Hey Humane Tech Community!
I work at a Montreal based start-up that uses gamification and behavioural psychology strategies used by social media and games to get people to move more. We try to fight fire with fire to shift your time spent towards something that improves your real life as we really think tech can be good for you. We get very inspired by the CHT and what they stand for.
As you are probably aware, the sedentary epidemic is a huge health concern for children and adults. We really hope to help more people to pick up good movement habits through our app. We would love to hear your thoughts on our article that goes a bit deeper into what we do here is the link (Concerns, advice, ideas, critics, we want to hear it all!) :
Hi, Valérie!
It is so good to see people trying different approaches with tech. Kudos for that!
I’ve read the article, and I would like to make one comment.
I found the title to be misleading. I don’t see how addiction can be useful for anyone. Addiction means loss of control and abuse of use. If you read the text, you’ll find a part that states:
"We want to align your incentives as a person with what the app does for you. "
And that is not compatible with the definition of addictive design. But I do get your point. I’m sure a company can try to use persuasive design to influence people’s behavior positively, and I believe you are on the right path measuring progress so you can apply quick variable rewards. But I would choose a different title like “How to Create a Workout Habit That Sticks,” for example. And ditch the world addiction off the text. But that is my opinion. 
Keep up the excellent job!
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Hi Valerie,
You guys have some impressive numbers already. I’d be really interested to read a high-level article going into more detail about 1. gamification techniques and 2. the behavioral psychology built in to the app.
I agree that referring to the habit the app builds as “addiction” is quite negative; we like to feel in control, and we don’t like the idea that our tech is manipulating us to use up our time in a negative manner.
All in all, it’s a great use of tech and design for good
Cheers!
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Thank you for the feedback!
We did do a lot of thinking about the use of the word addiction. I will definitely try using your recommendation in the future. What we are trying to say is we want to help users get to a place where moving is something they want to do, not something they have to do.
Thank you! I will definitely talk to Jonathan about this topic for our next post. I really appreciate your feedback and confirming that we are on the right track for tech that is good for you. Cheers!
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