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Evidence-Informed Design Hero

Research & Methodology

Evidence-Informed Design.
Active Prospective Validation.

MEVA translates published research in adult cognition, healthy aging, Montessori principles, and health design thinking into a continuous platform, supported by independent usability studies and active prospective reliability trials.

Built on peer-reviewed literature, human-centered design, and structured evaluation, delivering a cognitive wellness baseline families and partners can understand.

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Grounded in Scientific Method

Grounded in Scientific Method.

Mentage participated in national and university innovation programs to validate real-world care needs before product build decisions were finalized.

Accelerating Research Translation Through Customer Discovery

Mentage completed the U.S. National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program, a national framework for translating research into real-world societal impact.

Discovery Interviews: Validated care-team and family workflow needs.
Workflow Integration: Designed around existing care routines.
National Framework: Used a recognized model for science commercialization.

National Science Foundation I-Corps
&
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Bridging Academic Research and Market Deployment

Mentage was selected for RISE at the UAlbany Innovation Center, supporting the movement from evidence-informed concept to market-ready commercialization.

Research-to-Market Pipeline: Translated adult cognition literature into practical software.
Incubator Infrastructure: Accessed business development and mentorship resources.
Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration: Built across business, technology, and health design.

UAlbany Innovation Center: RISE

Five Principles

Five principles. Every one deliberate.

Cognitive wellness tools should inspire confidence, not anxiety. MEVA translates Montessori principles into a calm, dignified digital environment where users stay in control of their experience and their data.

Real-World
Tasks

Activities drawn from everyday adult life.

No abstract puzzles or childlike games. MEVA uses familiar routines, like sorting mail, sequencing steps, and recognizing familiar objects, to engage core cognitive domains in a meaningful context.

Consent-First
Privacy

You see your patterns first. Always.

Your data belongs to you. Every session summary is delivered privately to the user first. Sharing trends with a family member, caregiver, or healthcare provider is always an explicit opt-in choice.

User-Paced
Sessions

Zero time pressure. Zero penalties.

Cognitive health shouldn't be a speed test. Every activity moves at your natural pace, with no countdown timers, no rapid-fire prompts, and no penalties for taking your time.

Prepared
Environment

One clear screen at a time.

Minimal cognitive load by design. Each activity presents a single task on a clean, high-contrast, uncluttered screen, eliminating visual noise and tech frustration.

Pattern-Based
Feedback

No raw scores. No pass or fail rankings.

MEVA describes engagement trends in plain, human language rather than stress-inducing numbers or grades. Focus on personal consistency and small wins, not a diagnostic score.

What Informed Our Design

We did not invent our approach. We built on what the research already showed.

Published research in aging and engagement has demonstrated that self-directed activity, real-world task engagement, and choice within structure produce measurably better engagement outcomes in older adults than passive or externally-directed interventions.

We used that body of work to answer specific design questions: what kinds of activities belong in MEVA, how sessions should be structured, and what choice and control look like for a 68-year-old on a tablet.

"MEVA's task architecture is informed by published Montessori-based engagement research for older adults. MEVA has not undergone independent clinical trials."

This distinction matters. The published research describes the design rationale. It does not establish that MEVA produces the same outcomes as the studies we drew from. Those are separate questions, and we will not conflate them.

Our Current Studies

Two independent IRB-approved studies.

MEVA-WVP-001

Clinical partnership study in progress in North Carolina. IRB approved.

StatusActive

Study TypeTest-retest reliability and feasibility

SiteNorth Carolina clinical site

MEVA-PU-001

University-based usability study in IRB pipeline. Institutional partnership confirmed.

StatusActive

Study TypeUsability and engagement

PartnerPace University

News LetterPace University Students Complete Industry UX Research Collaboration with Mentage

The IRB is a committee that reviews research studies to help protect the rights and welfare of study participants. IRB review and oversight for this study is provided by BRANY IRB.

Follow the Work CTA

Follow the work as it develops.

We will share what we learn, what changes, and what remains unanswered as the research moves forward.

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WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

Start with the free Family Guide.

Plain language, no clinical jargon, one practical next step.

Get the Free Family Guide

We will tell you exactly where we are and what we are building.

Fifteen minutes. No pressure.

Request a Pilot Conversation

Evidence-Informed Design.Active Prospective Validation.