Listening for a need

I started with a one-hour face-to-face interview with Tony to probe for pain points in everyday life. This allowed me to capture both verbal and non-verbal cues, such as emotions and body language, which helped identify enthusiasm or discomfort with the questions. When I asked what he liked to do for fun, a big smile crossed Tony's face as he said, "go jogging."  

Takeaways:

• Increase amount of time jogging.  
• "I feel better about myself, after jogging." 
• Enjoys accountability keeping a log.
• Friend participation for competition. 
• “Getting the shoes on and out the door.” 
• Enjoys being outdoors/ exploring new city.
• Enjoys Spotify App on iPhone when jogging.
• Enjoys preset running courses, exploration of city is "fun." 
• Prefers to run in the evening. Post Work/school. 
• Obstacles: Dog, dinner, chores, schoolwork. 

THE PROCESS

The people most successful at maintaining a fitness program view physical activity differently than those who don’t succeed. The majority of us start exercising because of the long-term benefits, weight loss, disease prevention, and longevity. Unfortunately focusing on benefits in the far future is not enough to keep the mass of people motivated.

By shifting our focus from specifics, like losing 20 pounds, we’ll likely find more success in maintaining an exercise program. Those who are able to stay in the present and make physical activity meaningful become “intrinsic exercisers.” These lucky people are able to exercise for it’s own sake and get something out of each session.

Maintaining an exercise program for the rest of your life is all about making it an enjoyable experience. I proposed using a type of mood graph to see comparisons between pre and post-run moods. Over time Tony will be able to see the benefits of sticking with a program by seeing the evidence of increased elevation in mood. This will help him to focus on the internal benefits rather than the external. More importantly users will be more active because they want to be more active. 

finding that carrot

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs identifies five needs that motivate human behavior. The most basic of these are physiological. On the top of the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization. So how does Maslow’s Hierarchy help with meeting Tony’s needs? Here’s the idea – design hierarchy of needs rests on the assumption that in order to be successful, a design must meet basic needs before it can satisfy higher-level needs. Before a design can “Wow” us, it must work as intended. It must meet some minimal need or nothing else will really matter.

Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development. If the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.

Maslow's Hierarchy is an excellent model for understanding human motivation. Where does, "doing things for fun" fit into the model? The answer is that it can't until 'doing things for fun' is more accurately defined. More precisely, any given situation where Tony is 'doing things for fun,' can potentially be part of any of the five original Maslow needs. Understanding whether achieving a particular need or aim is 'fun' can provide a helpful basis for identifying the motivation within a given behavior. This then lets us assess where a particular behavior fits into the model:

•  Biological - health, fitness, energizing mind and body, etc.

•  Safety - order and structure needs met for example by some heavily organized, structural activity

•  Belongingness - team sport, club 'family' and relationships

•  Esteem - competition, achievement, recognition

•  Self-Actualization drivers - challenge, new experiences, love of art, nature, etc.

In order to relate a particular 'doing it for fun' behavior to the Hierarchy of Needs, I need to consider what makes it 'fun' (i.e., rewarding) for Tony.  For Tony - The 'fun'  in jogging is rooted in a sense of feeling better which increases positive outlook. Or the fun at a deeper level, is from the sense of self-fulfillment, i.e., 'self-actualization'.

solution strategy

Goal: Motivate Tony to jog

Motivational Design: Make Tony emotionally involved in doing something that benefits him even though he may not chose to do it unaided. 

Keep It Simple Stupid: Simple interface! Not overly complicated or overly detailed information.  

User Feeling: Understands he feels better when able to work out/jog on a regular basis (intrinsic).

User frustration: Obstacles that block motivation: Lots of chores, homework, work, dog, life.

User Desire: Jogging benefits health when achieved.  Healthier lifestyle has cascade effect. 

• Pre-run only displays which friends have run, to encourage running.  Not about time or distance but getting up and doing.  (Extrinsic)

• Random route to shake up routine. Tony enjoys seeing new areas of town, and being outdoors. (Intrinsic)

• Choose song based on mood. Removes disconnect between tempo/pace. (Intrinsic)

• Show correlation between happiness and number of times jogging occurred. (Intrinsic)

• Post-run display shows a monthly and yearly ranking of place order based on distance but this number is not shared between friends.  (Extrinsic)

WIREFRAMES & PROTOTYPES

prototype in action