Mobile system to motivate teenagers' physical activity

Abstract

This paper reports a mobile persuasive application to motivate teenagers to start and continue being physically active. Being physically active can lead to reduced risks of having weight and cardiovascular problems; however efforts in this direction had variable success. Designing technology that will be engaging and motivating for teenagers requires an understanding of the factors that contribute to behavior adoption in teenagers. To understand these, we approach the design from several theoretical models: Theory of Planned Behavior, Theory of Meaning Behavior, and Personality Theory. We found that 1) Personality traits affect perceptions on physical activities and the usefulness of devices that motivate them; 2) Favored motivational phrases are universal across traits; 3) Those who tried our prototype was generally positive and stated that they would use it on their own; 5) The characteristics of games that are desired are: social or competitive, outdoor, simple to learn and with large variations.

Developing Mobile Apps for Physical Activity in Low Socioeconomic Status Youth

“…For example, in one study where prototypes were developed for PA promotion, adolescents that participated in focus groups articulated that they favoured receiving motivational phrases from a friendly female animated agent as they interacted with the prototype. 12 In contrast, adolescents in the current study did not desire motivational phrases nor an animated agent. Instead, they were satisfied with having quantitative feedback/reward through negative and positive points.…”

“…For example, in the development of one study, 12 characteristics of the games that were desired included social, competitive, outdoor, simple to learn, and with large variations. This information will guide the future development of multiple SGA for testing, such as developing more competitive games that can be played outdoors.…”

Persuasive Technology in Mobile Applications Promoting Physical Activity: a Systematic Review

“…Figure 2 trial or outcome studies, five articles focused on software design and evaluation and the remaining articles are on focus groups and interview studies on stakeholders' opinions on smart phone apps for physical activity (see Table 1). [25] × × [26] × [27] × × × × × × × × × [28] × × × × × × × × [29] × × × × [30] × × × [31] × [32] × × × × × × × × × × × × [33] × × [34] × × × × × × × [35] × × × × [36] × × × × × × [37] × [38] × × × [39] × × × × × [40] × [41] × [42] × × × × [43] × × [44] Illustrations in figure 2 and table 2 show features that are highly present in articles on physical activity intervention studies, those features that were occasionally mentioned, or those that were not cited often in these articles. Visualisation of persuasive features is presented to provide more insights about the highlights, 9 gaps and blank spots [45] in current mobile application persuasive design features on physical activity.…”

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“…Ethical considerations were neither implicitly nor explicitly mentioned in the studies by colleagues (2009, 2010) or by Arteaga and colleagues (Arteaga, Kudeki, & Woodworth, 2009;Arteaga et al, 2010), despite the latter working exclusively with teenagers. Consolvo et al (2006), Landay (2009), andConsolvo et al (2008) mentioned providing participant rewards, with the latter two also indicating use of consent forms in their studies.…”

“…Toscos' team worked with teenage girls to design and test a mobile phone application, Click Clique, that would appeal to their peers by harnessing social networking (Toscos, Faber, An, & Gandhi, 2006;Toscos, Faber, Connelly, & Upoma, 2008). Arteaga, Kudeki, Woodworth, and Kurniawan (2010) focused on identifying the design requirements for an agent-based application for an iPod touch. This application was to suggest activities that would fit the individual user's personality and explicitly prompted adolescents to exercise at specific times.…”