It can be a challenge to keep the balance between work life, couple relationship, everyday life and time for yourself. And more often than not, at least one of these areas tends to be neglected, and in the worst case, all of them suffer. And as soon as children come along, this imbalance can become even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the \u201cTK Stress Study<\/a>\u201d published by Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) in 2021, work was the main factor for stress. And one in three respondents, around 29% in total, felt that their job made them neglect their family and friends. Although this figure has fallen slightly compared to previous years (in 2013, around 34% of respondents said that family and friends were neglected due to work commitments, compared to 39% in 2016), this stress factor was once again in first place in 2021. The \u201cFamily-friendly employers<\/a>\u201d attractiveness study from 2024, which was commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), found that \u201c[m]ore than half of the surveyed employees with family responsibilities\u201d feel \u201csomewhat to extremely challenged\u201d when it comes to balancing work and family life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The results therefore show that, especially for working couples with children, it can be a strain or even a test of endurance to reconcile the different areas of work, everyday life, couple relationship and family. But how can these couples manage not only to organize their everyday work and family life, but also not lose sight of their relationship with each other?<\/p>\n\n\n\n One possible answer to this question is provided by the Berlin start-up kindr – the \u201ckindr app<\/a>\u201d. The team around the two founders Dr. Johanna Ickert and Susanne Richter has developed an app to help parents tackle the challenges of raising children and everyday working life together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Johanna Ickert is a visual anthropologist, director and editor. Susanne Richter has a degree in psychology, is a media educator and has also worked extensively in the field of film production. Together they founded LIBRA Film<\/a>, a production company for film and digital media, back in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They had had the idea for kindr. for some time. But when they received an EXIST grant for it in 2023 with the support of the start-up service of the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, things really took off. Back then, however, the app still had a different name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The founding team is completed by Fatih Girisken, who contributes his expertise as tech lead and developer. In 2024, the team was honored as one of the cultural and creative pilots in Germany<\/a>. Since October last year, kindr. has been part of the second cohort in the Investment Readiness Program of the MediaTech Hub Accelerator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As working mothers, Dr. Johanna Ickert and Susanne Richter know all too well what it means to juggle partnership, career and family without forgetting your own autonomy. \u201cWe want to encourage parents to think of family as a joint project – with time for themselves, for each other and for the relationship,\u201d says Dr. Johanna Ickert, explaining the reasons behind the development of her app. And Susanne Richter adds: \u201cOur goal is empowerment – so that parents don’t have to fight for free time, but instead make it possible for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the two founders see the kindr app not only as a tool, but also as a kind of \u201cguide to progressive parenthood\u201d, as Dr. Johanna Ickert explains. Essentially, this is based on a political and currently much-discussed question, namely how care work can be distributed equally and fairly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two founders are concerned with \u201cmore understanding\u201d, meaning more friendliness in their dealings with each other, but also with themselves. In other words, \u201c\u2018kinder\u2019, to be kinder\u201d. This is also the motto of the app: \u201c\u2018kinder\u2019 with kinder and children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFamilies are already incredible project managers!\u201d say Dr. Johanna Ickert and Susanne Richter. This is how the idea of combining \u201cagile project management with impulses from couples therapy\u201d came about. Agile methods from project management, such as Scrum, are used and tailored to families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the heart of the app is a weekly plan with a tracking feature. This is designed to help couples \u201cconsciously integrate me-time, couple time and family time into their everyday lives\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The whole thing is combined with insights from couples therapy. The aim is to strengthen the couple’s relationship. Although Dr. Johanna Ickert and Susanne Richter describe their strategy as \u201ccouples therapy through the back door\u201d, they also emphasize that they do not see their app as an alternative to traditional couples therapy. Rather, their app is intended to be used beforehand, for example by intercepting existing or emerging conflicts through the use of the app, or as a supplement to couples therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But why an app anyway? Aren’t working couples with children already exposed to mental overload? Isn’t there an additional risk of digital overload due to more screen time? \u201cThat’s exactly what was super important to us!\u201d says Dr. Johanna Ickert. \u201ckindr. is not intended to increase screen time – on the contrary. We are shifting the annoying organization to the digital world so that there is more room for real conversations in real life.\u201d And Susanne Richter explains that the team doesn’t want to develop an app that causes parents even more pressure and stress. Her idea is to offer an app that \u201ccreates clarity, intercepts conflicts early on – and strengthens couples before things break down.\u201d The digital device in your pocket is therefore more of a companion that supports rather than burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this to work, the app needs to be adapted to the needs of the couple – individually. What is particularly important to the couple? Where is support needed? Is it about a fairer distribution of care work? Or about reducing stress? Or are there specific conflicts in the partnership that need to be resolved?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two founders asked themselves all these questions in advance so that, together with their team, they could develop an app that could be tailored to the specific needs of the couples. Extensive onboarding makes it easier to use the app, but couples can also select their individual priorities and set goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI is also used to make use even more personalized and to promote communication between the partners. For example, tracking data can be evaluated by the algorithms in order to generate \u201csmall conversation impulses on request\u201d that \u201ccan encourage reflection or conversation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the individual application, user-friendliness also plays a major role in the development of the app: \u201cThanks to strong UX design, the whole thing is very clear and comprehensible and is actually fun,\u201d say the founders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the path to the current version of the kindr app was long and involved a few detours. For example, the original idea was to record video diaries and carry out photo exercises and emotional challenges. However, during the initial tests with users, it became clear: \u201cIt’s more about practical everyday organization,\u201d as Susanne Richter explains. And Dr. Johanna Ickert reports on many conversations with each other, but also with other parents, whereupon they \u201ctested prototypes and iteratively developed them further with the team\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another valuable learning was that the development of apps works differently to film production. While in the film industry \u201cyou only show something when it’s \u2018perfect\u2019\u201d, app development \u201cworks the other way around: you go out with raw, imperfect prototypes, test, discard, rebuild. And that was difficult for us,\u201d explains Susanne Richter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The app is currently in the test phase. Feedback is being collected from users in order to continuously develop the app further. At the same time, discussions are being held with family centers and advice centers, for example, which are also being taken into account when working on the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The launch is scheduled for the end of 2025. Until then, the team is also working on strategic partnerships, for example with health insurance companies. In the future, the team can also imagine an international rollout, in the entire DACH region or in the English-speaking market. A B2B version is also conceivable, for example for companies in the corporate health sector. Until then, however, the team does not want to rush things. The first step is to prove the \u201cproduct market fit\u201d in the next round of testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone who wants to stay up to date and find out what happens next with kindr. can sign up for the newsletter here. Interested couples with children can also register for the test phase. Registration for the newsletter and all information about becoming a test user can be found on the kindr. website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAn app to reconcile work with family and a couple’s relationship – equal, fair, ‘childr.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Project management meets impulses from couples therapy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why an app?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After the prototype is before further development<\/h2>\n\n\n\n