Apps aiming to change habits - posted for thesis reference. 

This week in thesis prototyping progress: 

Ah yes, the classic phone (Candy Crush) versus the book debate. 

Another to add to the competitive analysis list! (Thanks for sending this my way, Adam!)

Thanks for the reading link, Brynn!

This week in thesis progress: Wireframing the full app experience (even while watching Michigan beat Michigan State in basketball on a flight home from San Francisco - Go Blue!); also experimenting with different ways of animating the count on the lockscreen through Keynote on the iPhone.

Thesis: Competitive Audit

The below list touches on hardware and apps that deal with habit change or use of the physical phone. Note the ability of Android phones to track data and change the lock screen environment.

APPS:

This week in thesis progress: sketching potential flows for the app, designing different hypothetical lock screen visuals for user opinion, a baking break for sanity, some arduino coding of LEDs to start working on the hardware, and the beginning code to simulate how a revised lockscreen experience might work.

The 7 Day Digital Detox: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/fashion/digital-detox-email-smartphone-social-media.html?_r=0

The 7 Day Digital Detox: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/fashion/digital-detox-email-smartphone-social-media.html?_r=0

Thesis Setting Writing Exercise

Writing Prompt: Describe the setting in which your thesis takes place. What are the characteristics that define the setting? What impact does the setting have on the action?

At the moment, I see my thesis being applicable in a number of settings (although I’m working to specify and narrow to help with my use cases). Two of those use cases that I see it being applicable to and their settings are written about below:

Overuse:

This use case focuses on someone that feels they use their phone too much and would like to change that behavior. I see my thesis concept being most important to them in settings where boredom, procrastination, or the need to kill time exists. This is where the action to “check” the phone is more common, even when it may not be necessary. This use case could include a classroom or lecture setting, a meeting, short moments of waiting in between activities, or in a work setting, and those locations may be quiet or rather insular moments where the activity at hand might be demanding attention or cognitive work that the user isn’t fully focused on or wanting to do. In those moments, the individual may feel that there is no one to hold them accountable for accessing their phone either. The mobile device offers the user another potentially more engaging experience, or requires less cognitive power, than the experience the user is currently in. 

Social Use:

This use case focuses on a group such as a family or couple. The setting could be a restaurant that a couple is at or a general location that a family is vacationing in. For both instances, the activity or activities are centered around relaxation, face-time with loved ones and unplugging, partially due to the activity and also due to the social company of those with the user. The setting would command less use of the individual’s mobile device because the activities do not necessitate a mobile device (dining, talking, swimming, playing sports or games, more visual consumption of a new location, etc.) and those also in this space are not using their devices. In this case, my thesis would help to provide reinforcement for not defaulting to the phone during these circumstances.

Larger clickable/slideshow versions of the brainstorm sketches from my Prototype Plan blog post for easier viewing.

Prototype Plan

It's time to jump in head first and get to making. Below is a 6 week plan for a thesis prototype, broken down into two 3 week periods. 

DESCRIPTION OF CONCEPT:

For this particular prototype, I've honed in on the "checking" behavior of mobile users which was a major theme from the survey results that I'd collected/analyzed last week. What I mean by "checking" is the action of picking up and turning on the phone to "check" for changes when the phone has not specifically alerted you to one - checking for emails, messages, social media updates, mainly that desire or need to see if there is something new, which is a gateway to accessing everything on the phone. I will not be focusing on one specific app or environment once the user is on the phone, but rather that initial desire to check the phone.

My aim with this prototype is to help users understand and be aware of their checking habits and potentially provide some counter actions/scenarios to make the user consider the nature or need for accessing their phone. I don't believe this is for every user of mobile products, as we all have different uses for our phones, but rather for those that are interested in better understanding, tracking or potentially changing this particular behavior. 

Thanks for sharing this, Rae!