{ "principles": [ { "id": "word-distinct", "place": "word", "name": "Keep the Word distinct, and teach it truly", "intent": "Every screen teaches. Let readers always tell Scripture from our words, and our words from a machine’s.", "question": "Can a reader always tell Scripture from our words, and our words from a machine’s?", "questions": [ "Where do we present one tradition’s view as simply “what the Bible says”?", "Who in our team can say “that isn’t what the text says”, and are they in the room early?" ], "rules_in": [ "Headings, notes, media and AI answers labelled and styled so they cannot be taken for Scripture", "Sources at the claim, not at the end", "The traditions named, each with its strongest passages, where Christians differ", "A verse shown with its passage, and a translation with its character" ], "rules_out": [ "Generated text that looks like a verse", "One tradition’s reading presented as simply what the Bible says", "Verses cut from their passage to fit a mood", "Theology checked at the end, if at all" ], "tradeoff": "A cleaner, more confident answer, and the shortcut of a house view presented as neutral.", "qualification": "Every product holds a tradition. Say which openly; fairness across traditions does not mean having no confession.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/word-distinct/" }, { "id": "speak-for-god", "place": "word", "name": "Never speak for God", "intent": "An app may quote, explain, pray the church’s prayers and point. It must never pronounce, promise or plead in God’s name, nor let a persona or a machine take the place of a person or of God.", "question": "Would we put our own name under this sentence, or are we borrowing God’s?", "questions": [ "Could someone mistake this voice for a pastor, a saint, Jesus or God?", "What does this assistant do when someone asks it to pray for them?" ], "rules_in": [ "An assistant that says what it is, what it keeps and what it cannot do", "Answers that point to Scripture, a pastor, a church", "The church’s written prayers, blessings, creeds and liturgy, offered as the church’s words", "Help before any verse when someone is in danger" ], "rules_out": [ "An AI that forgives sins or tells someone what God wants for their life", "A persona that says it is praying for someone, or writes first to bring them back", "Notifications in God’s voice, and spiritual language used as urgency", "Promises that God will repay a gift, heal or bless in return for a purchase" ], "tradeoff": "The engagement a warm persona brings, and the lift of spiritual urgency.", "qualification": "This does not forbid devotion. The Lord’s Prayer, a psalm, a collect, a blessing or a written liturgy are the church’s words, offered as such; what is forbidden is the persona that claims a relationship and the promise that claims God’s answer.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/speak-for-god/" }, { "id": "most-vulnerable", "place": "person", "name": "Design for the most vulnerable first", "intent": "Design first for the person most likely to be hurt: in crisis, grieving, abused, scrupulous, new to faith, hurt by a church, or, where an app serves them, a child. Help comes before features, verses or answers.", "question": "Who is the most vulnerable person likely to use this today, and what will they see?", "questions": [ "Where could this cause someone vulnerable to stumble?", "Would someone who was hurt in a church feel safe on this screen?" ], "rules_in": [ "A way to a person on the first screen, never behind an account, a limit or a paywall", "Testing with the most vulnerable people you serve, not only the most engaged", "Accessibility as love: low vision, dyslexia, other languages", "Where an app serves children, their best interests ahead of growth" ], "rules_out": [ "A verse in place of a helpline", "Automatic messages to a parent or a group about someone’s disclosure", "Designing for the confident majority and patching the edges" ], "tradeoff": "Speed, and the simplicity of designing for the confident.", "qualification": "Protection must not become control. A child, a survivor or a doubter keeps a voice in what happens next, and specialist safeguarding review decides the hard cases.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/most-vulnerable/" }, { "id": "welcome", "place": "person", "name": "Welcome before you ask, and guard what is told in confidence", "intent": "Let people reach what they came for before asking anything; ask only for what serves them, when it does; and treat what they tell you as holy ground.", "question": "If a friend read everything we keep about this person, would the person be glad?", "questions": [ "What must someone give before they reach what they came for?" ], "rules_in": [ "Guest use; an account when there is something to keep", "Permissions when a feature needs them", "Payment after a first use, saying what costs money and why", "Memory a person can see and delete; prayer requests that go only where they chose" ], "rules_out": [ "A quiz, a phone number or a paywall before the first verse", "Faith inferred from use and sold or used for advertising", "Prayer requests read for marketing insight", "Confessions stored by default" ], "tradeoff": "Conversion at the front door, and the data that would make the product cleverer or the marketing sharper.", "qualification": "Welcome is not the same as asking for nothing. A justified, well-timed question can protect a person; the test is whether it serves them, now.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/welcome/" }, { "id": "feed-the-flock", "place": "practice", "name": "Feed the flock, not on it", "intent": "Attention, time, devotion and money are entrusted, not harvested. Ask for them honestly, never through guilt, fear, urgency or a promise.", "question": "Does this serve growth in faith, or only the usage numbers?", "questions": [ "Freedom or anxiety?", "Would someone who was short of money, or grieving, feel pressed by this screen?" ], "rules_in": [ "Reminders the person sets; streaks that can be switched off; a return without shame", "Gifts that start at no amount; prices that say what they pay for", "An honest free allowance, and a subscription that is easy to end" ], "rules_out": [ "Broken-streak warnings marked urgent", "“We miss you” in a persona’s voice", "Preselected tiers and added tips; asks after a prayer request", "Weekly plans, hidden renewals and hard cancellation" ], "tradeoff": "The daily users, conversions and revenue that pressure would bring.", "qualification": "Asking is not wrong: the church has always supported those who serve the word, and a chosen rhythm can help. The line is crossed when the ask uses guilt, fear, a moment of need or God’s name.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/feed-the-flock/" }, { "id": "enough", "place": "practice", "name": "Make room for rest, and say when it is enough", "intent": "A faithful product sometimes asks for less: it ends a session, keeps the night quiet, stops asking when the need is met, and lets itself end when its work is done.", "question": "Where does our product stop, and does it ever tell someone they have done enough?", "questions": [ "What would we stop sending if we believed rest is a gift?" ], "rules_in": [ "Sessions that end in silence instead of autoplay", "Quiet hours; after silence, ask once and stop", "An appeal that says when the need is met", "A regular gift or subscription as easy to stop as to start" ], "rules_out": [ "An endless feed of devotional content", "Reminders that multiply when someone stops answering", "Asking again and again" ], "tradeoff": "Time in the app, and the comfort of a product that never has to end.", "qualification": "Some people want more: a long listen, a full plan. Enough is the person’s to choose; the product’s part is to offer an end and keep it.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/enough/" }, { "id": "send", "place": "people", "name": "Send people to God and to one another", "intent": "The app is a means, never the destination. Judge it by where people go when they close it.", "question": "When someone closes what we built, are they closer to God and to other people?", "questions": [ "If people developed deep communion with God and no longer needed the app, would we celebrate or mourn?" ], "rules_in": [ "Readings and groups with a shape for listening", "A way to a pastor, a church, a friend", "Endings that suggest a person, not the next session" ], "rules_out": [ "A companion that wants to be the only one someone talks to", "Community features that compete with the local church", "Success defined as daily sessions" ], "tradeoff": "The stickiness of being someone’s only place.", "qualification": "Leaving the app or joining a congregation is not a universal measure. For someone isolated, disabled or hurt by a church, an online community may be the safe place, and a referral back may not be safe.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/send/" }, { "id": "growth", "place": "people", "name": "Plant and water; leave the growth to God", "intent": "Measure what serves the person and the task. Never score a soul, and never claim the fruit as yours.", "question": "What would we stop measuring if we believed growth is God’s?", "questions": [ "Will the person’s motivation survive removing the feature?" ], "rules_in": [ "Honest evaluation of usability, understanding, burden and harm", "Accounts people choose to give", "Saying what the product does not know" ], "rules_out": [ "Faith scores and maturity levels inferred from use", "Global prayer counters as achievements", "Usage presented as spiritual fruit", "“Life-changing” claims without evidence" ], "tradeoff": "The impressive number for the pitch.", "qualification": "Humility is not a reason to avoid evaluation. Measure usability, safety and understanding carefully; it is spiritual maturity that no telemetry can show.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/growth/" }, { "id": "offering", "place": "makers", "name": "Make it well, as an offering", "intent": "Craft is worship. Excellence, accessibility, beauty and care are how we love God and the person on the other side of the screen.", "question": "Would we offer this to God as it is, and could the person with the least sight, time or reading ease use it?", "questions": [ "What did we leave unfinished that someone else will have to carry?" ], "rules_in": [ "A reader that is a joy to read in, and typography that honours the text", "Accessibility as standard: screen readers, contrast, dyslexia, other languages", "Stillness, beauty and reliability", "Translations cited and licensed" ], "rules_out": [ "“It’s for ministry” as an excuse for careless work", "Beauty used as bait" ], "tradeoff": "Shipping fast at the cost of the people who cannot use what was shipped.", "qualification": "Excellence is not luxury. A small team can make a simple thing well; what matters is care for the person, not polish for the portfolio.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/offering/" }, { "id": "trembling", "place": "makers", "name": "Hold it with joy and trembling, before God and others", "intent": "Rejoice in the work and take its weight: pray for the people who use it, invite those who can say no, confess mistakes plainly, and tend what you release.", "question": "Who outside the team holds us to account, and who prays for the people who use this?", "questions": [ "What would we give up for the sake of the people who use it?" ], "rules_in": [ "Scripture read together before planning", "A pastor, a safeguarding lead and someone from the community in reviews, early", "Plain apologies and fixes", "Tending a product after launch" ], "rules_out": [ "Theology and safeguarding as a sign-off at the end", "Success stories that make the team the hero" ], "tradeoff": "Speed, control and the credit.", "qualification": "Practices are not a performance. A small team will keep them simply; what matters is that someone outside can say no, and is heard.", "url": "https://missional.design/principles/trembling/" } ], "licence": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "Bible & Faith Patterns, Tobias Treppmann, Missional by Design (patterns.missional.design)", "exceptions": "Documentary photographs credited to Startup Life are used with permission and are not covered by this licence. Screenshots of real apps belong to their publishers; quotations remain their authors’. Berean Standard Bible text is public domain. Luke 19:40 from The Voice™ © 2008 Ecclesia Bible Society, used by permission, is not covered." } }