The research behind Sovela
Every design rule in Sovela comes from published research or our own review of how co-parenting apps are used. Here are all 34, with where each comes from.
In a 2023 evaluation, several experienced mediators could not enter an ordinary alternating-weekend schedule in 20 minutes on existing apps. The calendar was the worst-rated function.
Smyth et al. 2023
In a 2023 evaluation of nine apps, the best-rated was the one that let a parent limit how many messages arrive and when.
Smyth et al. 2023
In a small survey, 31 of 33 mothers who had been abused through a co-parenting app said the other parent demanded immediate replies. Sovela shows delivery, never read times.
Irving 2024
Word filters are easy to get around, and researchers found no independent evidence that they change behavior. Sovela teaches a skill and leaves the choice with the sender.
Irving et al. 2023
Softening a message can remove evidence a parent needs. Sovela always keeps the original, word for word.
Irving et al. 2023
In a small survey of mothers abused through a co-parenting app, 14 of 33 reported whereabouts checking through an app. Sovela records that an exchange happened, never where anyone is.
Irving 2024
The only randomized evidence found of a digital tool reducing conflict between parents is a short online skills program for one parent. It was a small trial run by the program's developers.
Wolchik et al. 2021, preprint
The one skills program with trial evidence was delivered to one parent, so Sovela is built to help even if only one parent uses it.
A private record that the other parent can find or infer is a safety risk. The vault does not exist on the other parent's side.
Sovela research data set
The request list asks for the client's own side too. The same behavior can support opposite claims, and a one-sided record is less credible.
Sovela research data set
Clients do better documenting how the child is doing than cataloguing the other parent.
Suggestive questioning by any adult can distort a child's account. Sovela never asks children about either parent or either home. Kids can only ask for things they need.
Lamb et al. 2007
A payment percentage alone penalizes the parent with the larger order, so Sovela shows dollars and percent together.
Hu and Meyer 2003
Most custodial parents in Census data also received noncash support, so the ledger has a place for it.
U.S. Census Bureau, P60-262
Researchers found no tool that can tell from behavior alone which parent is controlling and which is resisting. Sovela counts and never labels or scores a parent.
Nancarrow et al. 2020
Selective records were used to build false narratives in existing apps. Sovela exports complete threads only.
Irving 2024; Heard et al. 2023
Researchers criticize orders that lock parents into an app with no end date.
Smyth et al. 2023
Three-quarters of surveyed family law professionals had recommended a co-parenting app, and only about a third of those had tried it first.
Payne et al. 2022
The same researchers call a randomized trial of app features urgently needed.
Payne et al. 2022
Researchers found that abuse can be disguised as child-related messages, and that language filters miss it. Sovela checks a draft against the plan's own rules and shows the result to the sender only.
Heard et al. 2023; Irving 2024
Time stamps in existing apps were used to make silence look like bad parenting. Sovela measures reply time only where the order sets a deadline, treats both parents the same, and shows the reason each parent gave.
Heard et al. 2023
Research ties a parent's diagnosis to parenting only through what the parent does with the child. Sovela shares a trend, by the parent's choice, and never a label.
Sovela research data set
Kids ask for things through picture choices, and see only that a grown-up has it. They never carry messages between parents or see who said what.
Parent education that only gives information tends to fade. Programs that have parents practice skills at home show stronger results, so every lesson ends with something to try this week.
Sovela Academy curriculum review
In one small survey, 31 of 33 mothers abused through a co-parenting app said the other parent demanded immediate replies. Sovela lets the sender ask for a reply, checks the request, and lets the recipient mark a message as information only.
Irving 2024
The best-rated app in a 2023 evaluation let a parent limit how many messages arrive and when. Sovela adds coaching so parents choose what fits their situation.
Smyth et al. 2023
Both parents see everything sent to the neutral, so no one is spoken about behind their back.
The one online program with trial evidence taught skills to one parent, with practice reminders. Sovela ties its reminders to the values the parent chose.
Wolchik et al. 2021, preprint
In app reviews, the most common complaint about expense features is that the other parent can reject an expense and erase it. In Sovela nothing disappears: a disputed item stays, with both reasons.
Sovela shared-expenses review
Several reviewers wanted a place to record payments made elsewhere more than they wanted the app to move money.
Sovela shared-expenses review
Urgent messages go through every boundary, so each use is recorded and the other parent can flag a false alarm.
Stars and constellations are earned only by what a parent does, never by what the other parent does, so one parent cannot hold the other back. Sharing them is the parent's own choice.
Children are never responsible for proving an exchange happened. The check-in is optional, has no location, and a missed one is never shown as a problem.
The one online program with trial evidence had parents practice skills, not just read about them. Setup asks parents to do one small thing on each screen.
Wolchik et al. 2021, preprint