Case study: University of Illinois Chicago

A practice app for a university relationship skills study

AI brings each conversation to life, so young people can practice healthy relationship skills in a space that feels real but carries no real-world risk.

Health
Research

Two phones from the study app, one showing a video chat and one showing a social feed of photo posts

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago wanted young people to rehearse tough social moments without real-world risk. We built a digital health intervention app laid out like a social feed, where AI brings each conversation to life.

Client: University of Illinois Chicago
Built for: Research
Area: Health
Platforms and tools: iOS, Android, OpenAI

The problem

What they needed

The study team was testing an intervention for LGBTQ+ young people about healthy friendships and relationships. Skills like setting a boundary or answering a pushy message are easier to learn by doing. But trying them for the first time in real life can feel risky, and that stops many people from trying at all.

The team needed a place to practice that felt familiar and true to life, so participants would take the practice seriously.

What we built

How the app works

We built an iOS and Android app that looks and works like a social media app, with a feed, profiles, and chat. Each scenario plays out as a conversation. The participant chooses how to reply, and the story moves on based on that choice.

AI is what makes the practice feel real. Using OpenAI, the people in each scenario talk and react in ways that feel natural, so a hard conversation in the app feels close to one in real life. Participants get practice that feels real, with no real-world risk.

Every choice in a scenario ties back to a skill the study is teaching, so practice repeats in a planned way.

Features