Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Manamana as persuasive technology
I just stumbled on a post about this novelty scale that has no numbers, only affirmations.
At first, I'm challenged to find any relevance here, any trending direction or emerging possibility of which this is an early signal (unlike my colleague David's post earlier about this busstop scale)
From the folks at TechCrunch:
This is called the “Yay! Scale” – it’s a $55 scale that has no numbers. Instead, you’re greeted with esteem-building words like hot, lovely, cute, ravishing, and stuff like that.
That’s all well and good but if you’re trying to actually lose weight, maybe they could have put something like “Cute! And you’re well on your way to hitting your goal of losing ten pounds. Keep up the good work! Don’t slack off, now! You’re an inspiration to your family and friends! Maybe even to total strangers, too!”
I'm happy to see TechCrunch call out the futility of the Muppet scale and couldn't agree more with their suggestion for adding actual value. What if devices could return quantitative measurements as qualitative and personalized results? Continuing with the example of weight, is it more motivating to see just a number (178 lbs) or a number with feedback (178 lbs::You've gained a little) or no number and just motivation (OK, so you've put on a bit since last time...) The new crop of smart scales (see here or here or here) all chart your progress, and some will automatically send your weight to doctors or contacts of your choosing; I wonder if any of them also focus on explicit motivational messaging.
But is there any potential value in a technology that delivers non-stop good vibrations, not at all reflective of our actual behaviors? Could a technological placebo-cum-fortune-cookie work just as well? A quick search reveals this service that delivers positive affirmation txts to your mobile. And this inspirational tchochke company is keeping up with the times through an iPhone app called iAmHappy.
Even if these services can't be truly aware of our instant proximal behaviors, it's not hard to imagine technology adding a bit more sophistication to these otherwise completely generic messages, perhaps lightly customized to our location, the weather, our daily schedule.
Until then, may this serve as your affirmation for the day (I do hope the above scale isn't made from the hide of a Snowth).
