Adapting the Nod App to become a Snap Mini
Summary
As the sole product designer for Nod, a mobile app built to help teens build social skills and combat loneliness, I led the design of a Snap Mini adaptation, working with Snapchat’s developer team to translate Nod’s core experience into a native mini-game within the Snapchat app.
The redesign adapted Nod’s interactions and content to fit the Snap Mini format while preserving its goal of helping teens practice social skills in a low-pressure way.
Focus
0→1 Concept & Hand-Off
Duration
4 weeks, Summer 2022
Background
What is the Nod App?
Nod is a mobile app co-developed by Hopelab and Grit Digital Health that helps college students build stronger social connections, from shared interests to deeper conversations. The app is grounded in the science of social connection and has demonstrated efficacy in reducing loneliness among at-risk students.
The Nod app, through mindfulness and motivational psychology, “equips college students with science-backed skills to build satisfying social connections,” aiming to curb students’ symptoms of loneliness and depression during the pandemic. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
Project Details
I joined after initial research and early product exploration had been completed in Spring 2022. My responsibility was to take the Nod Mini from concept to a 0→1, developer-ready experience, delivering a final prototype and clear design requirements in collaboration with Snapchat partners.
Scope of Work
Lead Product Designer representing Grit Digital Health, collaborating with Product Managers and Developers from the Snap Mini team.
My Direct Contributions
I built on existing research and early concepts to define and deliver the core Nod Mini experience, focusing on clarity, engagement, and platform integration. My work centered on three key areas:
Contribution 1
Deepening Connection Through Gamification
How might we introduce familiar Snapchat native gamification patterns into Nod Mini so users can clearly track progress, feel rewarded, and stay motivated to continue engaging?
Goal: Strengthen social connection between friends by encouraging repeated, meaningful interactions.
Strategy: Use clear progression and shareable rewards to reinforce momentum and unlock Nod’s science-backed benefits, including reduced loneliness and depression.
Design Approach: Design and integrate core gamification mechanics — levels, points, and progress visibility — to motivate continued participation and deepen connection.
→ Shareable “Level Up” rewards: Celebratory level-up screens and Snap-ready stickers that mark friendship milestones. As users progress from light to deeper self-disclosure questions, shareable rewards increase visibility and perceived value of leveling up.
→ Progress tracking: Clear progress indicators across key surfaces (home and friendship views) so users can quickly understand their current level, growth over time, and points needed to reach the next milestone.
→ Social light features: Subtle activity signals in the feed that provide social proof, reinforce participation, and normalize continued engagement without adding social pressure.
Examples of gamification within the Snapchat Mini experience. Users answer questions to earn points and level up their friendship, then share their progress through custom stickers in the camera.
Contribution 2
Driving Return Engagement with Notifications
How might we leverage familiar Snapchat notification patterns to surface meaningful activity, prompt timely responses, and encourage users to return to Nod Mini?
Goal: Increase return engagement and unblock stalled conversations within one-on-one friendships.
Strategy: Use clear, contextual notifications and lightweight social nudges to reinforce the Q&A loop without creating notification fatigue.
Design Approach: Applied proven social behaviors — activity feeds, notification badges, and app-level alerts — to ensure notifications felt intuitive, timely, and actionable.
→ Activity feed: An in-mini feed surfacing recent interactions and highlighting outstanding actions needed to earn points and progress a friendship.
→ Nudges: Lightweight notifications that let users remind friends when a question is awaiting a response, helping unblock stalled conversations without social pressure.
Defining Outcomes
- 70% of notifications result in a Nod Mini launch
- Reduced number of unanswered questions beyond 24 hours
- Increased DAU for Nod Mini launches
Early user flow exploration leading to in-product execution. A nudge sticker prompts a response directly within a one-to-one Snapchat conversation, while the Nod Mini activity feed helps users catch up on recent friendship activity.
Contribution 3
Designing Seamless Entry Points Into the Nod Mini
How might we design around Snap Mini’s unique entry points to create a seamless transition between the Snapchat platform and the Nod Mini experience?
Goal: Reduce friction to entry and make Nod Mini accessible wherever users naturally interact.
Strategy: Leverage Snapchat-native surfaces and consistent system feedback so users can enter Nod Mini from multiple contexts without losing orientation.
Design Approach: After researching Snap Mini documentation and platform constraints, I designed a system that supports multiple entry paths while maintaining a consistent experience.
→ Dynamic stickers — built to re-engage users and drive return traffic into Nod.
→ Chat and camera notifications — support contextual re-entry from active conversations.
→ In-app notifications — surfaced through a live activity feed to guide users back into the Mini.
To align teams and reduce implementation risk, I documented each entry point through interactive prototypes, helping product, design, and engineering teams understand system behavior and edge cases.
Mapped out a user flow to better understand entry points and identify areas of opportunity within the existing Snapchat user journey.
Exploring multiple entry paths into Nod Mini: users can open the Mini via interactive photo stickers, conversation threads, or the message history interface.
Outcomes & Greatest Challenges
This project was ultimately discontinued during development due to industry-wide layoffs in Fall 2022. While it was disappointing to see the work not launch, the experience reinforced the realities of building products within evolving organizational and market constraints.
Despite the outcome, I’m proud of the vision we created — to help millions of users deepen one-on-one social connections — and of the quality of the work produced across design, product, and engineering.
Reflection
What I Learned
Working alongside teams at Hopelab and Snapchat was a formative experience. The project strengthened my ability to design within complex platforms, collaborate across organizations, and advocate for products grounded in social impact. It further reinforced my commitment to building digital experiences that meaningfully support human connection.
