Middelen Meter

A self-monitoring app for substance use, designed to support reflection without judgement.

Jellinek, Amsterdam (NL), 2023

Close-up of a smartphone screen displaying the dark blue splash screen of the “Middelen Meter” app, featuring a geometric mountain logo in pink, yellow, and blue with a loading spinner.

The overview

Middelen Meter is a self-monitoring app developed by Jellinek, one of the leading organizations for addiction care in the Netherlands. The tool helps users track their consumption of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and medication, giving them a clear, data-driven look at their personal patterns over time.

Because tracking these kinds of habits requires absolute trust, the app is built as a free, privacy-first tool where all data stays local, strictly on the user’s device. Instead of acting like a digital scold or forcing a specific treatment plan, the simple interface focuses on multi-substance tracking that encourages honest self-reflection. It serves as a practical, low-barrier companion for individuals checking in on their habits and the care professionals supporting them.

  • Three smartphone screens showing the app onboarding flow: the initial loading screen, a welcome message with a “START” button, and a tutorial screen explaining how to use the circular time dial to select a usage moment.
  • The substance selection screen (Step 1 of 4) in Dutch, asking “Wat wil je bijhouden?”. It features four large, color-coded buttons with text and icons for tracking: Alcohol (pink), Sigaretten (orange), Joints (green), and Slaappillen (blue).
  • The time selection screen (Step 2 of 4) for alcohol tracking, asking “Wanneer dronk je?”. A large, interactive central circular dial is set to “dinsdag 25 okt. middag” with a sun icon, above a white “VERDER” button.
  • Three variations of the time selection screen (Step 2 of 4) customised for different substances, showing specific questions and color-coded dials for tracking smoking cigarettes, smoking joints, or taking sleeping pills.

The work

I led the UX/UI redesign of the app, simplifying interaction flows and completely overhauling the visual identity. The real hurdle wasn’t usability and design per se, but the deep psychological and behavioral sensitivity attached to it. If an app feels judgmental, medicalized, or punitive, users simply stop logging their data. My job was to ensure the experience felt empowering rather than corrective, and supportive rather than clinical.

Every design decision had to be shaped around the reality of people in highly fragile stages of self-reflection. I built a refreshed brand identity and a strict design system to provide consistent interaction guidelines across the full experience. Because a large portion of the user base had low digital literacy, we used iterative testing to strip away any complex UI patterns, ensuring the tool was completely intuitive for anyone to use. It is the typical low-key project with a high-stake daily impact.

  • Three screens showing the alcohol consumption setup: a grid overlay to select specific drinks (like bier, wijn, sterk), Step 3 of 4 to log the specific amount (1 “bier light” of 25 cl), and Step 4 of 4 to select a tracking duration from 1 to 4 weeks.
  • A setup completion pop-up window reading “GOED GEDAAN!” with a checklist confirming the substance is chosen, the last usage is set, and the tracking plan is made, above a prominent pink “START” button.
  • The main app dashboard on day 1 of 7, displaying the text “Vandaag” above a central pink plus icon and a large blue button that reads “NIETS GEDRONKEN DE HELE DAG” to quickly log a sober day.
  • Three variations of the daily dashboard interface: the left shows logged alcohol entries (1 light beer and 4 glasses of wine), the centre shows the “sober today” button for alcohol, and the right shows a cigarette tracking screen confirming “Vandaag niets gerookt” with a smiley face.

The result

  • Led the end-to-end UX/UI redesign, creating an intuitive and empathetic user journey tailored for users with low digital literacy.
  • Developed a refreshed brand identity and design system around a non-clinical tone across the entire experience.
  • Embedded strict accessibility and usability principles to build deep user trust and comfort.
  • Worked on prototyping and testing to strip away complex UI patterns, ensuring smoothness during usage.
  • Balanced behavioral sensitivity with radical simplicity, delivering a tool that successfully supports honest self-reflection without passing judgment.
  • Three app pop-up screens: a reminder to accurately log all parts of the previous day, a pink congratulations screen with a smiley face for not drinking today, and a “HERINNER MIJ” window to set an alarm reminder for logging usage.
  • The main app dashboard on day 3 of 7, displaying a progress bar, a central time-of-day selection dial, a pink plus button for custom logging, and a primary button that reads “NIETS GEDRONKEN DE HELE DAG”.
  • An app screen titled “GEBRUIK PER DAG” showing a pink-themed weekly bar chart broken down by day parts (ochtend, middag, avond, nacht). A smiley face highlights a day with zero consumption, and a button link at the bottom reads “Aantal standaard glazen”.
  • Three side-by-side variations of the “GEBRUIK PER DAG” weekly bar chart screen. Each showcases a different substance tracking color scheme: orange for cigarettes, green for joints, and blue for sleeping pills, with consumption broken down by morning, afternoon, evening, and night.
  • Three side-by-side smartphone mockups displaying the “OVERZICHT” screen. The screens show various timeline views of alcohol and multi-substance tracking data across 1 week, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks using colored vertical bar charts.
  • A hand holding a smartphone displaying the “OVERZICHT” dashboard screen. The interface shows a weekly bar chart comparing alcohol (pink bars) and cigarette (orange bars) usage data from October 24 to October 30.
  • An informational screen within the app detailing alcohol measurements, titled “Standaardglas alcohol: 10g = 12.7ml pure alcohol”. Below the title is an illustrative grid displaying standard units and measurements for different drink types, including beer, wine, aperitifs, and spirits.
  • Three smartphone mockups side-by-side displaying concluding app modals: a congratulations window asking to start a new tracking cycle, a help window with a button link reading “OP ZOEK NAAR HULP?”, and a reset confirmation screen warning that all data will be deleted.

Credits

Role: Creative Director | Lead Designer
Employer: IJsfontein
Client: Jellinek
Mockups & Video: IJsfontein

© IJsfontein. All rights reserved.

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