Motivating Physical Activity with Shared Achievements

This project was undertaken with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention (LBI DHP), which investigates the use of technology to sustain a lifelong healthy lifestyle. The broad motivation behind the project stemmed from the need to explore innovative methods to encourage physical activity through technological means. Before starting our industry project, the LBI DHP had already begun developing and studying "Shared Achievements" — a multiplayer step-counter game designed to investigate how collaborative game elements affect the game experience and what social dynamics emerge in a cooperative fitness game. The gameplay was built around a step-counting mechanism using the pedometer on mobile devices. Players collaborated in teams to achieve a daily goal: reaching the peak of a virtual mountain. Team success hinged on every member achieving their personal step goal, but there was a certain flexibility to this —members who surpassed their goals could compensate for those who fell short. The app's main interface displayed the mountain being climbed and the team's overall progress. Individual contributions from each team member were also visible. Additionally, the app incorporated a feature for sending encouraging messages to either select members or the entire team. However, the mountain visualization was found to be misleading, as it led players to believe that they had to walk uphill for their steps to count. This motivated us to explore alternative means to represent the team's step count in an effective and motivating way, which served as the basis of our industry project. The project took place over a period of four months, from October 2023 to January 2024. The milestones were empathizing, researching, ideating, 3D printing, assembling the prototype, programming interactions, and refining them. The prototype developed comprises two components: a mobile application and an ambient interface called "the flower". The system is tailored to an office environment, suggesting that team members know each other and communicate regularly. With team sizes typically ranging from 3–8 individuals, each team member must install the Shared Achievements app on their mobile device. Depending on the operating system, the app integrates with GoogleFit or AppleHealth, allowing users to track their steps. The physical prototype is placed in the office, serving as a focal point within the shared space. The core concept is straightforward: the team collectively strives to reach a predetermined step goal within a set time period. The team members contribute their steps via the mobile app while the physical flower continuously blooms, vividly illustrating the team's progress. The goal is to fully bloom the flower, symbolizing the team's achievement. Beyond its basic functionality, the prototype offers additional features to enhance engagement and motivation. Team members can send each other encouraging messages within the app, and by physically interacting with the flower — lifting and shaking it — they can send a motivational message to the entire team. Recognizing the challenge of determining when the flower is fully open, a "check status" feature has been incorporated, allowing users to verify the flower's progress at any time. After completing a challenge, the flower remains open as a testament to the team's achievement. However, team members can initiate a new challenge by resetting the flower to its closed state. To add a touch of friendly competition, each team member is assigned a different color within the mobile app, and the flower illuminates in the color of the most recent contributor, subtly highlighting individual efforts while reinforcing teamwork.