Designing a cognitive
rehab app from the
ground up
During a psychology internship, I observed a pattern of demotivation in clinic patients doing repetitive exercises once a week while families waited hours. I designed NeuroScape — a personalized cognitive rehabilitation app — to bring therapy home.
The problem patients couldn't escape
During my summer psychology internship, I observed a recurring pattern of demotivation among patients and their families. Many attended therapy just once or twice a week, repeatedly working on the same exercises, while families waited 3–4 hours at the clinic.
This lack of engagement and extended waiting times led to decreased motivation and stagnant progress in essential cognitive rehabilitation. The cycle reinforced itself: less frequent sessions meant less variety, which meant less motivation, which meant slower recovery.
A cognitive rehabilitation app providing personalized exercises, visual progress tracking, and long-term support — so patients and families can integrate rehab into daily routines from anywhere.
A three-phase research plan
What the literature already knew
A detailed literature review on rehabilitation issues and online rehabilitation provided a foundation for the interview schedule and confirmed the problem was systemic, not individual.
of studies in a meta-analysis favored online rehab over in-person care.
of patients show greater improvement with 2–3 weekly sessions compared to once a week.
better word retrieval performance in remote therapy participants vs. control group.
Patterns of patient engagement
I conducted a 1-month field study during my internship, observing 10 patients multiple times per week to gather firsthand insights into their rehabilitation patterns.
Understanding patient experiences: 6 qualitative sessions
Semi-structured interviews with 6 participants (4 patients with stroke, mild TBI, and Alzheimer's · 2 caregivers) to understand pain points, preferences, and feedback on existing tools.
(stroke, TBI, Alzheimer's)
I collaborated with 3 professors to refine the interview schedule, ensuring questions were unbiased and non-leading.
4 themes from the data
After transcription, I created a mind map to visually depict common highlights and identify recurring themes across interviews.
What existing solutions get right — and wrong
Evaluating HeadApp, Lumosity, and CogniFit across 5 dimensions revealed a consistent gap: none offered both personalization and progress tracking for neurological patients specifically.
| Feature | HeadApp | Lumosity | CogniFit | NeuroScape |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of analysis | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Progress tracking | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | $19.99/mo | $11.99/mo | $19.99/mo | Free (research) |
| Personalization | Cognitive profile | Not user-specific | Not user-specific | Condition-specific |
| Target audience | Brain injuries, neuro disorders | General brain training | General brain training | Rehab patients & caregivers |
From sketches to structure
Using the Crazy 8s method, I sketched multiple variations to quickly explore diverse concepts. Mood boards guided the aesthetic direction. From there, I developed low-fidelity prototypes focusing on content and functionality.
Initial feedback and insights
Moderated usability testing with 4 participants (3 patients + 1 caregiver) using mid-fidelity prototypes. Think-aloud protocol across 5 tasks.
Before and after: what testing changed
I incorporated Round 1 feedback into high-fidelity designs, then tested again. Three key screens changed significantly based on what participants revealed.
The complete NeuroScape flow
The final design focused on a seamless, intuitive user journey for both patients and caregivers — simplifying complex rehab tasks into manageable, engaging steps.
What this project taught me
Having in-depth knowledge of cognitive rehabilitation let me frame interview questions that resonated with users. It ensured I wasn't approaching the design from a place of ignorance — the field context shaped every decision.
At times I found myself envisioning high-fidelity designs before starting the process. It required a conscious effort to stay low-fidelity early — embracing roughness to explore broader ideas before committing to any direction.
Crazy 8s, mood boards, and mind mapping in combination produced richer outcomes than any single method alone. The connections between ideas — surfaced through mind mapping — informed design decisions I wouldn't have reached otherwise.
