A design reference
Habits and spiritual formation
Support meaningful practice while preserving autonomy.
These patterns are hypotheses and ethical design proposals. Their effects on actual reading practices, motivation and spiritual formation need research rather than assumptions from engagement metrics.
Progress and streaks
Choose between a saved place, completion and a shared date. Explain what the record means.
Research-informed design proposal39 · Habits and spiritual formationA flexible reading rhythm
Help someone choose a reading rhythm—and adjust it when life changes.
Proposed hypothesis40 · Habits and spiritual formationReturn without shame
Make it easy to pick up a reading practice after time away.
Proposed hypothesis92 · Habits and spiritual formationOrient within a liturgical calendar
Make the tradition, date and observance clear before offering readings or prayer.
Research-informed design proposal93 · Habits and spiritual formationMake room for prayer
Compare a prayer text, a guided sequence and a quiet space without requiring personal input.
Research-informed design proposal105 · Habits and spiritual formationReading plans
From a plan tied to calendar dates, through a sequence that waits for the reader and a weekly rhythm, to readings that belong to each day, and streaks as a warning case: decide what a plan asks of time, and what happens when someone comes back after days away.
Research-informed design proposal106 · Habits and spiritual formationPrayer
From the received words of a church’s daily office, through guided steps and a list of people to pray for, to quiet prayer with nothing to fill in, and counted prayer as a warning case: decide what each surface asks someone to read, type, share or count.
Research-informed design proposal108 · Habits and spiritual formationDevotional audio
From guided prayer with Scripture read twice and room for silence, through a teaching conversation and a one-voice devotional talk, to a sleep story that fades out, and an endless generated stream as a warning case: decide what each format does with Scripture, with the listener’s attention, and with the end of the session.
Research-informed design proposal107 · Habits and spiritual formationCheck-ins and assessments
From a few setup questions that only shape what the app suggests, through a daily check-in, a gifts inventory and a church survey, to a spiritual score as a warning case: decide what each question is for, what is kept, who sees a result, and how much the result claims to know.
Research-informed design proposal110 · Habits and spiritual formationSharing with a group
From a request kept between someone and God, through one listener they choose, a few friends and a group with a leader, to the whole church and a public wall, with a board ranked by prayer streaks as a warning case: decide who hears a request, what each listener can and must do with it, and what comes back.
Research-informed design proposal · draft for review111 · Habits and spiritual formationReading together
From the same passage on the same day with nothing shown, through a guide for meeting in person, a group with a leader and a plan with friends, to a feed of friends’ activity and a public thread on the verse: decide what the others see of each person’s reading, and who looks after what is said.
Research-informed design proposal · draft for review112 · Habits and spiritual formationFirst use
From opening on a passage, a prayer or a question box with nothing asked, through a first page of places to start, guest use and a short tour, to questions first and payment before the first use: decide what a new person must give, and when, before they reach what they came for.
Research-informed design proposal · draft for review113 · Habits and spiritual formationChildren and families
From a story read aloud with a grown-up, through family time in a general app, a children’s Bible app and games with episodes, to a youth group app with a leader and a child alone with an AI or a public community: decide who is with the child, what the app collects, how it holds attention, and what happens when a child says something worrying.
Research-informed design proposal · draft for review114 · Habits and spiritual formationNotifications and reminders
From an app that waits to be opened, through reminders the person sets, the church’s hours of prayer, a daily word and messages from people, to notifications tuned to bring people back and an AI that writes first: decide who chooses the interruption, how urgent it claims to be, what it says to someone who has been away, and what reaches someone at night.
Research-informed design proposal · draft for review115 · Habits and spiritual formationGiving and offerings
From leaving giving to the church, through a quiet way to give, the church’s offering in the app, a regular gift and showing what a gift does, to a gift tied to an ad-free app and, as the warning case, pressure and promises: decide where the ask appears, what is chosen for the giver, and what the app says a gift will do.
Research-informed design proposal · draft for review