Challenge Summary

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Challenge Setup

A recurring theme that emerged during my interviews with women wearing activity trackers in an office setting was the impact that social influence had on the amount of activity they were able to achieve on a daily basis. Additionally, while some women were lukewarm on competing with one another to get the most steps, there was a common support for group collaboration toward a common goal. Using the two key insights, I created a behavioral prototype to evaluate whether a group of women within an office setting would change their behavior if a collaborative, group challenge was introduced.

Recruitment of Participants

Starting with the group of women I spoke with during the interview process, I recruited eleven women working in the Poplars Building at Indiana University to participate in the five day long challenge. When the women committed to participating I asked them the following questions:

1. About how many steps do you take during a usual work day (between the hours of 8 AM – 5:30 PM)?
2. Have you benchmarked any walking routes near your office? If yes, how many steps were taken when the route was walked?

Visualization of Progress

After approximating the amount of steps the group could reach for a week (190,000), I used the routes the participants created to form a puzzle filled with 91 pieces (routes) that the group would be tasked to fill in (walk) during the five day work week. Note: The calculation of 190,000 steps was a result of taking a sample of the amount of steps a few women take during a given work day, taking 75% of that number since the challenge would be adding steps to their normal work day step count and multiplying by the number of participants. [/one_half]
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Challenge – using participant data to ensure the right amount of difficulty

Puzzle Start – showing the 91 routes to complete the puzzle
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The Rules

To get credit for a puzzle piece, participants needed to take a picture of the people who participated in the walk at the destination of the walk (for example, a person would take a picture at Bryan Park or at the IU Auditorium to prove that they made it to the farthest point of the route). Additionally, the route needed to be completed during work hours (8 AM – 5:30 PM).

The participants then would email the image to an email address (iupuzzlechallenge@gmail.com) as soon as the walk is complete. When I received the image showing proof that the route was completed, I changed the puzzle piece from a white route puzzle piece to a colorful puzzle piece that shows the name of the person who walked the route. Puzzle progress would be updated hourly, so as soon as the participant submits a picture, progress would be visible on the website.

The Routes

The majority of the routes for the puzzle were created by the participants and shared with me via email. A few of the routes I walked myself and added to the puzzle to provide new opportunities to experience different walking routes. The routes that I added to the challenge were strategically chosen to provide them awareness of other potentially walk-friendly places like the B-Line and the Woodlawn Outdoor track. Additionally, I created a very long route to Bryan Park (4000 steps in total) in an attempt to extend the capabilities of what the participants thought was possible to walk (self-efficacy).[/one_half]
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Reporting Routes – making it easy for people to submit images

Custom Maps – detailing the directions for routes[/one_half_last][/tab]
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Day 1

On Monday morning, I met with seven of the eleven participants in the HR office of the Poplars Building to answer questions and explain the challenge in greater detail. After the meeting, the challenge began with the first image that was submitted at 11:07 AM.