1. Sorority Sunscreen Submissions:
A Daily Sunscreen Application
Designed by Brian Pesin
http://habits.stanford.edu
Design Challenge
To encourage people to incorporate using facial
sunscreen, a cycle behavior, into their daily routines.
Time limit: (Intervention period) April 20-April 28
2. Daily Sunscreen Persuasion Challenge
Persuasive Purpose:
-To convince a selected audience of five college students to
incorporate the daily use of facial sunscreen, a healthy
cycle behavior, into their routines.
User Description:
College students
With established morning/shower routines
For the purpose of this study, sorority girls in the Cowell
cluster
3. Features/Functionality
Daily e-mail reminds user to apply facial sunscreen
Trigger
Provides the student with basic location-oriented
information regarding the weather, including the UV index,
which will further encourage the use of sunscreen
Easily completed Google form embedded in email
For those without HTML email capability, there is also a
link to the Google doc
Survey can be completed on a laptop or a mobile phone
Includes a "no" option + explanation for not using
sunscreen
Encourages people to be accountable for their friends
Track results at bit.ly/sunscreentrack
Motivates by displaying positive behavior
Social modeling
Reminders from peers increase efficacy
4. Storyboard: Susie Uses Sunscreen!
4. The email reminds
3. Susie gets an Susie to apply facial
1. Susie wakes up 2. Naturally, as a sunscreen and informs
for the morning. sorority girl, Susie email on her
her of the weather and
checks her emails BlackBerry/laptop! the daily UV index.
and texts first thing.
7. Susie tracks her 8. Susie sends a
5. The email also provides progress (and her sisters' sunscreen reminder via
6. Susie puts
Susie with a Google form in progress) through the link text to her sister, Sarah,
sunscreen on and fills
which she can track her at the bottom of the email after not seeing her
out the easy Google
sunscreen use - even from to the Google form results. name on the results
form straight from the
her mobile phone! sheet.
reminder e-mail.
5. 3
Prototype of S
Sunscreen Reminder Google Doc with
Email/Google Form Tracking Results
6. Results of User Testing
Number of total (regular) users [response rate of 85%+]: 6 girls
Average number of days that users applied sunscreen: 7.1 days
Average number of days that users failed to apply: 1.3 days
Average number of failed submissions: .33 days
Number of submissions via traditional computers: 73/75 - 97%
Number of submissions via mobile device: 2/75 - 3%
Response breakdown by user:
Average daily success rate: 81%
7. Results of User Testing (continued)
Common excuses for failing to apply sunscreen:
"I don't need to put sunscreen on because of the weather."
Rain, cold, cloudy, wanted to tan
This was the most commonly cited excuse
"I ran out of sunscreen."
"I'm staying indoors today."
Interesting excuses for failing to apply sunscreen:
"I'm concerned about putting unnecessary chemicals on my
face when it isn't sunny outside."
"I have pink eye and I am not allowed to touch my face."
8. 3
S Observation & Analysis
Successfully created the target habit within the target user
group (81% success rate) using technologies such as e-
mail, Google forms, Google docs, text messaging, laptops,
and smartphones
Relied on theoretical habit-forming techniques
Hot trigger
Accountability
Changing a small behavior
Despite my intentions, users did not turn to their
smartphones to track their sunscreen use
Difficult to create habits in some users because of
unbreakable preconceived notions around sunscreen
9. Improvements for Future Interventions
Automated e-mail service/weather retrieval
Problems with e-mail regulation - specific delivery time
More interactive user experience
Trigger to encourage texting
More direct ways of getting in contact with other users
Automatic pop-up on phone (for a mobile app)
Make sunscreen reporting more automatic
