progress tracking and gentle behavioral nudges
Collaborated with clinicians to ensure medical integrity and audit readiness
Built a product experience flexible enough for flare-ups, but structured enough for trials
Challenges
Designed for a population managing chronic fatigue, cognitive fog, and unpredictable pain
Balanced regulatory and clinical rigor with real-world usability constraints
Navigated HIPAA compliance and FDA readiness requirements
Needed to align internal teams on terminology, IA, and publishing processes
Solutions
Built a YAML-based CMS to enable scalable content delivery across multiple formats
Created UX patterns for content pacing, nudging, and feedback collection
Defined shared language early to streamline IA and product structure
Designed for accessibility and empathy, not just compliance
Established protocols for ongoing content publication and clinician QA
Outcome & Impact
Delivered clinical-grade MVPs for iOS and Android used in an FDA pivotal trial
Increased reported well-being in 73% of pilot participants
Enabled patients to complete therapy protocols on their own terms, wherever they were
Built a reusable platform architecture for future digital therapeutic offerings
Helped establish Stanza as the first FDA-cleared CBT app for fibromyalgia
