Built for his wife, loved by thousands: The ADHD app created by UEA graduates
By: Communications
An app created by a husband to help his wife manage her ADHD has been downloaded more than 10,000 times in just a few weeks.
When Caitlin Hollywood was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of 2024, her husband Jonathan Lai decided to teach himself computer programming and design an app to help her.
Caitlin, 35, said: “I felt I needed help to organise my life and existing apps and software felt like basic to‑do lists that didn’t match the way ADHD brains work.
“My husband built an ADHD-support app for me from scratch, teaching himself to code after his 9–5 job because I was struggling with task management and daily routines alongside my work as a social worker due to my diagnosis of ADHD.”
And what began as something very personal between the two University of East Anglia (UEA) graduates has now grown into a supportive mental-health tool called Sprout: Smart ADHD Task App, helping thousands of adults across the world.
It has been downloaded nearly 10,000 times and has more than 6,600 active users.
The pair, who live in Mickleover on the outskirts of Derby, met through mutual friends at the Colour Run on campus during their third year at the Norwich-based university.
Caitlin, who graduated in 2018 with a degree in social work, said: “We put it through the Apple certification process and were surprised when it got through so quickly.
“We put a post in an ADHD group to see if anyone else might find it useful and thought nothing more of it.
“Next thing, Jonathan was running into the living room and exclaiming that the post had had 1,500 likes and 800 comments.
“By the end of the week it had reached a few thousand downloads and we decided to set up our own Facebook group community.”
Jonathan, who grew up in Hong Kong and attended the Island School, said he was able to develop with Caitlin in mind and ask for constant feedback, refining as he went.
The 29-year-old, who graduated from UEA with a degree in medical science in 2019, said the group was very vocal about wanting an Android version and they were able to add it to the Play Store at the end of November, a few weeks after the Apple release.
Jonathan, who works for an opthalmic manufacturer, said: “The group is a real community – helping us refine the app, and helping and supporting each other.”
The app is designed as a friendly task manager with a virtual pet companion who grows with users. It aims to help people turn overwhelming task lists into calm, organised action, with AI assistance, gamification and zero pressure. And it brings innovations to ADHD task management that no other app offers, with first-of-its-kind features.
Caitlin, who is originally from Helensburgh in Scotland, said: “Sometimes people make a suggestion, and Jonathan pushes out a fix in a few hours.
“We’re really keen it remains accessible to all, and the free version is fully usable and designed to help a person with ADHD throughout their day.”
One of the app’s users wrote: “The fact that this tool started with LOVE rather SHAME is my number one reason for trying it.”
Another user said they had found the app a “genuinely helpful tool for staying organised and keeping daily tasks on track”.
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