Using Data to Change Behavior
Sunday, May 19th, 2013
The former CEO of Zeo, a personal sleep management company, has an interesting blog post on using personal health data to change behavior. The post summarizes advice from five years in the trenches and is specific enough to be useful to cognitive designers.
The bottom line is that health data and advice will change behavior if it is personalized, presents a new view on health, relates to an immediate concern (e.g. how I look) and is presented in a comparative and visual way.
Devices like Zeo’s have another important feature for changing behavior. They close the loop quick enough to hold my attention. They use sensors, devices and software to measure my behavior and then show me how the adjustments I make produce a change I want or not. If this happens in a fast and visually stimulating way (like it does in video games or speed limit signs that display my driving speed) then behavior change is more likely to take place.
How are you using personal data to drive behavior change?
