Touch Grass
Designing a wellbeing app that pushes you away from itself.
ROLE
Head of Product Design & Co-founder
RELEASE DATE
May 2025
Problem
The loneliness epidemic was declared a public health crisis. Parents, especially mothers, were carrying the emotional labor of helping kids rebuild social skills in a world that rewards disconnection. How do we design technology that supports presence instead of preventing it?
Solution
Touch Grass is a platform designed to help kids step away from screens and into real-world friendships. Built with empathy, research, and a touch of Gen Alpha humor, it empowers young people to create and join in-person meetups—like park hangs, game nights, and weekend adventures—while keeping parents in the loop.
Three Design Principles:
Gentle nudges - Soft tone that encourages self-connection
Movement, Not Metrics - Forget steps and streaks, just go outside
Aesthetic Calm - No dopamine loops, no gamification, minimizing compulsive behaviors
Impact
An MVP that secured seed funding and enabled App Store launch in May, 2025.
Core Features
Mood Logging.
Event Creation. Plan meetups tagged by mood and interest (e.g., food, movement, study).
Parental Approval.
In-App Messaging. Secure chats with built-in content moderation.
Post-Event Feedback.
Research & Approach
We conducted interviews with parents, kids (ages 9–14), counselors, and behavioral health experts. From this, I developed two core personas: the shy, disconnected tween and the involved, safety-conscious parent. I mapped user journeys for both roles, balancing frictionless UX with essential safety.
We spoke with parents, kids, and developmental psychologists to get to the root of what’s missing in today’s digital childhood.
Touch Grass was built to help kids learn how to socialize again and support parents (like me) trying to raise emotionally literate humans — with a little Gen Alpha humor baked in
Execution & Timeline
We ran the MVP process in six lean phases:
Discovery & Research
Solution Ideation
Information Architecture
Prototyping & Testing
Visual Design & Feedback
Final MVP Specification
Each sprint prioritized both speed and intentionality—shipping with focus while keeping space for critical emotional and safety considerations.
Outcomes & Success Metrics
By launch, we aim to track:
Event creation and attendance rates
Mood check-in streaks and emotional trend improvements
Parental engagement without friction
Growth in peer-to-peer supportive actions (tagging, replies, event invites)