Table 2.

Features increasing parent–child positive interactions based on the effort-optimized intervention framework.

Component		Plan
Nurturing salience
	Increasing the task’s availability	Triggers with relevant content (eg, ideas for what to discuss during dinner) sent in the hour before parents are home from work Priming parents to ask themselves about opportunities for positive interactions in the face of competing events (eg, thinking that their child would prefer to watch television instead and so not trying) through consistent but variable triggers, such as text questions, motivational scripts, and other minimal cues
	Rewarding/incentive salience	Triggers connecting tangible rewards to the desired activities: “Think of your best memories with your parent. You putting some effort into playing with your child is something that will be far more memorable to you and him/her than times when you both watched separate screens.” Directing parents to celebrate their positive interactions with their kids and to report on it using a mobile app Rewarding consistent attempts at behavior over outcomes through the platform (eg, the outcome is engaging in the behavior, not their child’s behavior)
	Creating an actionable script	A tailored list of positive interactions with brief step-by-step instructions based on an online questionnaire parents were asked to complete.
	Optimizing novelty	Sending all triggers above using different delivery mediums (text, audio, and video), timing (time of day, day, special events), and personas (instructor, peers, celebrity testimonial)
	Embedding tasks based on natural environmental cues	Directing parents to find one positive activity to conduct during dinner, such as a gratitude exercise that can be trigged through the mobile device in the right time
Making the completion of therapeutic activities as effortless as possible
	Setting graded tasksa	Asking parents to pick their preferred activities from an list of relevant activities, which automatically creates their own table that is then available on the website and as a printed version
	Setting dynamically tailored tasksa	Creating a task list based on efficacy and effort. For example, if the parents report very low efficacy or past failures, a first step may be directing parents to sit with their child when the child is watching television and initiating a conversation
Turning effort into assets
	Documenting and reflecting on past effort-related activities in a meaningful way	Documenting reports in an accumulated manner on the home page of the app or website that offers rewards based on the level of engagement (eg, the amount of quality time reported so far). If not engaged, simple motivational statements replace effortful behavior rewards
	Turning effort into a meaningful narrative; reframing effort as positive	Implementing automated feedback, which presents a narrative of them doing whatever they can to be good parents. For example: “the effort you invested today in trying to play with your kid shows how well you are committed to improve your relationship. You should be proud of yourself.”

^aReducing the effort required to engage in therapeutic activities is embedded in this component as well.