IxD Criticism

This is a review of the app "Step it up" made by group 24.

Link to project blog.

We think this app is a positive force in the world. The goal of getting people to exercise more is an admirable one. Money is likely a good motivator for many people, but it might not be best for everyone. Ideally, a competitive spirit would be all the motivation you’d need, but that’s not realistic.

When it comes to the design, we think the app should be more “in your face” with evaluating your performance. It should criticize you when you’re doing poorly, remind you when you’ve been inactive, and reward you when you’re doing well. As far as we could tell, most of the interaction with the app was done when setting up a contest and when evaluating the results. During a contest, we couldn’t find much to do besides checking up on everyone’s progress. It would be nice to have a group chat or some other way of interacting with each other during a contest.

As soon as money enters the equation, there’s bound to be ethical and moral issues down the line. Heated arguments might rise. The bonds of friendship might be tested. We’re also wary of the potentially addictive aspects of the app.

Another thing we’re worried about is the app contributing to the current social pressure surrounding physical exercise. While exercising is a great thing, it - like all things - should be taken in moderation.

The developers were a bit inconsistent when it came to the target group of the application. One group they mentioned was moms, as they would be a group wanting to compete with their friends. The second group mentioned was just groups of friends. We think that the application should have a specific target group in mind to be able to tailor the design accordingly. Our own suggestion for a target group is, which they had previously had suggested to them, co-workers. We have heard about a step-contest going on at CSC, where some people have gotten so engaged in the competition that they have put treadmills in front of their computers so they can walk while they work. We believe that a bit of competition between co-workers is a healthy addition to the otherwise rather slow and lazy day.