Struggling to put the phone down?
It’s not you.
It’s a design problem.
Apps use tons of sneaky tricks to turn “just 20mins” into hours of scrolling. By turning off these tricks you can actually put your phone down after 21mins.
Just one practical tip, every week
Apps track billions of scrolls in real-time.
They use features like autoplay, infinite scroll, drip notifications, inflated feedback, and algorithms designed and proven to suck up more of your time.
You log in to relax or catch up for a bit. You leave, low on time, sleep, focus or wellbeing.
Willpower can’t win.
a collage of studies on the impact of addictive design
I’m Iske from Design my Screen time.
Inspired by master’s thesis (co-created with teens from seven countries about their screenage experiences and what they’d like to see change) and my own kiddos, I created Design my Screen time.
I do offer classes, talks and resources about addictive tech for tweens, teens, parents & educators.
This is my fav news story of the month is EU tells TikTok to change addictive design.
Autoplay
Notifications makes sense.
Infinite Scroll
Notifications makes sense.
Notifications
Notifications makes sense.
24hrs content
Notifications makes sense.
Social feedback
Notifications makes sense.
Learn the tricks.
Take back control.
Why do I keep scrolling when I want to sleep/work on my goals?
Notifications makes sense, right? A message, a red dot and a number appears. What doesn’t make sense is 36 notifications that
Why do I keep refreshing for new notifictions?
Dopamine is a neuro-transmitter that makes you feel really good.
Children pay the price.
If a child gets a smartphone at 12, by 21 they will have lost a full year of their life to scrolling — that’s a year of poorer sleep, weaker focus, less learning, and fewer real connections.
To an app like TikTok that year equals up to 17,000 ads — more profit for apps, no protection for kids.
Until laws catch up, it’s up to us.
About Design
My Screen Time
Inspired by Iske’s master’s thesis (co-created with teens from seven countries) and her own kids, Design My Screen Time offers creative, hands-on classes, talks and resources about addictive tech for tweens, teens, parents and educators.
Grade 6 - 12 Classes
Here learners become app designers to explore addictive design creatively, ideating apps that support their values.
App Guides
What every parent needs to know about TikTok, WhatsApp, Roblox, YouTube… Red flags to safer app settings.
School Talks
For grade groups, educatorsor parents on how apps hook children and the settings and strategies that makes it easier to manage their harmful side at home and on the school ground.