Stanza MVP: FDA-Cleared CBT App for Fibromyalgia
“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.”
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
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