Sep 2015

MyFitnessPal - Case StudyKrystian Suliński

IFN691

Evaluation the effectiveness of the use of persuasive techniques

within MyFitnessPal application

Today’s Quests1. An overview of the system

2. Evaluation of persuasive design

3. Suggestions for improvement

1. An overview of the system

1. An overview of the system Diet tracker with the world’s largest nutrition database

Counts calories and tracks exercises in order to determine optimal daily intake of nutrients for the users’ goals

80 million users (Perez, 2015)

Acquired in 2015 by Under Armour for $475 Million

Perez, S. (2015). Health And Fitness Tracker MyFitnessPal Targets Power Users With Its First Paid Product. Retrieved from http:/

Perez, S. (2015). Under Armour Snatches Up Health And Fitness Trackers Endomondo And MyFitnessPal. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/04/athletic-apparel-company-under-armour- snatches-up-health-and-fitness-trackers-endomondo-and-myfitnesspal/

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal has a great potential in changing peoples’ lives - just by tracking calories*

*the most important part of a human being’s life after air and water

2. Evaluation of persuasive design

2. Evaluation of persuasive design

• Core Motivators intrinsic/extrinsic, social praise

• Features that decreased barriers tailored information

• Triggers to promote continued use of the app positive feedback, reminders

2. Evaluation of persuasive design

Core Motivators

• Intrinsic - a need to lose body weight

• Extrinsic - friends’ support

• Social praise - sharing results within groups

2. Evaluation of persuasive design

2. Evaluation of persuasive design

Features that decreased barriers

• built-in barcode scanner

• API - Fitbit, Endomondo…

• look and feel

2. Evaluation of persuasive design

Triggers to promote continued use of the app

• positive feedbackIf every day were like today... You’d weigh 60 kg in 5 weeks!

• automatic reminders100 days in a row logged on MyFitnessPal!

• community groups like „Recipe Swap!” or „50+ Pounds to Loose”

„Just by using MFP, members have seen their personal behaviors change: they are making healthier dietary

choices and finding more time to exercise” (Lose Weight Tone Up, ca. 2013)

Lose Weight Tone Up. (2013)Retrieved from http://www.myfitnesspal.com/100millionpounds#sthash.wtCI3ACZ.dpbs

“People who added friends on MyFitnessPal, giving them access to their calorie counts, lost 50 percent more weight than the typical user. People with at least 10 friends lost an average of 20.5 pounds”

(Owen, 2011 )

Owen, T., (2015). Apps to Share Your Pride at the Gym. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/ 2011/02/10/technology/personaltech/10basics.htm

„Two years ago MFP had 40 million users, who collectively lost more than 100 million pounds

- equivalent to the weight of the entire population of Las Vegas” (Popolo, 2013)

Popolo, M. (2013). MyFitnessPal Co-Founder Explains How to Lose 100 Million Pounds. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421864,00.asp

3. Suggestions for improvement

3. Suggestions for improvement

•Investment of food suppliers „Some studies suggest that increasing accuracy of subjective estimates of target behaviors is crucial” (Azar et al., 2013)

•Emotion-focused strategies raise awareness of the associations between mood and eating behaviours

•Design improvement more user-centered web app, add colours - healthy food could have a nicer label then fast food

Azar, K. M. J., Lesser, L. I., Laing, B. Y., Stephens, J., Aurora, M. S., Burke, L. E., Palaniappan, L. P. (2013). Mobile Applications for Weight Management: Theory-Based Content Analysis. Published by SAGE. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 258058574_Mobile_Applications_for_Weight_Management_Theory-Based_Content_Analysis

Take-home message

Change your life with MyFitnessPal!

Wrapping up1. MyFitnessPal is a great app - 9/10

2. FOGG helps with an effective evaluation

3. Improvements are always possible

Recommended reading

Mobile Applications for Weight Management:Theory-Based Content Analysis

byAzar, K. M. J., Lesser, L. I., Laing, B. Y., Stepens, J., Aurora, M. S., Burke, L. E., Palaniappan, L. P. (2013)

Sep 2015

MyFitnessPal - Case StudyKrystian Suliński

IFN691

Evaluation the effectiveness of the use of persuasive techniques

within MyFitnessPal application