Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Veggin’ A conceptual design by

Tanya Flores

Design ChallengeUsing MMS and texting to create the habit of ordering

vegetables dailyTime limit: 4 hours

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Veggin’

Persuasive Purpose To encourage undergraduate Stanford students living in a cultural

house to create the habit of ordering vegetables daily through the use of MMS and text messaging.

Industrial Design

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

User Description

• Stanford University undergraduate students (18-21 year olds)

• Currently living in a cultural house with daily group dinners from 5:15-7PM

• Motivated to eat vegetables, but difficult to fit into their lifestyles and schedules.

• Have a phone with MMS capabilities.

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

The Veggin’ Experience

At about 7PM, when Stephanie returns to her dorm, she notices she has another mms with a motivation and funny photo of someone eating vegetables. She is also asked to text back yes or no regarding whether she ate any vegetables during her dinner.

The next day, a message to all her dinner party is sent showing letting them know who ate vegetables and who had not. Stephanie feels great because she is part of the group that ate the veggies.

Members of Casa Zapata themed living group, get together daily to have dinner during regular dining hall hours. Stephanie is a part of the group and enjoys eating with her peers.

At about 5:15 everyday, Stephanie and the rest of her dinner party receive an MMS message with a photo of the vegetables available at their dining hall. It is accompanies with a message encouraging them to order a serving.

Because many of the other people she is eating with are eating the vegetables, Stephanie also feels motivated to order the vegetable that day.

The next day, Stephanie receives another MMS message with the another photo of the vegetables in the dining hall and is again encouraged to eat the veggies.

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Prototype of Veggin’

• On 5/20 participants will receive a short notice of how the service works

• Users will begin receiving messages from Veggin’ from 5/24-5/30.

• On 5/31 participants will get a follow-up survey asking questions about the success/failure of the service.

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Features/Functionality

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Theoretical Justifications

• Veggin’ encourages the simplest behavior that matters by only asking participants to place veggies on their plate during dinner (not necessarily eat them).

• Participants are hot triggered by the timing of the

message right at dinner time.

• Social acceptance motivates the participants since others will know if they are not in compliance.

• Because the dining hall already has a veggie of the day, adding veggies is simple requiring little time and effort

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Results of User Testing

• Daily responses from users will be used to measure behavior change.

• Post-intervention survey will also be used to see what part of service was most successful.

Veggies No Veggies

STEPH ✔DANIEL ✔MARY ✔

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Shortcomings of Design

• Cost of vegetables may cause the participants to not order them daily

• Competition from peers may not be motivating but rather cause participants to drop off from the service

• If participants do not eat in the dining hall during for dinner the MMS will be irrelevant.

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Expansion - What else is possible?

• Other form factors or ID possibilitieso Integration with other social media sites, such as facebook or

twitter instead of just messaging.

• Other features and interactionso Personalize the timing of the messages more accurately so

that messages are received while they are in line for food.

o Have a buddy system to encourage users to work together to order veggies.

o Reinforce the participant’s behavior when they reply “Yes”

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Next Steps in Design Process

• Choose another group of individuals that eat meals regularly together to see if results match.

• Examine whether veggies in the morning are easier for people to eat than during dinner

• Have users MMS pictures of the foods that they eat rather than me MMS’ing what they should eat.

Stanford University, Spring 2010CS377v - Creating Health Habitshabits.stanford.edu

Are you Veggin’?