The paradox of building a sleep app: How do you design for "anti-engagement"? 🌙

Hey everyone! 👋

I’m currently building an app called SleepAI.com, and my team and I are wrestling with a really interesting product dilemma.

In most apps, you want users glued to the screen. But we are building an AI sleep companion (using CBT-I principles), which means our ultimate goal is for the user to put their phone down and go to sleep.

We’re experimenting with adding gentle friction—like limiting the number of chat turns late at night or resetting interaction limits every 12 hours—so the AI doesn't accidentally keep them awake.

My question for the community: For those of you building in health, wellness, or productivity, how do you measure success when your goal is to get the user off your product? Have you ever had to intentionally build "anti-engagement" features?

Would love to hear your thoughts!