VeggieWars - Eating more vegetables through competition
- 1. VeggieWars A conceptualdesign by James Mao Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu Design Challenge To create a BluePath behavior for eating more vegetables in 5 people.
- 2. VeggieWars Persuasive PurposeTo create a BluePath behavior for eating more vegetables in 5 people. Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu Industrial Design A simple website that shows current player rankings, vegetable details, and how to maximize score.
- 3. User Description Heavysocial gamers Competitive – desire to win, even if that means eating yucky vegetables Interested in trying something new Owns mobile phone With camera With data plan Has discretion in what to eat Access to cafeteria Primary shopper/cook at home Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu
- 4. Vegetable Eating CompetitionStanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu After food arrives, he takes an image and emails it to VeggieWars. VeggieWars game masters verify the image and credits Michael the appropriate points. After breakfast, Michael checks the VeggieWars scoreboard to see the latest rankings. He notes the latest challenge vegetables as well as the vegetables that have not been eaten. It’s lunch time, and Michael picks a menu item to help him score the most points. VeggieWars ranking are updated.
- 5. Prototype of VeggieWarsStanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu
- 6. Features/Functionality Users earnpoints by eating a whole serving of a vegetable Before eating, users submit picture via cell phone camera User gets +1 for eating a serving of a vegetable +5 for being the first to eat a vegetable +3-10 for eating the current challenge vegetable Vegetable challenge (optional) Any user can challenge any other user to a duel Both users choose a vegetable for the other user If one user completes a serving, the other user has 12 hours to eat their vegetable to tie. +10 for the winner/-10 for the loser Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu
- 7. Theoretical Justifications MotivationSocial acceptance – wanting to fit in and not be left behind Competitive drive of users to win (may augment with prize) Hot Trigger Notification (sometimes) sent around meal time with a vegetable to try E.g., the current challenge vegetable is Garlic, first to eat a serving gets +8 points Cold Trigger Notification when others overtake you on scoreboard Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu
- 8. Results of UserTesting Ideas is partially scalable Game mechanics may not work with a lot of users (especially if they do not know each other) Lots of time to verify compliance Cheating may be a problem During quick testing, internet photos were sent Fun to play Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu
- 9. Shortcomings of DesignTime consuming to enter user data (from their photos) Hard to tell whether users are cheating Are they actually eating the dishes photographed? Are they actually photographing their meals? Game mechanics may not work Nutritional value of vegetables are not equal Different vegetables have different difficulty Too complicated if we use different scores for each vegetable Vegetable overdose? Are we responsible if someone goes overboard? Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu
- 10. Expansion - Whatelse is possible? Automatically capture data Tie into dining plan or credit card and automatically register servings of vegetables Allow users to setup instances of this game with their friends Make it easy for living groups to start this game for a couple weeks Add badges In addition to score, let users have special commendation for performing extreme tasks (e.g., 5 servings of Garlic) Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu
- 11. Next Steps inDesign Process Build a score board Find some friends willing to try game for a while Add nutritional information, recipes link from score board Launch game Come up with interesting events for players E.g., “It’s Garlic season. Next 3 users to eat a serving of Garlic gets +4 points.” Stanford University, Spring 2010 CS377v - Creating Health Habits habits.stanford.edu