RecApp
January 2022 - Juli 2022
Master project
In collaboration with studentteam VIRTUe & Bureau Moeilijke Dingen
Coach: Carine Lallemand
The stakes and complexity of climate change management bring ever growing concerns and call for action. Many people see it as a distant and intangible topic in which individual actions may seem powerless. RecApp is a mobile application to build intrinsic motivation towards a sustainable lifestyle. In contrast to current solutions, RecApp gives personalized content based on the user’s interests, current beliefs and actions. Small weekly challenges are proposed to slowly build new habits and routines. RecApp also connects to physical devices in the home to stimulate and encourage the users, at the right spot at the right time. The evaluation of the initial questionnaire and the final design show potential in using the Transtheoretical Model as a leading theory for a mobile application to promote a sustainable lifestyle.
research process
Instead of going from a concept or a brainstorm, this application started with an extensive research into the behaviour change theories. We mapped out the different stages of changes and looked for other theories that can support people throughout these different stages. With this mapping we were able to identify how the style or content of a challenge should change depending on the stage a person is in.
For instance, when someone is aware of the problem, climate change, but is still considering whether they want to change their behaviour, they are probably in the contemplation phase. This means that the intervention should help them with 'planting the seed' and receiving education on why their behaviour should be changed.
Design Process
After defining what the challenges should look like, we moved on to iteratively designing how these challenges could be presented in the application. As the goal setting theory could apply to all stages of change, it is important to support the user in setting specific goals, giving focus and have realistic timescales.
VIRTUe at the competition Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22
The Solar Decathlon Europe is about students building their own fully functional sustainable house. Together with 15 other teams we participated in this competition where we were evaluated on 10 different areas. We won the second price in the competition!
