Company
WeightWatchers
Role
UX Design Manager
Year
2020-2022
Designing for Behavior Change
At WW, we knew that sustainable wellness wasn’t just about knowledge—it was about behavior. Members understood what to do, but translating that understanding into lasting habits proved hard.
My work focused on bridging that gap: integrating behavior change science into the design of WW’s core product experiences—Activity, Wins, Mindset, and Sleep—to help members sustain healthy routines that stick.
WW had a strong foundation in nutrition, but members’ biggest barriers to lasting progress extended well beyond food. They struggled with motivation, time, environment, and mindset. The challenge wasn’t what to offer—it was how to design experiences that addressed the real psychological and contextual forces shaping behavior.
Project Process
We grounded our process in behavioral science, using the COM-B model (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behavior) to guide design decisions. Through workshops with Product, Engineering, and Content, we mapped member barriers and translated them into actionable design opportunities. This work led to a Behavior Change Framework that informed partnerships with Aaptiv and Headspace, aligning content with habit-forming principles. We then applied the same framework to Wellness Wins, expanding it to include Mindset and Sleep—designing experiences that lowered friction, built confidence, and rewarded consistency.
Project Themes
Turning Progress into Motivation: The “Wins” System
We brought this thinking to life through Wellness Wins, WW’s behavior-based reward program. Instead of focusing on outcomes like weight loss, Wins celebrated the inputs—consistent, healthy actions proven to predict success.
Defined the three core behaviors to reward: tracking food, monitoring weight, and attending workshops.
Later expanded the program to include two new pillars—Mindset and Sleep—acknowledging the psychological and restorative sides of wellness.
Balanced extrinsic rewards (badges, milestones) with intrinsic motivation (identity, progress, self-reflection) to sustain engagement beyond novelty.
This approach turned a loyalty mechanism into a behavior change engine—creating continuous positive reinforcement that felt both meaningful and measurable.
Expanding into Holistic Wellness: The Sleep Initiative
After the success of Activity and Wins, we introduced Sleep as a new wellness pillar—addressing a need members frequently identified as the “hidden barrier” to progress.
Designed experiences to track bedtime habits, reflect on patterns, and surface practical insights drawn from sleep and behavioral science.
Collaborated with Science, Product, and Content teams to position Sleep alongside Food, Activity, and Mindset in the app, visually and conceptually reinforcing the balance of whole-person wellness.
Integrated Headspace-powered mindfulness content to help members wind down, linking rest to emotional and physical wellbeing.
This expansion marked a turning point: WW was no longer just about managing food—it was about designing for behavioral transformation across all dimensions of wellness.
Project Impact
By embedding behavioral science into every layer of the product, we transformed how WW supported members’ growth—shifting from tracking to transforming.
4 behavioral principles and 1 COM-B-based framework guiding product strategy
3 workshops aligning design, product, and science around behavior change
6+ key barriers mapped to actionable design interventions
5 wellness pillars established: Food, Activity, Mindset, Sleep, and Weight
2 major partnerships (Aaptiv + Headspace) delivering content grounded in behavior change science
