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A Strategically designed Persuasive Tool for an iPhone

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. WHO projects that by the year 2015, approximately 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. This article is about designing a concept of a second generation persuasive tool for an iPhone and how it can help users fighting obesity. More than 1.7 trillion dollars are spent by the US every year in health care, less than 4% of those are spent on prevention and public health. Prevention services such as screening and disease management are receiving increasing attention and help to reduce the costs on the health care system. There are numerous applications in the market which claim to aid users fighting weight issues. What makes our concept different from others is the emphasis on usability at every stage of the design process which is fundamental to success. We started off with research on iPhone user profiles, demographics and health, moved on to user interviews, requirement analysis, interaction models, use objects, information architecture, visual design, and ended up with Hi Fidelity clickable mock ups of the application. The application is intentionally designed to change a person’s attitude or behaviour in a predetermined way. The final result is a robust and user friendly persuasive tool for those who want to loose weight and get back into shape, with the age group of the target users being 18-40 years. The application leads the user through a step by step sequence of actions with relevant, customised interventions, providing the right kind of motivation and thereby providing a better user experience in turn making the process more engaging and enjoyable. The study develops a successful symbiotic relationship between the medical and mobile domain. The usability evaluation tests ensure that any potential issues are highlighted and fixed before the product is launched. The article also addresses the impact of usability on the final design and how it affects and is the key to the success of the application.