iMotivate: A system to increase motivational levels in athletes

Abstract Every now and again even an athlete needs a little boost when it comes to motivation levels. We present iMotivate, a system to help athletes monitor/track their motivation and also learn how to increase it. iMotivate uses the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS-28) (Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, Briere, & Blais, 1995) to measure the motivation levels of users by examining both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. iMotivate then provides activities to increase motivation levels. This application then stores the history of the users and allows them to examine their motivation over time. The proposed application is designed for iphones, but could be developed for android. By using this application users should see a gradual improvement of their motivational levels, resulting in better sporting performance. Author Keywords Motivation, athlete, mobile application, sport.

ACM Classification Keywords HCI, Human Factors

• ACM copyright: ACM holds the copyright on the work.

Mary Mangan Apt 3, Block 2, Ballintle Court, Abbey Road, Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland. marymang@eircom.net William O’Reilly 3rd yr DL 141, Applied Psychology, Dun Laoghaire IADT, Kill Avenue, Dublin, Ireland. wsor@hotmail.co.uk

Elena Lanigan Apt 3, Block 2, Ballintle Court, Abbey Road, Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland. elenalanigan93@yahoo.ie William O’Kelly Apt 3, Block 2, Ballintle Court, Abbey Road, Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland. williamokelly92@gmail.com

Introduction Motivation in its simplest form is the driving force that moves us to initiate, persist and achieve a particular action [2]. In other words, motivation is a general term for a group of phenomena that affect the nature of an individual’s behavior, the strength of the behavior and the persistence of the behavior. Motivation is the starting point for all athletic effort and accomplishment. Without the desire and determination to improve performance, all other mental factors such as emotions, confidence and focus, are meaningless [3]. To achieve the best of one’s sporting ability, one must be motivated to overcome and work hard in the face of fatigue, boredom, pain, and the desire to do other things.

Motivation can be divided into intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is an athlete’s personal drive to achieve their goal. This may be setting a school record, winning a race, or defeating a particular opponent. Extrinsic motivation is the resulting motivation from an outside source such as parents, coaches, or teammates [3]. Elite athletes must have high levels of intrinsic motivation in order to sustain effort through dips in form and confidence [4].

With this in mind, goal setting is a powerful way not only to motivate athletes but also to drive behavior and boost performance. Effective motivation requires a sense of direction in the form of goals. Goals can be described as targets or objectives one strives to achieve. Types of goals may include getting fitter, winning a match or getting onto a football team or squad. Locke and Latham (1990) found that out of 201 studies on goal-setting, positive outcomes on performance levels were shown out of 183 of those,

resulting in an estimate of 91 per cent success rate for goal setting.

Contextual Inquiry

Through research and employment of contextual inquiry we refined our topic to a motivational application for athletes. We researched the literature surrounding the broad concept of motivational theories in sport psychology. We then went to speak to a sport psychologist, Dr. Olivia Hurley, to ask if she felt there was a need for an application for athletes, in particular a motivational monitor. We conducted an online survey to enquire if athletes themselves felt if this application would be of use. This data is tabulated in (Figure 1).

As a result of our field research we were informed that intrinsic motivation is more desirable than extrinsic motivation as individuals are more likely to persist with activities for themselves than others. We also found that the majority of athletes experience a dip of motivation at some point and the majority of athletes would be interested in working to increase motivation levels.

Feedback was gathered by surveying 24 athletes. Some of the conclusions drawn from this survey include: 1) 79% of athletes feel a dip in their motivation at times 2) 79% of athletes are interested in monitoring motivation levels and 3) 88% of athletes are willing to work on their motivation levels. Following these statistics we were assured that this application would be of benefit and of use to athletes.

Figure 1: Statistics output from online survey.

Design Process

The Design process was started by creating personas for the users to represent the target user for the application. The persona we created was based on the literature and from talking to an athlete.

The personas are:

§ Austin is 24 years old and is currently in his final year of studying English and history in UCD. He has played gaelic football since the age of 7 and has won countless medals and trophies for playing the sport. Austin plays with his county team and the UCD football team for which he was scouted. He trains 3-4 times a week and has a keen interest in fitness. Austin wants to start tracking his motivation levels.

§ Adam is 22 years of age and is currently in final year of business in trinity. He started playing rugby

when he was 7. He has many medals and achievement awards for rugby. He currently plays for the university rugby team twice a week and Naas rugby team once a week. He has matches most weekends. Between college and rugby he is very busy. Adam feels dips in his motivation sometimes, as he has to juggle college and rugby. He would be interested in completing activities to increasing his motivation levels (Figure 2).

As a result of developing the personas, we realized that the application would need to provide the ability to track motivation and an activity to increase motivation.

An iterative design process was employed for the progression of the application development. This design process ensures that the design is altered to meet the needs and wants of the user. This cycle involves designing, implementing and evaluating the application. It involves creating a prototype and focuses on user centre design.

Prior to designing a prototype and user testing, the team created a card sorting activity using post-it notes to develop the information hierarchy and architecture for the application (Figure 3). This helped us to understand what functions would be expected to be found in each section. From this we design a paper prototype. The paper protopype was then given to users to test.

This process allows for User center design to be a key role in the development of the application. This involves users being involved throughout the whole project. This process is important as it clearly identifies the usability and user experience objectives. Having users involved allows for the team to understand the type of

Figure 2: A picture representing a photo of the persona for Adam.

application the user wants well. Through this design process we have found that the application needs to be directed towards a particular user group as different users want different things. Feedback from our academic supervisors recommended us to pick one user group We chose semiprofessional/serious athletes as many semiprofessional/serious athletes train and perform at very high levels but do not have the access to sport psychology consultants, unlike professional athletes. From conducting user prototype testing we found that the user required extra functioning and changes had to be made to existing functions.

Our Solution: iMotivate

We present iMotivate. This system combines goal settings and intrinsic motivation activities to enhance motivation levels in athletes. It uses the “Sport Motivation Scale” to monitor an athlete’s motivation levels and to quantify any improvements that may occur while using the app. The Sport Motivation Scale measures seven subsets, Intrinsic Motivation (IM) – to know, IM – to accomplish, IM – to experience stimulation, Extrinsic Motivation (EM) – identified, EM – introjected, EM – external regulation and Amotivation. These subsets can be measured individually to avoid having to take the full test. The app provides information on intrinsic motivation attitudes that should be adopted and extrinsic motivation attitudes that should be avoided. Goals and motivation levels are recorded and can be viewed by the user on a personal profile.

To further explain how this works we will outline how the persona Adam would use the app in his circumstances. Adam takes the Sport Motivation Scale

by clicking the “Test” icon on the bottom bar (Figure 4). He receives his results which display a drop in Adam's intrinsic motivation levels. Adam then identifies upcoming goals that he wants to achieve detailing their date for completion and sub-goals. Adam answers questions that identify intrinsic motivations for his goals that he can focus on and develop. Adam reads the information on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and educates himself on the best motivational attitudes to hold. Adam monitors his goals as he progresses towards them and inputs his progress on the progress bar. Adam takes the motivation test one month later and observes an increase in intrinsic motivation. Adam continues to set goals for himself and develop an intrinsically motivated attitude.

Figure 4: Our low fidelity prototype.

Over a period of six months Adam notices an increase in his motivation levels. He now has a graph displaying

Figure 3: Card sorting activity.

his progress over the six-month period and a record of the goals he has undertaken and his reasons for pursuing them that also contributes rich data as to how he trains. Adam has used such records to alter his training and competitive performances.

Incentives for iMotivate users

The success of any given application is solely dependent on its users. With this in mind, an important consideration which must be carefully considered is how we will motivate our target group to use our application to its full extent. A critical aspect of successfully progressing in any sport is feedback about the athletes own performance. While this application does not provide feedback for performance specifically, it does provide feedback about motivation level which is closely linked to performance levels.

With the link of success and motivation levels firmly established, the knowledge of current motivation levels for athletes would prove to be highly valuable. Not only would this application provide athletes with information about their current motivation levels, its multidimensional functionalities would enable them to track their motivation levels over time, thus allowing them to identify variables that improve and decrease motivation levels. With these variables identified, athletes can take proactive steps to eradicate variables that prove unbeneficial and increase instances of those that improve motivation, thus improving overall sporting performance.

Moreover, showing dedication to your coach is important in displaying personal and sporting development. Also, data collected by the application

could prove useful for an athlete’s coaches. Knowing what motivates their players, coaches can take proactive steps to incorporate these activities into the training and team environment. It is clear that there are many benefits for both athletes and coaches to implement the use of this application.

Finally, implementation of a motivation application could act as a social bridge between players for discussing what makes them unmotivated, what increases their motivation and for sharing strategies to improve motivation.

Usability Testing After the formation of the bases of the idea we began drawing out a paper prototype. The paper prototype was initially designed incorporating all the information that was gathered. The next stage was then user feedback. The paper prototype was given to a user to test (Figure 5). From the user feedback adjustments have to be made to the functionality of the application. From further team meetings we analyzed the feedback from the user and tried to improve the applications functionality e.g., the homepage was taken out and replaced by a bottom bar. After making adjustments to the functionality, the team adjusted the aspects of the application that a user was not happy with. The user also suggested things that they wanted from the application, such as personal calendar.

A high fidelity prototype is currently being constructed (Figure 6). When this prototype is completed it will be tested by users and amended based on user feedback. The aim is to produce an application that is grounded around user center design.

Figure 5:A participant uses and tests the paper prototype.

Conclusion Our system iMotivate will benefit semi-professional or serious athletes. The application will help these athletes’ increases their motivation levels in sport, and possibly life in general. Professional athletes have a professional team working with them but aspiring athletes need help to reach their motivation potential. Many users experience a dip in their motivation towards sport. Many users would be interested in monitoring and increasing their motivation.

This application can benefit any athlete that wishes to develop or monitor their motivation. This application could be promoted in clubs where professional or elite standards are targeted. It could also benefit more casual athletes. This application is desirable as it does not to be used daily or weekly. Users can log on once a month and complete a motivation test to add to their record. Users can use the application as a reference and a guide to increase their motivation. The hope is that when users realise their true motivation levels, they can realistically view it and decide to actively work on increasing it.

User feedback has been central to the development of this application. Users lead the design and functionality of this application. User feedback suggested that there was no application that they were aware of that allowed

you to track/monitor your motivational levels, while also providing activities to increase motivation.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank our supervisors Dr. Nicola Porter and Anne Wright for their excellent advice and direction in the making of our application, sports psychologist Dr. Olivia Hurley for her advice on motivation/sports applications and our research participants. References [1] Pelletier, L. G., Fortier, M. S., Vallerand, R. J., Tuson, K. M., Briere, N. M., & Blais, M. R. Toward a new measure of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation in sports: The Sport Motivation Scale. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, (1995), 17, 35-53.

[2] Carlson, N. R., Martin G. N. & Buskist, W. Psychology. Essex, England: Pearson Education (2004).

[3] Moran, A. P. Sport and Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction. New York, NY: Routledge, (2011).

[4] Hardy, L., Jones, G. and Gould, DUnderstanding psychological preparation for sport: Theory and practice of elite performers. New York, USA: Joe Wiley, (1996).

[5] Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, (1990).

Figure 6:The beginning of the development of the high fidelity prototype.