edupression: case study of a permanently listed DiGA for depression
One calm daily plan that helps people with depression finish
their therapy, and keeps their doctor in the loop.
+40 BDNF drops
Week 1 · Day 3
Listed, certified, protected.
What a prescribable therapy app has to prove before doctors can use it, and what our build was designed to pass.
Edupression is permanently listed in the BfArM directory of digital health applications for unipolar depression. Doctors and psychotherapists in Germany prescribe it, and statutory health insurers cover the cost.
Status as published in the BfArM DiGA directory, on ClinicalTrials.gov and by the manufacturer on edupression.com. Listings, certificates and study results belong to the manufacturer's product.
One plan,
every patient.
edupression is a DiGA: a digital therapy for depression that doctors in Germany prescribe and health insurers pay for.
We redesigned the full patient journey, from sign-up and onboarding to daily tasks, reports and the doctor, so the therapy fits into a few calm minutes a day.
The challenge
edupression needed a programme that people with very little energy could follow every day, while it stayed clinically valid and safe.
The challenge was to make the therapy feel light and personal, without touching the questionnaires, safety rules and DiGA requirements it rests on.
How we helped
We built one calm daily plan on a shared design system: reusable flows, components and theme tokens, with a safety layer every task can call on.
That made it faster to add tasks, test variants and keep every screen consistent, in light and dark, on any device.
What the redesign delivered.
A complete, clickable product: every patient and doctor screen and every inner step of every task, in light and dark, on phone, tablet and desktop.
Morning to evening, one rhythm.
The app follows the patient’s day. The plan greets them in the morning, the daily log waits until evening, and dark mode takes over at night.
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Four shared layers. One calm product.
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One plan, every task.
Every task starts from the same plan and comes back to it. Each one is built from the same shared parts: header, step count, question card, completion screen and drops.
25 questions · 1 min
Short video
Pick one, track it
Psychoeducation
9 questions · 3 min
DiGA extension
Three directions. One winner.
Each concept was a clickable demo with the same real content, plus a toggle to flip back to the old interface for side-by-side reviews.
One system, every step.
Every flow, from prescription to progress, starts from the same design system. Tokens, components and the safety layer flow into each journey, so sign-up, daily tasks and care feel like one product.
Design systemOne source for every screen
Colour, type, light & dark
Cards, questions, buttons
Notices, warnings, help
A plan you can actually finish.
The home screen is today, and only today: week and day, the unit’s theme, six tasks with honest time estimates, and a progress bar that fills one segment per task.
Everything in the menu
One per task
What earns them, and why
A check-in, not a form.
25 questions, one per screen, with big answer targets and a visible count. Severity uses colour and words together, never colour alone. Sleep, life events, medication and a free note close the day.
per screen
when it’s sent
The log describes the day, so it should open at the end of it.
{{ abTime }}{{ abTime }}{{ abTime }}When it matters most, the app slows down.
Two questions ask about thoughts of death or self-harm: question 12 of the daily log and question 9 of the PHQ-9. We designed them as moments, not rows.
Emergency help is also reachable from the header on every screen.
Encouragement, without pressure.
Each task earns BDNF drops, named after the growth factor the brain produces when active. A weekly target of 350 gives a goal; only active weeks are counted, so a hard week is never shown as a failure.
Therapy that reaches the doctor.
Results become plain-language reports. Patients find their prescribing doctor by name or postcode, or invite a specialist to the practitioner portal; reports flow there once the practice accepts. Prescriptions go to the insurer from inside the app.
Find the doctor once. Reports follow.
Search by name or postcode, include external directories, or invite a practice by email. Once it accepts, reports go to the practitioner portal automatically.
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From paper to access code, in the app.
Enter it once, therapy starts
Health-grade security, no password wall.
One-time, no password to remember
Built for late evenings.
The daily log opens in the evening, so dark mode wasn’t optional. Every token has a dark pair, and the same layouts expand into a sidebar on tablet and desktop.
Audited, screen by screen.
An automated scan of every visible text node, accessible name and tap target, in light and dark, followed by a manual review. Every failure became a token, so the fix applies everywhere.
Built on tools a team can hire for.
Mainstream, well-supported technology, chosen so the manufacturer's own team can maintain it and the BSI auditors could review it without surprises. A request travels left to right: from the patient's phone to the EU data centre.
