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Designing for Real Humans: Engagement Beyond Motivation

Cohort-based Course

Programs don’t fail because people don’t care; they fail when design ignores nervous-system capacity. Build engagement people can sustain.

Designing for Real Humans: Engagement Beyond Motivation

Cohort-based Course

Programs don’t fail because people don’t care; they fail when design ignores nervous-system capacity. Build engagement people can sustain.

Hosted by

Julie Johnson

Designing digital health for real human nervous systems.

Julie Johnson

Designing digital health for real human nervous systems.

Course overview

Beyond motivation. Toward capacity.

Then use this section to go into more detail about the value stuMost programs don’t fail because people don’t care—they fail because they’re designed for motivation instead of nervous-system capacity.

This course introduces a humane, biologically aligned approach to engagement grounded in polyvagal science, somatic UX, and real-world health and care systems. Together, we’ll explore why drop-off, avoidance, and inconsistency are not personal failures—but feedback—and how to design experiences that people can actually stay with.

This is a practical, reflective course for people designing, delivering, or stewarding health, wellness, and behavior-change experiences who want engagement that is durable, ethical, and real.dents will receive in your course...

For people building health and behavior-change experiences who want engagement beyond motivation.

For digital health builders seeing drop-off despite good tools, this course shows how to design engagement for real nervous-system capacity

For clinicians and coaches tired of willpower-based models, this course turns nervous-system insight into practical, humane program design.

For program and community leaders who value trust, this course shows how to design low-pressure participation that supports return, not drop

For digital health builders seeing drop-off despite good tools, this course shows how to design engagement for real nervous-system capacity

For clinicians and coaches tired of willpower-based models, this course turns nervous-system insight into practical, humane program design.

For program and community leaders who value trust, this course shows how to design low-pressure participation that supports return, not drop

Prerequisites

Behavior Change Enthusiasts
This course is designed for people who: Have direct experience designing, delivering, or stewarding health, wellness, or behavior-change

What you’ll get out of this course

Analyze autonomic states (safety, mobilization, shutdown) and apply Polyvagal-informe

Analyze autonomic states (safety, mobilization, shutdown) and apply polyvagal-informed design principles to create engagement pathways that respond to capacity, not pressure.

Evaluate UX workflows, pacing, tone, and cognitive load to identify points of nervous system friction

Evaluate digital health app onboarding workflows, pacing, tone, and cognitive load to identify points of nervous system friction—especially where urgency, choice overload, or inconsistency reduce capacity and trust.

Complete a structured Somatic UX audit to assess onboarding, notifications, transitions

Complete a structured Somatic UX audit to assess onboarding, notifications, and transitions—revealing where design supports regulation, choice, and safe re-entry, or unintentionally drives disengagement.

What’s included

Live sessions

Learn directly from Julie Johnson in a real-time, interactive format.

Lifetime access

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Community of peers

Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.

Certificate of completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Maven Guarantee

This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Jul 2—Jul 5

Why Motivation Fails: Engagement as Nervous-System Feedback

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Week 2

Jul 6—Jul 12

Capacity, State, and Design

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Week 3

Jul 13—Jul 16

Designing for Trust, Return, and Sustainability

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What people are saying

Julie is hands down the most incredible person to work with. I learn from her every time we talk and feel things are always taken to the next level once she gets her hands on the project. Julie is a true genius when designing curriculum and working with diverse people and teams

Maja Watkins

Social Emotional Learning Researcher

Julie is a collaborative, human-centered leader who brings clarity, warmth, and integrity to everything she builds. She uniquely combines trauma-informed practice with rigorous data tracking, making complex human-centered work both measurable and actionable.

Sarah O'Brien, LCSW

Psychotherapist/Mental Health Copywriter

Meet your instructor

Julie Johnson

I work at the intersection of nervous-system science, behavior design, and digital health.

My work centers on Somatic UX — a capacity-first approach to product design that recognizes how stress, cognitive load, and regulation shape real user behavior.

I help teams move beyond motivation-based metrics to design experiences that are usable, repeatable, and trustworthy under real-world conditions.

I’ve created a Somatic UX Assessment, a reflective tool product teams can use to notice where design may be asking more than nervous-system capacity allows.

Career highlights

Brand Ambassador for Genially
Launching the Let's Integrate App
Getting masters degree in Instructional Design

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