INBOXBUDDY REDUCES STRESS OF EMAIL IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

By Lawrence Rogers & Charlie Yang

d.Compress Spring 2015 | Stanford University

STRESSOR & POV

STRESSOR: Email

POV: Gamification and Emotional Feedback will reduce stress related to email for college kids

SBTM

Mark and email ‘Done’ in Google Inbox and receive feedback from a digital avatar

PROTOTYPE A - 'TAMAGACHI FOR EMAIL'

PROTOTYPE B - 'POWERUPS'

• Chrome Extension• InboxBuddy dances

when email is marked ‘done’

• For every 5 emails, InboxBuddy ‘levels up’

A USER’S STORY

Jordan receives approximately 20 emails throughout the day

Some emails are important, and some are useless

This influx of disorganization causes him STRESS

He knows getting his email out of the way will make him feel less STRESS, but he often procrastinates

Having InboxBuddy there pushes him just a little further to get his email over with and feel better!

TRIAL DESIGN

Participants

• College Aged

• Google Inbox Users

Pre Survey

• Google Form

• Likert Scales

InboxBuddy

• Chrome Extension

Post Survey

• Same as Pre Survey

RESULTS QUANT

9 participants responded to both surveys

4 Questions – Avg. Score Differential1. Email causes me stress: -.33

2. I avoid looking at my inbox until I have to: -.33

3. Stress from email reduces my ability to get work done: +.11

4. Getting emails done relieves stress: +.22

Many people stayed the same

Possibly distracting

RESULTS QUAL

CQ: “It’s so cute!”

JS: “How many levels are there? I’m on 15!”

CD: “It should level up when I SEND an email!”

NK: “I already have that feeling internally, but it’s nice to see it dance with me”

CONCLUSIVE NOI

Having a digital avatar to accompany you provides a stress relief to college kids using email

NEXT STEPS

Support more email clients

New graphics

More features that ‘track’ usage over time (new levels, costumes, etc.)

Longer survey with even more participants