Talk or Interview Start, Stop, Heal: Designing Digital Health for Intermittent Use
Talk or Interview Start, Stop, Heal: Designing Digital Health for Intermittent Use
Traditional digital design assumes continuous engagement, but human behavior is inherently intermittent—shaped by context, capacity, and life’s natural rhythms. Designing for intermittent use of digital health tools is a transformative and needed approach that honors how people actually live and connect.
Rather than nudging constant interaction, intermittent design creates breathing space for reflection, reduces cognitive burden, and builds trust through respectful boundaries. This approach reimagines engagement frameworks around the natural rhythm of human health behavior, specifically the ebb and blow of motivation and the seasonal nature of growth, to foster deeper, long-lasting change.
By designing for intentional stop-start patterns, people will engage (or reengage) willingly rather than reluctantly. This creates authentic connections between people and technology that honors both individual autonomy and collective well-being.
About the Host
Dr. Steph Habif
Dr. Steph Habif is a behavioral scientist based in San Diego who designs real-world health behavior change. She created the Health Behavior by Design™ framework that’s used by companies building AI tools, digital therapeutics, and connected devices. Her framework also helps families design health routines at home. Steph has advised Fortune 100s, served as VP at Tandem Diabetes Care, lectured at Stanford, authored 40+ papers, and mentors startups via RockHealth and StartUp Health. Her focus is always human-first healthcare.
