About

This ongoing project explores developing a technology-based intervention to help change sedentary behavior in inactive adults. Modifying sedentary lifestyles has become a priority in many fields, as inactivity has been causally linked to many of the most common health conditions in America. Previous studies using technology-based activity motivation techniques have shown positive results, but further research is needed to look at the effectiveness of such interventions in different populations and settings. This study, while highly interdisciplinary, largely used concepts from persuasive technology, technology designed to promote behavior and attitude change. We followed a user-centered design process to develop a technology system for underserved populations most at-risk for sedentary behavior. The system has three interactive components designed using ideas from wearable and ambient technology, mobile development, and social networking. We will conduct a user needs analysis, gather reaction and feedback to the prototype design, and test using a real world evaluation of the prototype to tailor the system to the target population.

Prototype descriptions can be found here.