Case Study: Duke University helps people with serious mental illness quit smoking with Luxoft

Duke University - Customer Case Study

Duke University partnered with Luxoft to address a major healthcare gap: the lack of a smoking cessation app tailored to people with serious mental illness (SMI). With up to 80% of the SMI population still smoking and no existing apps designed or tested for their needs, Duke sought an end-to-end mobile solution grounded in clinically supported behavioral care.

Luxoft, through its design and innovation arm Smashing Ideas, built a patient-tested mobile app based on Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). The solution used a muted interface, simple illustrations, button-based navigation, and progressive disclosure to support users with cognitive and physical limitations, while tracking mood, physical aids, and cost savings. After 200 hours of patient testing and NIH-funded validation, the high-fidelity app moved into further randomized clinical trials at Duke University.

Duke University

Roger Vilardaga

Associate Professor