Future Now
The IFTF Blog
The social contagion of physical activity, or how people love a challenge
A couple of months ago, I was at a Quantified Self Meetup and had a chance to learn a little bit about a new endeavor Jen McCabe was "launching." I use the word "launching" with some hesitation (I am not even sure that "beta testing" would apply), because it sounded like she was still in the early stage of giving birth to the idea. But it was an intriguingly simple idea and I've been following its development (at a safe distance*) ever since.
Get Up and Move is intended to motivate people to engage in some level of physical activity because they have been issued a challenge to do so.
Currently, users can "barter" these small, random acts of microfitness using Twitter (see screenshot at top of post) or Facebook.
Future versions will include team challenges, geolocation, a challenge pool, and integration of employer (or other) commercial incentives. A mobile version is also planned.
* I used the phrase "at a safe distance" because I am somewhat ambivalent about engaging in physical exercise and cynical about the efficacy of being nudged in some way into doing so (see my post about commitment contracts). So many of my colleagues and friends found it hard to believe that Rod Falcon, the director of Health Horizons, and I egged each other on to join Team in Training. Rod is training for his first-ever triathlon (the Wildflower Olympic distance, which is way cool and very impressive); I dropped the Tri team in favor of the Run team (look for me to be trudging my way through the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in June).
I was quite surprised by the response I got when, in announcing the crazy "from couch-to-endurance event" plan on which Rod and I had embarked, I issued a Health Challenge to our colleagues at IFTF. More than a third responded. I have since spent some time looking at different platforms that could provide the right combination of features and functionality that would allow us to keep track of our efforts and each others. Although I think Map My Run would best meet our needs, its user interface is a bit clunky and would discourage participation. So I have decided that we'll try using Daily Burn as a tool for motivating each other. I just have to start using it myself.