William Nardi

As a researcher and advocate for patient-centered care, I work at the intersection of behavioral science, human-centered design, and digital health to develop and evaluate interventions for behavioral health. I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at Brown University's Mindfulness Center, Lead Researcher at Mindshift Recovery LLC, and a paid Research Consultant at OpenMind AI. My research is grounded in mixed-methods and qualitative approaches. I design and conduct usability testing, contextual inquiry, and iterative user research to ensure digital therapeutics are not only clinically effective but genuinely usable by the people they serve. A central focus of my work is problematic smartphone use and its comorbidity with substance use and anxiety disorders. I am developing person-specific models of phone-behavior-craving chains to inform interventions that meet people in the contexts where they struggle most.
I also investigate how generative conversational agents can be responsibly integrated into digital mental health interventions. I am actively working to integrate evidence based qualitative methods to ensure alignment of AI with clinical values, ensuring therapeutic AI builds user autonomy rather than dependence.
I am passionate about leveraging mobile technology and mindfulness science to provide scalable, compassionate interventions that empower individuals to break free from unhealthy conditioned behavioral patterns.