Karen Pine

Small change, big difference: How Do Something Different digital technology moves people towards better ways of living and working

Professor Karen Pine@karenpine

How many of youKNOW about the benefits of exercise? Exercise regularly?KNOW about the health risks from too much alcohol? Occasionally over-indulge?KNOW about the risks of smoking? Smoke?KNOW how many fruit and veg you should consume daily? Get your 5 a day?You have just demonstrated the KNOWING_DOING GAP.A lot of behaviour change is based on the Information Deficit Hypothesis

1How technology can bridge the knowing-doing gap

Why we must avoid the technology trap aka we dont need no (more) education

Three conditions for technology to change behaviourLets look at:Behaviour change has been dominated by the information deficit model:

People lack knowledge about how to live a healthy life

So if we educate them about health.

They will naturally act in their own best interests.

Behaviour change needs to recognise the Knowing-Doing Gap

We dont need no (more) education!Theres enough information out there already. People are not acting on the advice they are given.The knowledge is not transferring into behaviour, not being implemented.5

The fear factor isnt working!Frightening people doesnt make them change either. It just makes them cognitively defensive.6We must avoid technology becoming another way of presenting yet more information (in a jazzier, interactive way).

The technology trapTechnology must be used tackle what people DO - not try and change what they KNOW (they already know it anyway).

Changing behaviourTechnology mustnt just be another way of presenting information or imparting knowledge.The app mustnt become the new leaflet.It can tackle behaviour head on and address the habitual nature of human behaviour, i.e. what they DO not what they KNOW,7

Most people dont apply what they know. Their days are repetitive and habitual. It is the entrenched nature of peoples pre-existing lifestylehabits that renders them resistant to change. Although a minority ofpeople will heed health advice and change their behaviour because itis good for them, others will have the intention to change, andunderstand the need to change, but will nonetheless persist with theirpre-existing behaviours.8At Do Something Different we tackle the Doing part.

People try new behaviours

They do different things

They break unhealthy habits

Dos arrive by text or email, interrupting their routines and disrupting their automaticity

The Dos are tailored to the individual.

Programmes tackle a range of issues, run for 4-6 weeks

Technology can interrupt their habits it can work on the DOING part of the brain.At Do something different our programmes are designed to get people trying new things they are not trying to educate or inform the individual.By doing things differently people reshape their own environment so they are less likely to persist with their unhealthy habits (many of which are held in place by environmental cues and triggers)By sending peoples Dos by text or email they dont have to remember to open their app, we catch them when they are in doing modeTechnology also enables us to persoanlise the Dos, make sure they are appropriate to the individual, and thus ave more chance of being effective.9

For the Do-er its a simple processInsert video here Do 4_What happens nextTo start ON CLICK

Insert video here Do 4_What happens nextTo start ON CLICK11The Do system crunches all the answers spots where the person needs to Do Something Different

and populates their programme with appropriate Dosdelivered by text and/or email

The technology is far from simpleSCALEABILITY this means we can have thousands of people on a programme, each doing their own individualised version of it.12Make an effort to do things for others? Q. How often do you. A. Never/a little

. one act of kindness today.

E.g. offer to help someone, make a busy person a cuppa or leave a random gift somewhere at home. Technology enables personalisation of programmesThe diagnostic process consists of s whole set of questions to find out where the person is now, and what they already do.Depending on how the person answers each question during the diagnostic process, the Do will be relevant to what they need to do differently to get a better outcome. It can remind them to do different things.13

Shift Your Butt Day Today don't sit anywhere you would normally sit. Move to a different spot at the dining table or when watching TV. Thats because they help break habits and are fun to do

Some Dos are sent to everyone on the programme. All Dos are based on our research and created by the founding Professors behind Do Something Different: Profs Pine & Fletcher.Every programme is different, but comprises some personalised Dos specific to the Do-er and based on their answers to the diagnostic questionsOthers are general and go to everyone on the programme, so people can have fun sharing and comparing what they did differently.ARRIVES IN A TIMELY MANNER TO DISRUPT THE PERSONS AUTOMATICITY.14

And they rate each Do and leave feedbackDo-ers log their progressIn their personal Do ZoneThey record each Do they have completedTechnology also enables Do-ers to log and share what they do differently: The Do Zone

Technology allows for sharing15

The Do-Zone

Where Do-ers can: see exactly what theyve donego back and revisit any Dos they missed shareTechnology makes sharing easier.163 conditions for technology to change behaviourThe intervention must be:

Giving peoplethings to DO, not things to KNOW.FUN.

1 ACTION-BASEDIndividually-tailored totackle the persons habits.Bespoke and relevant.2. PERSONALISEDDisruptive. Delivered when needed, not relianton the personremembering. 3. TIMELY

Measuring changeTechnology allows us to measure change effectivelyOn a Do Something Different programme Do-ers complete before and after diagnosticsMore than ever before we can accurately measure the impact of what we do and we see how we are really changing behaviour. Pre-Do diagnostics data into the systemPost-Do repeat change is calculated

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@OneDoAtaTime DoSomethingDifferent

DoSomethingDifferent

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