Wearable Technology Futures 2020: A New Path for Public Health?

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FUTURES 2020
WEARABLE
TECHNOLOGY
A NEW PATH FOR PUBLIC HEALTH?
Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide
2015
David Davenport-Firth
Lexi Fletcher
Matt Balogh
Ritesh Patel
Simon Stebbing

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Unless you’ve been living on a
desert island recently, chances
are you’ve been unable to
escape the noisy arrival of
wearable technology. At Ogilvy
CommonHealth Worldwide,
we’ve been watching the hype
unfold with mixed emotions.
On one hand, the influx of
devices and apps seems like a
modern day marvel – after all,
for how many years have we
waited patiently to harness the
true power of digital health?
However, at the same time our
behaviorists just can’t help
wondering what the next steps
will (or rather should) be.
There’s certainly a lot to be
excited about – every day we
come across awesome apps with
fabulous functionalities that tick
many a behavioral change box.
But as a company concerned
with building better health
outcomes, it’s not enough for us
to rate devices based on a purely
subjective analysis of their pros
and cons. Because at the end of
the day, there’s just too much at
stake. Wearable technology has
the potential to deliver public
health support on a previously
unimaginable scale. Which
means that we’ve got to make
sure we are not only asking the
right questions, but that we’re
getting the most scientifically
satisfying answers.
So how about a few questions
to get started… Which devices
are the most effective, and
why? What behavioral change
techniques should developers
be basing their designs on? And
how far can we push technology
to provide a perfectly
personalized experience?
We don’t pretend to have all
the answers. But we do want
to start the conversation – and
we’d like to invite you along for
the journey. In Part 1 we’ll be
taking a look at the situation
‘Today’, analyzing what
developers are currently doing,
and asking ourselves to what
extent this aligns with current
thinking around behavioral
change. Part 2 will then take
us on a whistle-stop tour of the
forces and possible scenarios
that will be shaping ‘The
Future’ – so get ready to step
inside the time machine and
let your imagination run wild.
Finally, if you just can’t get
enough of the design detail, in
Part 3: Wearables Highlights’,
we take an in-depth look at four
popular devices and their apps.
Before we begin, a big thank
you to everyone who has
contributed to this report.
Apart from the authors, fact-
finders and designers, the
research would not have been
possible without the blood,
sweat and tears of our very own
lifestyle-tracking guinea pigs.
So that’s all from me for
now. But if you, like us, have
a hunger for health behavior
change and want to find out
more about the wonderful
world of wearable health
technology, keep reading!
Matt Giegerich
Chairman CEO,
Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide
FOREWORD
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Foreword 2
Today 4
Developed for Dan 5
Let’s get physical 6
How to behave better 7
We’re all individuals 10
CONTENTS
The future 12
Up for the challenge 13
Future scenarios 17
Coffee bean counters 18
A ticket to your health 20
Shop ‘til you drop 21
An education in exercise 23
Work it 25
Sleep hacking 27
References 29
Wearables highlights
Fitbit Flex 30
Jawbone UP24 42
Misfit Shine 64
Withings Pulse O2 74
Colophon 93
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Part 1
TODAY
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Meet Dan. Dan’s got a little
bit of a wearable technology
obsession, at least that’s what
his girlfriend says. He can’t
get enough of the flashing
gadgets, the whizzy graphs and
the constant stream of positive
data. He loves working out,
and he loves being able to see
just how good he is at it. For
Dan, each app he downloads
and device he doles out for is
an investment in himself, an
extension of his preoccupation
with all things physical. Being
able to track the miles he’s
run or the calories he’s burned
is the best invention since
(wholemeal) sliced bread.
But let’s be honest for a minute.
As glad as we are for Dan,
the truth is his health was
never exactly in question. The
hip new world of wearable
DEVELOPED FOR DAN
technology might be boosting
his motivation, but with or
without it, he was always going
to hit the gym. So what about
the people whose health really
is at risk? One aim of this
thought piece is to encourage
those who are driving wearable
technology development, to
start thinking beyond Dan – a
man who perhaps is as young,
male and healthy as they are.
First, a word of clarification.
When it comes to wearable
technology, a fine line exists
between the devices we ‘wear’
and their associated apps.
It’s pretty much impossible
to discuss the former without
the latter, which is why in
this report you’ll see us freely
flipping from one term to
the other. Not only is this
intentional, it is actually
necessary – because when it
comes to wearable technology,
device and app should be
seamlessly interchangeable.
To remain focused, we’re
also going to concentrate
on certain topics: obesity,
diet and physical inactivity.
The majority of devices and
accompanying apps that are
currently available do seem to
address these health issues in
one way or another, though
they appear to be targeting a
fairly homogeneous audience.
It could be that developers
believe that the wearable
technology market will follow
the usual digital pattern – a few
early adopters (like Dan) will
pave the way until everyone is
happily swiping away.
But there’s much to suggest
that the adoption of wearable
technology, in relation to
health, specifically public
health, will not follow the same
path taken by smartphones or
tablets. After all, health is as
personal and nuanced a topic
as you can get. What works
for Dan may not work for
Dorothy or Debra or Diego.
So if we want to pull wearable
technology out of its data-
tracking, techno-wizardry
niche and into the public
health spotlight, we’ve got to
start asking ourselves what the
savviest solutions will be.
How can devices and their
apps become truly useful to the
masses, and invaluable to those
engaged in public health?
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We all know the stats.
Worldwide obesity has nearly
doubled since 1980. Back
in 2008, 24% of adults over
the age of 20 were classified
as overweight with a further
11% classified as obese. And
as recently as 2013, 42 million
children under the age of 5 were
already in the same condition.1
What else do we know?
We know that obesity is
preventable. Across the member
states of the World Health
Organization, governments
are busy setting targets and
forming plans to help tackle
what many consider to be
the most significant public
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
health issue of our time. And
of course, increased physical
activity is advocated (alongside
dietary modification) to be the
most effective way to not just
deal with excess weight, but to
reduce the prevalence of many
non-communicable conditions
such as cardiovascular disease,
cancer and diabetes. But
even knowing all this, the
global crisis remains – one in
three adults simply doesn’t
move their body enough, and
physical inactivity is the fourth
leading risk factor for death
worldwide.2
If developed smartly, wearable
technology could help
individuals autonomously
manage what they eat and how
much physical activity they
get – reducing the pressure on
their personal health as well as
the overstretched healthcare
systems designed to support
them. But just how wise can
wearables be? Out of the 250 or
so devices thought to be on the
market, more than 100 of these
claim to be fitness related.3
Which begs the question –
which brands are the best
at encouraging users (that’s
Dorothy, Debra, Diego and
Dan) to start increasing their
physical activity and reducing
their weight?
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FITBIT FLEX: 21 BCTs MISFIT SHINE: 15 BCTsWITHINGS PULSE O2: 25 BCTsJAWBONE UP24: 34 BCTs
The fact is, one-third of US consumers, for
example, stop using their wearable technology
device within the first six months of ownership.4
As of yet, no one seems to be certain of the exact
reason for this drastic drop in user numbers.
But at Ogilvy we had a little hunch – could it be
that today’s apps and devices function more as
purveyors of data, rather than changers of health
behavior? Of course we know that there are a host
of techniques that can drive behavior change, and
that many of these have been successfully applied
to more ‘traditional’ health programs. But just
how far have these techniques trickled down into
the world of wearables?
We decided to take a closer look. Our starting
point was the impressive ‘Behavior Change
Technique Taxonomy’,5 a catalogue of 93
behavior change techniques (BCTs) organized
across 16 categories. We selected four of the most
popular devices, alongside their accompanying
apps, and studied them for evidence of each
technique. The top line results: Jawbone UP24
(34), Withings Pulse O2 (25), Fitbit Flex (21),
and Misfit Shine (15).
The majority of our data capture took place
from August to October 2014, and therefore our
observations reflect the available versions of the
companion apps at this point in time.
HOW TO BEHAVE BETTER1
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In parallel to this analysis, we
put the wearable technologies
to test against our panel of
lifestyle-tracking guinea pigs
(who clocked up an impressive
23,040 hours of data collection
time across their devices). What
was particularly fascinating
to discover was that each app
clearly had its own fitness
angle – there may have been
similarities across the board,
but each brand retained a
particular personality.
Fitbit really brought out the
Darwinian drive in some of our
users: “We might have started
taking the competitive side of the
challenges a bit seriously at work,
there’s certainly a lot of trash-
talk! It’s great fun though”
“Talk about pressure to keep
walking!”
Jawbone was admired for
its insights: “I really like the
personalized tips... They do
motivate me to try and keep my
daily steps up”
“I followed the ‘today I will’
recommendations to get more
sleep… and it actually worked!”
Misfit added a touch of style
to the proceedings, especially
amongst our swimmers: “It
looks much better than the
rest, you don’t feel embarrassed
wearing it”
“Even the way it shows your data
is clean and minimalist.”
Withings satisfied the data
addiction of our very own self-
confessed ‘Quantified Selfers’:
“It really makes you look at what
you do each day in detail. A
desire to ‘better’ yourself on each
day’s results”
“I’m going to keep using this…
checking my weight graph
reminds me what I’ve achieved.
There’s no way it’s going to curve
back up now, ever!”
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By bringing the results of these two pieces of
research together, we started to build up a pretty
good understanding of the four devices and their
accompanying apps (a more detailed analysis
of which can be found in Part 3: Wearables
Highlights). But this was not enough for us.
We also wanted to incorporate evidence from
the scientific literature, in order to understand
Fitbit Jawbone Misfit Withings
Flex UP24 Shine Pulse O2
which specific BCTs, or combinations of BCTs,
have the greatest behavior changing potential. In
one recent study for example, it was found that
six BCTs were particularly effective at changing
a person’s level of physical activity.6 We’ve
summarized these below, including which of our
four devices seem to support them:
Facilitating social comparison (explicitly drawing an individual’s attention to
others’ performance to elicit comparisons)
Action planning (specific detailed planning of when, where and how the
specific behavior is going to be performed)
Provide information on the consequences of behavior (benefits and
costs)
Reinforcing effort towards behavior (praising or rewarding participants
for their attempts at achieving a behavioral goal)
Provide instruction (on where, when and how to perform this behavior, e.g.
by providing information on local places people can access for exercise)
Time management (teach the person how to manage their time in order
to make time to perform the behavior)
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So that’s that, right? Well
no. Because there is another
interesting piece of research, the
results of which add yet another
dimension to our quest for
success. In 2013, a second team
performed a similar study,6 the
only difference being that this
time their participants were all
obese. And what did they find?
That the BCTs that were most
effective at increasing physical
activity were not necessarily the
same – the obese subgroup had
responded differently to their
healthier counterparts.
At the end of the day, the
conclusion we can draw from
all this is that the business of
WE’RE ALL INDIVIDUALS
building effective wearable
technology (which focuses on
behavior, not data), won’t be
satisfied with a one size fits all
solution. And there is perhaps
no BCT more sensitive to this
issue than that of ‘facilitating
social comparison’.
Whilst some people love to
share victories within a ‘team’,
others may prefer not to reveal
their intimate data, especially
if success is particularly
challenging. In fact our own
user testing on Jawbone also
bore out this interpretation:
the triumphs of others can
be viewed as either a magical
motivator, or a total turn-off.
I love the Jawbone updates on how much activity
everyone is getting up to. It makes me do mad things
like take the dog for a walk at 11pm
The team performances
exceeding their goals just added
to the negative here – rubbing
my face in the fact that I wasn’t
exercising
I hated wearing the Jawbone this week as I
know I wasn’t active and it heavily reinforced
that fact. I actually would have preferred to
take it off
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Knowing where to draw the
line on sharing is a tricky path
to take, for we feel certain that
some element of socialization is
undoubtedly motivating for a
majority of users. Furthermore,
even if people don’t want to
share with close family and
friends, anonymized networks
could still be an alternative
support option that more subtly
tap into social norms. Which
makes us wonder – perhaps
digital solutions for health
have to completely rethink
what we conventionally
understand by the phrase
‘social networking’. One thing’s
for sure; any app hoping to
successfully support health
behavior change will have
to figure out a strong (and
specialized) approach to
being social.
Now for some good news – a
quick glance at the market
suggests that some companies
have already twigged that
individual users will respond
differently to certain BCTs.
77% of people
want information
that lets them
‘exercise smarter’
PwC 2014 survey9 of what 1000 people wanted from
wearable technology
For example, is it pleasure or
pain that keeps you motivated?
If it’s the latter, you could try
one of the initiatives, where
instead of having your good
behavior reinforced through
a traditional reward system,
you are punished for failing to
meet a goal. This sanction may
come in form of an automatic
donation (perhaps towards
a prize fund that is shared
between more successful
users). From a behavior change
perspective, such initiatives can
be effective as we dislike losses
more than we like gains of an
equivalent amount.8
So where does all this leave
us? Well instead of trying
to tick every BCT box, what
we need to do is think of
smart ways to utilize the most
advanced wearable (and even
implantable) technology,
whilst maintaining a focus
on changing individual health
behavior. It’s time
to look to the future.
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Part 2
THE FUTURE
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Alan Kay’s impassioned words
remain as relevant today as
when they were yelled out
back in 1971. Taking them as
inspiration, 2015 will see Ogilvy
bring together a crack team of
behaviorists, choice architects,
creative technologists and data
visualizers with one clear goal
in mind: to start inventing the
future of public health.
We’ll be looking to collaborate
with the smartest businesses out
there – so if you’re interested
in contributing to the project
(or just want a front row seat
for the show), head over to
ogilvycommonhealth.com and
register today. But if you can’t
wait until then, don’t worry! In
the pages that follow, we share
some of the main ideas and
themes that we plan to question
and explore. We hope you
enjoy the read…
In Part 1, we raised an
important question: how can
we create wearable devices
and accompanying apps that
deliver BCTs in a way that is
flexible and smart enough
to truly change individual
(and therefore public) health
behavior?
But wait a second! Don’t we
first need to discuss the myriad
of different issues that arise
around any solution that
involves the sharing of personal
health data? Well yes, but for
the moment however, we will
just assume that these topics
are an integral part of the
conversation, and save the
detail for another time. This
allows us to drill straight down
to our most pressing concern:
what ‘forces’ must we leverage
in order to achieve effective
public health behavior change?
Don’t worry about what
anybody else is going
to do… The best way to
predict the future is to
invent it. Really smart
people with reasonable
funding can do just about
anything that doesn’t
violate too many of
Newton’s Laws
Alan Kay, speaking at a meeting at the
Palo Alto Research Centre, 1971
UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?2
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Here the key word for
consideration is ‘ecosystem’.
When it comes to wearable (and
implantable) technology-driven
health behavior change, this
can have a two-fold meaning.
In one sense it refers to the
involvement of multiple
stakeholders: interventions
that have taken this approach,
for example the Ensemble,
Prévenons l’Obésité des
Enfants program,10 seem to
have enjoyed great success.
At the same time however,
‘ecosystem’ can also allude
to the emerging ‘internet of
things’, in conjunction with
its supporting platforms. It’s
worth noting that as things
currently stand, no overarching
standards or guidelines exist
to control access to data or
even its accuracy: each exists
autonomously from the rest,
making it difficult to join up
the behavior change initiatives
of the many devices on the
market today.
CENTRAL STAKEHOLDERS
• Ministries
• Health groups
• Non-governmental organizations
(NGOs)
• Private partners
LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS
• Political leaders
• Health professionals
• Families
• Teachers
• Local NGOs
• Local business community
But it is when we connect these
two ecosystems that things start
to get interesting. In the months
and years to come, it is likely that
standardization will increasingly
become the norm, as technical
ecosystems begin to merge. There
will no definitive ‘owner’ of the
system, rather specialist companies
and organizations will take on specific
roles and be valued for the degree to
which they can deliver on their niche.
A powerful recipe for effective public
health behavior change will arise when
behaviorists and technologists come
together to deliver individualized,
contextually-responsive, bundles of
behavior change techniques that are
mobilized through the stakeholder
ecosystem.
FORCE #1
Engage ecosystems2
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This is where we become
interested in the unconscious
nature of behavior. Recent
learnings11 suggest that apart
from our known motivations
and intentions, a number of
environmental factors influence
how we act. Much of what we
do is automatically triggered by
events in our surroundings.12
So any wearable technology or
behavior change apps wishing
to convince the scientific
community of their merit will
need to embrace the fact that
not everything we humans do
is consciously driven.
So how could this second
force manifest itself? Well
for starters, any wearable
technology that incorporates
environmental change trackers
has the potential to be more
interactive. The detection of
ultraviolet (UV) exposure,
outside temperature, humidity,
barometric pressure and even
light and sound levels are
all within the grasp of many
devices in the pipeline today.
Just imagine the behavioral
change potency of technology
that understands how you
generally eat more and move
less on a rainy day for example,
or that associates how a lack
of sunshine not only increases
your stress levels but leads
to specific negative health
behaviors. Now imagine such
technology pointing you in the
right direction perhaps without
you even realizing it. It may
seem logical when you think
about it, but it would a huge
step forward for public health.
The next generation of activity
trackers won’t just simply count
steps, they will monitor levels
of exertion and recovery rates.
And that’s not all – there are many
more automatic bodily responses that
future devices will be able to measure.
Newly integrated technologies include
photoplethysmography (PPG), which
measures continuous heart rate,
respiration, stress or relaxation, and
galvanic skin response (GSR), which
can determine stress, fear and anxiety
by evaluating the amount of sweat-
induced moisture on the skin.
FORCE #2
Embrace automatic responses2
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And last but not least? Well
ideally we want devices and apps
that are able to quickly spot
what is working well and adapt
accordingly. Future wearable
technology and supporting
ecosystems will integrate with
contextual platforms capable
of creating personal profiles
built up from all our browsing,
purchasing and geolocation
histories, as well as our
psychographic responses and
reactions when making health
related choices (both on and
offline). This means that from
the moment we activate an
app, it can start to monitor not
only our physical activity and
biometric data, but also which
BCTs we are actually engaging
with (and when, where and how
this engagement takes place).
Which is unquestionably useful,
since as we saw in our research,
not everyone reacts in the same
way to every BCT.
Overall, at an individual
level, apps will be able to start
learning which BCTs (in which
contexts) are most capable of
driving behavior change. In
aggregate, devices will generate
huge amounts of data relating to
which BCTs are best at driving
behavioral outcomes among
people with a specific profile and
in which circumstances. And
this won’t just be data based on
a few thousand people. This
will be data based on hundreds
of thousands, even millions of
users… real life data churned out
by mini research engines.
What’s more, as consumers we’ll
be able to trade this precious
data in exchange for greater
conveniences, lesser costs and
healthier lifestyles. In fact, it
won’t be long before we’re
thinking of ‘steps’ in the same
way we currently think about air
miles. Want a discount on your
health insurance? Well you can
already get that. But what about
a free chai latte at your local
coffee shop or a 10,000 steps
a day ‘gold’ card? To tap into
these benefits, you’ll have to get
moving.
Of course, we need to start building
this smart analytical approach into our
apps right now, in order to quickly
learn which implementations of which
BCTs work, and which don’t. And
here’s the really exciting bit. In the
future, just by knowing somebody’s
profile, we’ll be able to provide
them with individual, pre-selected
techniques that are most likely to help
them change their health behavior.
Which as we’re sure you’ll agree,
sounds pretty darn valuable from a
public health perspective.
So the challenge has been set. We
need to master these three forces of
smart thinking – both in and outside
of the app.
FORCE #3
Let technology do the learning2
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For those individuals and companies determined
to make a real difference in public health, the
potential to change lives is limitless. Over the
next few pages, we outline a handful of ‘future
scenarios’. These aren’t by any means a detailed
or exhaustive list of the possibilities. They are just
food for thought – think of them as appetizers to
whet your palate for the future. And safe to say,
we’ll leave the calorie counting until later!
FUTURE
SCENARIOS
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Meet Wilma. Walking past
her local coffee store yesterday
(yes, she knows it’s a chain,
but she just loves the blueberry
muffins), Wilma spotted a
promotion in the window: sign
up for our new healthy bolt-on
app, and you’ll receive double
loyalty ‘stamps’ for the next
two weeks. Recognizing the
opportunity to both get fit and
receive discounts on something
she loves, Wilma immediately
clicks the download button.
She’s pleasantly surprised to
see that she doesn’t have to
manually input much to get
started – she simply gives the
app permission to access the
health information already
stored on her smartphone.
Wilma’s not surprised when
it quickly extracts data on her
physical activity levels, diet and
sleep (as these were already
being tracked by her smart
watch), but she almost thinks
twice when it asks to access her
phone’s GPS record. However
she trusts this coffee shop, and
the app does explain that the
information will be used to
build a profile of the places she
frequents and the activities she
does when she gets there. So
she decides it’s a worthwhile
permission to grant and ta da,
registration complete! Time to
start racking up those loyalty
points then…
COFFEE BEAN
COUNTERS2
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Wilma’s two weeks go by in
a flash – a few walks in the
countryside, a couple of night-
time jogs in the city and a
handful of visits to the gym
(where low energy Bluetooth
beacons are used to log the time
she arrives and the moment she
leaves). The app has started to
send her incentives specifically
tailored to her lifestyle, and
points out that even though
her activity levels are not bad,
she isn’t reaching her targeted
10,000 steps a day. Normally
Wilma wouldn’t be worried,
but the app promises her a free
‘treat-size’ (low-fat) blueberry
muffin next Sunday (the day
the location-based geo-fence
has sensed she always visits
the store) if she manages to
complete the goal over the next
few days. Not only that, if she
manages to obtain an overall
calorie deficit in the upcoming
week then they’ll upgrade the
muffin to the ‘reward-size’
(which she has to admit, tastes
just that bit sweeter).
All in all, Wilma’s pretty
psyched with the coffee shop
bolt-on. She’s walking more,
and she’s spending less. Plus
from time to time she’ll be sent
a little hint or tip designed just
for her – in fact it was only
yesterday that she clicked on
a link to read more about the
health benefits of vitamin K
(which incidentally,
are what blueberries are
packed with).
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Meet Walt. A city slicker, Walt has been taking
public transport to work for the past ten years.
He was one of the first people to sign up to the
city’s NFC contactless payment system that
now integrates with his smartphone, and he
loves the ease with which he can speed from the
subways to his desk every morning. Recently he’s
noticed an increasing number of adverts aimed
at encouraging him to walk more. Last month
the campaign posters told him to ‘get off a stop
early and walk the rest of the way.’ Even though
it sounded like a good idea, he has to admit, time
is money – and so the adverts had little effect.
Yesterday however he spotted something that did
catch his eye. A new scheme dreamed up by the
city transportation company (in conjunction with
local health authorities) is offering him a tasty
incentive: a 5% discount on the cost of his weekly
commute if he travels one stop less (or more) and
walks the rest of the way.
Now Walt is a numbers guy, and that 5% was
something he could really get his head around.
Add that up over the course of a year and it’s
almost the cost of a family holiday. Plus there’s no
new technology to acquire – the payment system
that is already integrated into his smartphone
will track his stops and bank his cash. So he signs
himself up, downloads the app, and well, the rest
is history.
Before he knew it the new routine seemed like
the norm. At first he was a little concerned
about what would happen on a rainy day – but
he shouldn’t have worried. The app links up to
local weather reports and gives him a ‘free pass’
on those mornings when the walk could get wet.
Furthermore, the app integrates with the snazzy
new ‘stress-detecting watch’ that he picked up
on sale last week. He usually drives to where he
picks up the train, but when he saw that his stress
levels increased during this traffic-filled first leg
of the journey, he decided to try cycling on sunny
days. So far so good, and the additional physical
activity is adding extra points to his transport
balance.
When the sky is clear the app sends him a choice
of transport routes, some of which even highlight
specific (and healthy!) rewards redeemable at
shops or cafes. His morning bagel and coffee
has been replaced by a fruit smoothie and a
slice of banana bread – meaning that not only
is he getting more exercise and keeping anxiety
levels down, he’s also enjoying a healthier diet.
Of course, all that extra energy takes its toll.
But Walt isn’t losing any sleep over it – the app
suggested an earlier bed time so he could wake
up for his morning exercise, and whilst he doesn’t
admit it to the guys at work, he’s feeling a whole
lot better for it.
A TICKET TO HEALTH2
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When Winnie logs on to
shop, the app uses her weight
information to provide advice
around sensible choices. By
combining certain products she
can view how ‘green’
(i.e. healthy and nutritious) her
virtual basket is looking. To
be honest, she’s surprised by
how many of their usual treats
they can keep without turning
orange (or even red!), but of
course there’s definitely not so
many bags of snacks and
bottles of beer when the
delivery man arrives.
Now she’s on board with the
new app and can see the results
both in herself and the weekly
reports, Winnie’s hunger for
Meet Winnie. A fan of online
shopping, Winnie has been
ordering groceries on the
web ever since her favorite
supermarket started the service.
A few months ago, Winnie’s
doctor warned her that it
might be a good idea if she
and her husband (Wallace)
did something about that
ever-climbing number on
the bathroom scales. He
recommended some new smart-
scales that could be connected
to a couple of apps, one of
which links directly to her
online supermarket account. All
the couple have to do is stand
on the scales each morning (not
together mind you!) and their
data is integrated automatically.
health rewards seems to be
ever increasing. Alongside the
weekly delivery of groceries, the
supermarket now sends articles
and recipes designed with her
and her husband in mind. By
cooking these dishes she can
use up leftover food (the app
knows the status of her fridge)
and earn bonus points for each
recipe she rates and reviews.
But Winnie isn’t the only one
impressed with the new routine.
Last week their daughter visited
and commented on how good
they were both looking – which
has spurred Winnie on to drop
a dress size in time for the
summer holidays.
SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP
(those pounds)2
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Before she sets off, she informs
the app that she’s on her way.
As a reply she is assigned a
special parking bay, located
500 steps from the entrance
(Winnie normally parks as
close as she can). As she makes
her way to the sliding doors
to collect her trolley another
notification pops up – she’s
earned bonus points for her
parking decision and can earn
another $10 off her shop if
she clocks up 2,500 steps in
store. And because the app is
capable of matching the store
layout to her usual purchases, it
recommends a shopping path
that will not only ensure she
reaches the step count, but will
lead her past a few personally
enticing extras en route!
Winnie’s happy to let the app
guide her through the aisles,
dishing out recommended
promotions and helping her
to discover new products
that are healthy and tasty.
Feeling pleased with herself,
she wanders to the elevator,
planning on riding the
two floors up to where the
swimming costumes are. But
just as she presses the button,
a message appears (triggered
by a Bluetooth beacon), this
time advising her to take the
In search of even greater results
(and now more comfortable
with the program), Winnie
decides to take it to the next
level and make a weekly trip
to the actual supermarket. The
app has been recommending
that she take this step for some
time, explaining how with
them at hand, the experience
will combine the conveniences
of online shopping with the
benefits of getting to the
physical store. It is a chance
to discover new products or
buy something special for the
weekend, whilst getting a bit of
exercise and even saving a bit
of money.
stairs. Even more bonus
points! And the interaction
and incentivizing doesn’t stop
when she reaches the bikinis.
One particular brand offers
her a 50% discount if she
manages to lose 3kg over the
next 3 months, whilst playing
videos of women talking about
their weight loss successes.
The fact that these women
seem just like Winnie fills her
with confidence as she walks
back towards the car.
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the device is quite cool looking,
and is happy to wear it strapped
across his wrist, but he’s also
a little worried. He is all too
aware that whilst he can talk
a big game, when it comes to
action he’s not the most athletic
of his friends. What if the goals
are too hard for him to reach?
What if people laugh and
compare?
But Wez has no cause
for concern. After all, the
smart technology in his new
wristband doesn’t just blindly
count steps. Each student
has a device personalized for
their ability levels, with the
understanding that running for
10 minutes will be harder for
some than for others. Instead
of purely tracking activity, it
also detects effort and recovery
times – cleverly tailoring its
incentives to the individual.
Safe to say, Wez is happy. In
fact at the start the device was
so easy to use that he nearly
forgot he was wearing it (plus
there were too many other
important things to discuss
at break time). But now he’s
had it a few weeks, the band is
really starting to impress him.
Even if you haven’t met Wez
yet, you’ve definitely heard him.
He’s a loudmouth in the school
yard, always yelling to keep his
voice heard above the crowd.
The only problem with Wez
is that whilst he makes a lot of
noise, he doesn’t make a lot of
moves. His weight is not yet an
issue, but it could be if he keeps
trading his mum’s healthy
packed lunches for whatever
candy or snacks any other kid is
willing to give up.
Recently his school provided
each student with a new
‘FriendlyFit’. Wez admits that
For one thing, no more boring
sandwiches for lunch. When his
mum (Wanda) found out that
the device would automatically
record what he chose to eat,
she was happy to let him join
the rest of the kids in the
canteen. Through a report sent
straight to her a smartphone,
she can see exactly how many
calories and nutrients he’s had
at school – allowing her to
adjust accordingly when she’s
preparing the evening meal,
ensuring that Wez attains a
complete nutritional profile for
the day.
AN EDUCATION IN EXERCISE2
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but at least he could still munch
through his favorite pizza. The
next day, he made sure to clock
up some steps instead of sitting
in a corner and at lunchtime he
was duly rewarded – a (small)
portion of fries were his.
But there are other benefits
to this new system. Double
physics used to be Wez’s least
favorite part of the week –
nearly an hour and a half of
pure pain. But now his teachers
are warned when the students
have been sitting still for too
long, and they are all allowed a
five-minute break to do
some stretching exercises on
the spot. This has really helped
Wez’s concentration – his
grades have gone up and his
mum can’t believe the change.
Though that might also be to
do with the nutrient-packed
breakfasts she’s been giving him
each morning – ever since she
read the leaflet the school sent
home about the importance of
the first meal of the day, she’s
chucked out the sugary cereals
and started stocking up on
porridge and other
breakfast goodies.
The first time Wez queued up
for the lunch he chose pizza,
fries and a coke. However
when he tapped his smart band
to pay, a red light appeared.
Bluetooth beacons in the
playground had registered
the amount of exercise he had
done during morning break,
and it seems it just wasn’t
enough to afford all those high
calorie treats. The dinner lady
suggested he swap the fries for
salad and the coke for the zero-
calorie version – and the light
turned green. He was a little sad
to lose the accompaniments,
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Meet Warren. Apart from his
once a week game of five-a-
side, Warren is pretty sedentary
(and has the spare tire to prove
it). He has always known he
should do more exercise, but
his intentions to start seem
to always focus on tomorrow.
However even if he’s not Mr.
Naturally Sporty, Warren
is certainly Mr. Completely
Competitive, especially when it
comes to gaming. So when his
office moves to a swanky new
riverside location (tech’d out
with inside beacons and outside
environs), he’s curious to see
what will happen. He’s not
disappointed – from the first
moment he is given his office
branded wearable, he realizes
there aren’t just health benefits
to becoming a little more active.
Warren is automatically
assigned to team ‘Marketing
Movers’. Alongside his fellow
colleagues, he now has a
number of ways to increase
his points level and help send
his team up the tables. Now
normally Warren would never
dream of using the stairs in
the morning, but if four flights
means a lot more points (and a
chance to get ahead of ‘Finance
Fanatics’) then it’s goodbye
elevator! At lunchtime and after
work he’s signed up to soccer
and squash – each game he
plays earns him more points for
Marketing Movers (and more
respect for himself). At the end
of the month, the team with the
greatest points wins prizes and
rewards (with the company also
winning, as their healthcare
costs are dropping).
And that’s not all. The firm
has topped up Warren’s card
with cafeteria health food
credits – which he can use to
purchase fruit, water and other
healthy snacks. Of course, on
weeks when he’s really active,
he can choose a chocolate
brownie or piece of cake – or a
beer on a Friday afternoon as
a reward. He’s been offered a
stand-up desk (turning boring
conference calls into point-
earning play) and the company
makes a charitable donation
on his behalf every month
(the size of which depends
on the amount of movement
he’s amassed). Warren’s in
competition heaven, and
he’s pleased to be helping
out others too – he can see
proof of where his donations
and effort are going on the
cafeteria widescreen.
WORK IT2
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Meet Wendy. She considers
herself to be a pretty healthy
girl – she eats well, exercises
regularly and (usually) gets
enough sleep. Wendy’s got no
major complaints about her
reasonably well-established
routine, but recently she’s been
wondering if she’s in a bit of
a rut. Sure, compared to most
of her friends she’s practically
a gym bunny, but to be honest
it still feels like something’s
missing – she just doesn’t feel as
good as she used to. Wendy’s
thought about adding another
gym day, or increasing the
length of those runs, but the
truth is she just doesn’t have
the time. It’s not like she ever
deviates from her daily trips to
the office salad bar, so it’s hard
to know what else she can do to
get results.
As luck would have it Wendy
had a birthday last week and
her family all clubbed in to
buy her a new ‘watch’. She still
refers to the item in quotation
marks, because its ability to tell
the time pales in comparison to
its other whizzy features. She
wasn’t overly enthused by its
potential at first, integrating
it into her routine but not
bothering to even download
her first trend report. After
all, she didn’t need anyone to
tell her that she was doing the
right things! But when curiosity
finally got the better of her and
she stole a sneaky look, the
results she saw made her do a
double take. Not everything
was perfect…
SLEEP HACKING2
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All was in order when it came
healthy eating and step count
– gold badges all around in
fact. But in the sleep category
the report was far less glowing.
Whilst Wendy was getting
enough hours of sleep, each
dose of sixty minutes was not
as productive as it could have
been. After she recovered from
the shock of not receiving top
scores across the board, Wendy
realized that the result was
actually a good thing – finally
she had something tangible to
work on!
By delving deeper into the
report, Wendy discovered a
list of personalized tips on how
to improve sleep quality, each
insight gleaned directly from
her personal routines that the
device had been recording. As
it turns out, Wendy liked to
exercise in the afternoon and
finish up her work at night. The
watch detected that this pattern
was increasing her anxiety
levels, making it difficult to fall
asleep and causing her to wake
up more often. Wendy didn’t
need any more convincing – the
very next day she swapped her
schedule. Permanently.
Since then Wendy has
continued to listen to the app’s
tips and hints in order to fine-
tune her optimal sleep routine.
To her surprise, the quality of
shut-eye isn’t the only thing
that has improved. Gaining
more hours under the covers
has had a knock-on effect,
giving her more energy when
exercising and less anxiety
when working. Without even
trying to diet, she’s lost those
few stubborn extra pounds, and
all in all Wendy couldn’t be
happier (or healthier!).
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Of course these six scenarios are just that – scenarios. Not
everything will work for everybody, but that’s OK. What’s
important is that right now we have a once in a lifetime opportunity
to grab the gift of wearable technology and shape a fitter future
for us all. So if you are as intrigued and passionate as we are about
how wearables can deliver behavior change on a grand public
scale – then get in touch. Visit ogilvycommonhealth.com or contact
wearablepublichealth@ogilvy.com for a chat.
LET’S INVENT
THE FUTURE
TOGETHER
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1 World Health Organization, 2014a. Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet No 311.
Available: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ [Accessed 22 November 2014].
2 World Health Organization, 2014b. Physical activity. Fact sheet No 385.
Available: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs385/en/ [Accessed 22 November 2014].
3 Herz, J C. 2014. Wearables Are Totally Failing the People Who Need Them Most.
Available: http://www.wired.com/2014/11/where-fitness-trackers-fail/ [Accessed 22 November 2014].
4 Ledger , McCaffrey D. Inside Wearables. How the Science of Human Behavior Change Offers the Secret to Long-
Term Engagement. 2014.
Available: http://endeavourpartners.net/assets/Endeavour-Partners-Wearables-White-Paper-20141.pdf [Accessed 22
November 2014].
5 Michie S, Richardson M, Johnston M, Abraham C, Francis J, Hardeman W, Eccles MP, Cane J, Wood CE. The be-
havior change technique taxonomy (v1) of 93 hierarchically clustered techniques: Building an international consensus
for the reporting of behavior change interventions. Ann Behav Med 2014;46:81–95.
6 Williams SL, French DP. What are the most effective intervention techniques for changing physical activity self-efficacy
and physical activity behavior—and are they the same? Health Educ Res 2011;26:308–22.
7 Olander EK, Fletcher H, Williams S, Atkinson L, Turner A, French DP. What are the most effective techniques in
changing obese individuals’ physical activity self-efficacy and behavior: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J
Behav Nutr Phys Act 2013;10:29.
8 Kahneman D, Tversky A . Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica 1979:263–91.
9 Pricewaterhousecoopers. 2014. Health wearables: Early days.
Available: http://www.pwc.com/us/en/industry/entertainment-media/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/con-
sumer-intelligence-series-pwc-hri-wearable-devices-form.jhtml [Accessed 22 November 2014].
10 Borys JM, Le Bodo Y, Jebb SA, Seidell JC, Summerbell C, Richard D, de Henauw S, Moreno LA, Romon M, Visscher
TLS. EPODE approach for childhood obesity prevention: methods, progress and international development. Obes
Rev 2012;13:299–315.
11 Kahneman D. Thinking fast and slow. 2011. New York: Farrar, Straus and Grioux.
12 Ariely D. Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions. HarperCollins.; Thaler R, Sunstein C.
2008. Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness. New Haven: Yale University Press.
REFERENCES
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Part 3
HIGHLIGHTS
WEARABLE
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FITBIT
FLEX
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R
EGULATION
CONSEQUENCES
SELF BELIEF
KNOWLEDGE
IDENTITY
SUBSTITUTION REPETITION
NATURAL
CONSEQUENCES
MONITORING
FEEDBACK
GOALS PLANNING
REWARDTHREAT
SHAPING
SCHEDULLED
LEARNINGCOVERT
AS
SOCIATIONS
BEHAVIOUR
COMPARISONOF
ANTECEDENTS
SUPPORT
OFOUTCOMES
COMPARISON
SOCIAL
Well this is one for the social butterflies.
Or more accurately, the competitive social
butterflies. That’s because this is the app
that lets you share and compare – and it
does so using a handful of rather compelling
functionalities. Whilst in total it deploys 21 of
the behavioral techniques (putting it in 3rd
place, with 31%), it scored more highly than any
other device against the categories of ‘Social
Support’ and ‘Reward and Threat.’
Let’s see why…
FITBIT FLEX
Behavior change potential
Fitbit Flex:
21 behaviour change techniques4
deployed
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The majority of our testers
were suitably impressed with
the simplicity and tailorability
of the Fitbit dashboard (both
the smartphone and desktop
versions). As a user you can
easily personalise your view,
grouping and re-ordering the
information most important to
you near the top – and turning
off any facts or figures you find
less compelling. Apart from
stopping you from feeling
completely overwhelmed, this
personal dashboard is highly
intuitive – as you get closer to
a goal, the horizontal progress
bars fill up and change colour.
FITBIT FLEX
Dashboard
I like how simply the
dashboard provides
all of the information
I want to see
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Click on ‘Steps’ and you’ll
be rewarded with some nice
graphics to illustrate the general
progress you’ve made that
day, alongside a summary of
the week to date and recently
completed weeks. If you’re
desperate to see what you
achieved in the months that
time forgot – it’s no problem,
just keep swiping up and you’ll
be transported back to the
past. And that nice little green
star? Well it lets you know that
you’ve achieved a goal – and for
some of us it’s reminiscent of
good behavior at school.
It’s definitely more
motivational to
see the steps on
the actual device
on an ongoing
basis, without
having to sync it
with the app
I like the subtle ‘vibration’ feedback mechanism
on the Fitbit when I’ve reached my step goals, it’s
much better than just a visual reward.
FITBIT FLEX
Activity
When you tap the diagonal
arrows a larger display will
appear, showcasing the current
days steps using an intuitive
colour coding system (orange
is low activity, green is high).
There are as many options for
display as you can possibly
imagine – including per day,
week, month or year. Choosing
one of the longer time periods
will display the reality vs. your
goal – if you’ve successfully
exceeded your aim the bars are
green, otherwise they remain a
rather depressing grey. Once
again our icon-loving testers
appreciated the cute little grey
steps that accompanied the
dashed grey goal line. Whatever
keeps you motivated, eh?!
And it’s not just within the app
that users can get feedback on
their progress, our testing
panel appreciated the visual
and physical feedback the
device provided.
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With Fitbit, the options for
tailoring just keep on coming.
The ‘Distance’ option allows
you to see progress in metres
rather than steps, whilst ‘Active
Minutes’ allows you to see the
times of the day you were most
active and for how long. Once
again, data is available for the
I enjoyed seeing my
daily active minutes,
it gave me a really
different perspective
on my activity goals
My favourite thing is how it displays my weekly
steps too, that way if I have a bad day I feel
like I can make it up later!
FITBIT FLEX
Distance and active minutes
current day and week (as well
as previous time periods) and
stars let you know when you’ve
reached a goal. Interestingly
enough, for ‘Active Minutes’,
the default goal is aligned with
the Centre for Disease Control’s
recommendation of 30 minutes
per day.
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For those calorie-counters
amongst us, Fitbit is a
monitor’s dream. Using the
same colour-coded format as for
steps and distance (we love this
consistency), you can see how
many calories you’ve burned in
any timeframe you desire (when
you tap on those diagonal
arrows of course).
On top of this, it’s possible
to log food intake within
the app or import data from
MyFitnessPal to view calories
in (yellow bars) vs. calories out
(grey bars). Below this weekly
chart we find a clever little dial
that clearly indicates how
many calories you’ve got left
for the day, alongside a
breakdown of calories
consumed per meal. Like
always with Fitbit, information
for previous days and weeks is
just a swipe away…
Fitbit and MFP worked really well
together, whichever app I am looking at,
the calories I’ve earned with Fitbit or the
calories I’ve eaten with MFP are shared
across both, which is great
FITBIT FLEX
Calories
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So they’ve got food covered,
but what about sleep? Well
the graphs aren’t bad, but we
have to say that compared to
some other devices, there is
room for improvement. An
overall chart relies on colour
coding to indicate when awake
(pink), restless (light blue) and
asleep (dark blue); a graphical
approach to depicting sleep
could perhaps have been
incorporated.
Beneath that are the timings
for particular sleep periods (in
this case, night time as well as
a sneaky afternoon nap). As
per usual, specific data and
charts are available per day,
week, month and year, but
a more complex graphical
device could perhaps have been
incorporated.
FITBIT FLEX
Sleep
I found it interesting to be able to track how
my total sleep changed over the course of the
week – the sleep data is interesting although
it is quite simple
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By now you’ve probably
spotted the Fitbit pattern, and
nothing much changes when
we move on to weight, BMI
and body composition (lean vs.
fat). All three of these statistics
can be accessed by clicking on
the scale icon on the dashboard
screen (which is accompanied
by a lovely ‘Woohoo!’ if your
goal has been met, or a target
number of kilos to reach if this
has not been the case). Data can
be displayed for different time
periods, and any goals appear
as dotted lines.
Toggling between the three
measures is with a horizontal
swipe, and a tap on the
diagonal arrows once again
reveals data for longer time
periods.
The quantity of data is great
but we’d love the scale on the
lean vs. fat chart to actually
start at zero – there’s just a little
too much green on that screen
for our liking!
The options for recording different types of
weight data got me thinking about what I
could be measuring (I even bought some
scales that show my body fat composition!)
FITBIT FLEX
Weight, BMI and body composition
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No doubt all this tapping and
swiping has got you thirsty, so
it is lucky that Fitbit also allows
you to monitor your water
intake. Entering what you’ve
sipped that day is easy and
intuitive – either click on a glass
size or adjust your drink by the
millilitre if you want to be
more precise.
As you drink more, the body
fills up, and the dashboard bar
progresses from blue through
to yellow and then green (when
you know things are really
on track!).
I like the idea of tracking my water intake,
but I found it too difficult to keep up with.
The icon on my dashboard served as a nice
reminder to drink more though!
FITBIT FLEX
Water
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So we’ve seen some of what
Fitbit can do. On top of this,
the device’s community of
‘friends’ is a lovely little piece
of functionality, and one that
really sets it apart from the rest.
For many users, the real-time
ranking is a great motivating
factor, as is the ability to cheer,
taunt or simply message friends
by tapping on their profile pic.
Just like other social media sites,
you can increase your circle of
contacts by viewing (and then
inviting) friends of friends,
though some people found it a
bit strange to get invitations off
people they hardly knew.
I’m surprised by how much I’ve
enjoyed the competitive element of
the Fitbit challenges, especially as
they are over multiple days so it
really gives you something to aim for
But it’s safe to say – that the
best is still to come. Fitbit has
recently added the ‘Challenges’
feature to its trunk of tracking
goodies. This greatly enhances
the interactions between
users, allowing you to target
challenges towards your day,
working week or weekend.
You can start your challenges
immediately, based on the
activity you have already
completed during that time
frame, or you can set them in
advance to give people a chance
to prepare. Personally our users
like the immediate start – it’s
great fun to take up a challenge
on the spur of the moment!
FITBIT FLEX
Challenges
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Now this is where the fun
really starts. Once a challenge
has been set, Fitbit records
contestants’ progress is an
amusing and entertaining way
– also allowing for your own
input (which can be as serious
or as light-hearted as you wish).
For our competitive users, there
was nothing better than seeing a
new participant announce their
intention as being ‘in it to win
it’ – they grabbed their trainers
and headed straight back out
the door! Granted, facing
off in such a down and dirty
manner was not everyone’s
cup of tea, but for those
not afraid of a little healthy
competition, Fitbit really hit
the mark. By allowing us to set
the tone of the conversation
the device demonstrated
a great understanding of
how motivating the words
and actions of others can be,
and alongside the satisfying
numerical updates, it provided
an truly holistic idea of how
they were progressing.
FITBIT FLEX
Social challenges We might have
started taking
the competitive
side of the
challenges a bit
seriously at
work, there’s
certainly a lot of
trash-talk! It’s
great fun though
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Finally we come on to the
Fitbit trophy – and what a nice
one it is at that. The generous
proportions, the rich colours –
what greater incentive do you
need to fight for a place at the
top of the rankings? A simple
swipe lets you see the full list
of winners and the bar chart
format really drives home the
differences in achievement.
Of course for the winners,
being able to see their face
at the top (and those of their
losing competitors at the
bottom) makes the experience
all the more personal. The only
pedantic complaint we have
is that those faces are a little
small when a person cheers our
success – we’d love to see who is
praising us in full colour glory!
FITBIT FLEX
Rewards
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JAWBONE
UP24
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As the name suggests, Jawbone likes a good natter.
Luckily for users, what the device has got to say is
normally pretty insightful – it ranked number one
in terms of quantity of behavioral techniques (with
34 in total, or 51%), and talked the trousers off the
competition when it came to ‘shaping knowledge.’
Sounds like it’s time to get the conversation started…
JAWBONE UP24
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EGULATION
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CONSEQUENCES
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FEEDBACK
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SCHEDULLED
LEARNINGCOVERT
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COMPARISONOF
ANTECEDENTS
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OFOUTCOMES
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Jawbone UP24:
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JAWBONE UP24
Let’s begin with the app’s main menu. No less
than seven options are provided from your menu,
including Home (the main activity screen), User
(your personal highlights), Goals (for ‘Move’,
‘Sleep’ and ‘Weight’), Trends (a longer term
view), Team (those you share data with), Apps
(a gallery of add-ons for enhanced functionality)
and Inbox (where you receive comments from
your buddies). That’s quite a lot of options, so
we’ll take you through them one by one.
I love it! The app is the
real star, as the Jawbone
bracelet itself would be
much better if it showed
the daily step count on it
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JAWBONE UP24
Home
Straight away, Jawbone makes the user feel right
at Home. This screen nicely displays your daily
status at the top, using coloured bars to represent
‘Sleep’ (purple), ‘Steps’ (orange) and the unique
Jawbone metric – ‘Food Score’ – in green. Later
this colour scheme gets a little counter-intuitive
(it changes in other places though remains static
here), but for the moment we can’t complain.
Below this simple little summary we get our first
glimpse of the famous Jawbone insights. As far as
we can tell, these insights are also colour coded
according to activity: orange = workout, purple
= sleep, green = food and yellow = mind. The
insights seem to correlate with what Jawbone
is recording for you, though some categories
(such as ‘Words to Inspire’ can be opted in (or
out of) via the menu. It’s a pretty neat example
of personalisation – the device describes these
particular tips as a way to “Prepare for anything
life throws at you…motivational words curated by
Jawbone.” Cute.
Anyway, if that whets your appetite – hold on
tight – there’s plenty to come regarding insights,
reflections on individual progress and tone of
voice in a special section at the end of this piece.
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JAWBONE UP24
Timeline
A quick swipe up of the Home screen reveals
your history (that day plus further into the past)
and if you are in ‘All Activities’ mode then the
timeline will display your own data as well as
that of your ‘team’ (depending of course, on
what they have decided to share with you…we’ll
get on to that later).
A tap of the icon and you can concentrate on
the most important person – YOU. We like the
ability to get down and personal in this manner,
with the reassurance that our friends are only a
button away. And underneath ‘Your Activities’
you can see how long ago each event occurred –
a technique that will make social media fans feel
right at home.
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JAWBONE UP24
Steps
Take a look at the Steps panel. Can you spot the
congratulatory ‘emoticon’ that a teammate has left
underneath? Once again, Jawbone taps into the
digital drivers that we are all becoming increasingly
accustomed to. And when you press a panel in the
timeline it opens up to show even more data – here
we have a pretty clear graphical summary of various
metrics, which can be further expanded if you are
hungry
for detail.
Plus the 7 day swipe is massively useful – it shows
not only your goal but your average over the past
week (notice those resplendent rays making an
appearance once again).
I like the fact that you’re not overwhelmed
with data but you can see it if you want
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JAWBONE UP24
Activity
And when Jawbone detects
that your step count might be
due to a specific activity, they’ll
make a good guestimate of
what it is – but let you manually
input an alternative if their
psychic vibes have been slightly
askew. There’s a whole host
of potential workouts you can
chose from, including zumba,
hiking and skiing. Which
makes our usual daily walks
look a little boring to be honest
– time to book that adventure
holiday we’ve always been
talking about!
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JAWBONE UP24
Sleep
Jawbone has obviously spent
some time on its graphics – just
check out the graduations of
colour in the ‘Sleep’ display.
Dark blue for ‘sound’ sleep,
lighter blue for…well ‘light’,
and some great statistical
nuances in reference to how
long you’ve been in bed, awake
or how many times you’ve
woken up in the night.
Just like steps, it’s also possible
to see your weekly progress
for sleep.
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JAWBONE UP24
Food
Now Jawbone impresses us for
a lot of reasons, but the ‘Food
Score’ metric really lights our
(calorie burning) fire. For one,
it automatically imports data
from MyFitnessPal (you only
have to scan a barcode or click
on a previously consumed
food), and secondly, it’s not
just about calories – it also
focuses on that all important
nutritional profile.
Tapping on the bar gives a
horizontal timeline of colour-
coded meals alongside an
overall Food Score. Below this
is a graphic to show calories
eaten (green) and estimated
calories burned (orange),
followed by a breakdown of
nutritional components.
Whilst this is all great, it
wouldn’t hurt to see our weekly
averages as well (to see how
those ‘good’ days are cancelling
out the ‘bad’). But overall, nice
work Jawbone – and there’ll be
more to say regarding food in
a bit…
Maintaining a 500 calorie
deficit of food intake vs
burn has been fantastic.
Tracking food is relatively
easy and the real-time
line of when you’ve eaten
too much or not exercised
enough to maintain this
deficit is really useful
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JAWBONE UP24
Trends
It may not be as visually beautiful as Misfit Shine,
but Jawbone is pretty ‘trendy’ all the same. By
clicking on the Trends category you are able
to view your overall history across 20 different
metrics – relating to sleep, physical activity,
calories, weight and nutrients consumed. Two
categories can be displayed at the same time, one
at the top of the screen and one at the bottom. It
would be nice to choose how the data appears
(bar charts can get a bit boring), but it is handy
that you can decide whether each bar represents
a day, week or month of data. There are no axis
labels on the charts, which can make things a
little hard to interpret – but if you swipe right so
that the bar you are interested is at the edge of the
screen, you can see its value in the little
white ‘flag.’
It would be good to have 7
day rolling step total
somewhere a bit more
visible on the app like Fitbit
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JAWBONE UP24
Feedback
Now we get on to a little bit
more of the feedback. The
Jawbone timeline is awash
with congratulatory panels
that advise you when you’ve
reached a certain goal, whether
that’s short or long term.
Here we see that one user has
achieved a ’10 day streak’ (great
for reinforcing self-efficacy)
and another has managed 2.5
million steps since they started
the programme.
Jawbone offers suggestions on
how to learn from this feedback
“success as motivation to learn
more about your own step
routine”…we’d say that’s a nice
bit of encouragement. However
some of our users found there
wassometimes a downside
to being part of a team if the
feedback you so desperately
want refuses to show…
I found the info from Jawbone on what
others my age are doing quite uplifting
- I’m walking 16,000 steps more than
your average fifty something
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JAWBONE UP24
Team
Team time! Just like Fitbit and Withings,
Jawbone has a community function that lets
you build up a group of supporting friends who
can monitor your progress or challenge you to
competitions. In fact, our analysis suggests that
this is an area that many devices are investing
time and energy to improve – new developments
seem to be popping up every day.
In Jawbone you can view your friends in a list
from A-Z, or (more effectively), see where they
all sit on the leaderboard. If you are numero uno
then there is every chance you’ll want to share this
information with your fellow users. However if
you are struggling (or just a bit of a wallflower),
you can adjust your ‘Privacy Sharing’ details
through the ‘Help Settings’ screen. The choice
is yours – share everything (even your mood!) or
remain a little more guarded. It’s a great example
of personalisation, and evidence that Jawbone
truly appreciates that users have different
personalities and preferences.
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JAWBONE UP24
Inbox
As well as comments and
‘feelings’ appearing in your
timeline from your teammates,
they appear in your inbox too
(inbox is accessed from ‘Home’
menu (slide 4)). Tapping
on one takes you to the
appropriate activity in
your timeline.
And apart from appearing on
your timeline, any comments
or emoticons from teammates
will also appear in your Inbox
(which is accessed from the
Home menu). As you’d expect,
tapping on a congratulatory
piece of information will
take you straight to the
corresponding activity in your
timeline. That may drive some
users towards success, but
others found all this team talk a
little too much to handle…
I wasn’t able to do any training,
so I found the tracker pretty
demoralising as I couldn’t
log weights.
My team exceeding their goals
just added to the negative here
– rubbing my face in the fact
that I wasn’t exercising
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JAWBONE UP24
Apps
So what about those add-on apps we mentioned
earlier? Well with Jawbone you can build your
own little ecosystem of health and wellness by
connecting to a variety of 3rd party content. In
fact, the device has the most exhaustive list of
extras out of the four we reviewed, with the added
nice touch that you can filter content by topic (e.g.
‘Fitness’ or ‘Food’) in order to more easily find
what you’re looking for.
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JAWBONE UP24
Goals
Goooooaaaaallllll! Jawbone
certainly lets you know when
you’ve scored against one of
your three targets – ‘Move’ (aka
Steps), ‘Sleep’ and ‘Weight.’
For the first two of these there’s
a handy ‘recommended’ zone,
which you can decide to go for,
or you can personalise your own
goal. Our users liked the fact
that they could compare their
performance to the averages
from the ‘UP’ community, but
the slider function itself was
a little clunky. Un-intuitively,
the circle disappears when your
weight is at target, and you can
only bring it back by tapping
‘Edit Goal’ and then selecting
whether to disable the goal, lose
weight, maintain current weight
or gain weight. If you choose
to lose weight then you are
clearly advised on the calorie
deficit you need to achieve, as
well as the number of weeks it
would take at that rate to reach
the goal. And of course, this
new calorie situation is then
automatically reflected in the
size of the green and yellow
bars in your ‘Food and
Drink’ display.
I love the Food Score…it’s how I lost 4lbs in just over
two weeks. I knew exactly where I was and how much
left I had to eat…a really simple but effective display
The Food Score is a great
idea because it really makes
you think about what you’re
eating and what you have
eaten…I had some
surprises at the beginning
that really made me think
Maintenance Weight loss
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JAWBONE UP24
Notifications and reminders
We’ve already touched on some of Jawbone’s
fab personalisation touches (like the ability to
adjust your ‘Privacy Sharing’ settings). But
the device also allows you to control the amount
of automatic feedback you receive. For example
you can set progress updates at intervals of 1,000
steps, and choose (to the nearest half hour) what
time you want to receive your Moves summary.
There is also the option to customise (through
the device menu) the time of day you receive
reminders, as well as the names of your workouts,
medicines and meals. As you can see from the
user comment below however, there is no such
thing as too much personalisation…
A week at work when I was very busy, I found I was
actually a bit depressed that I had no time to exercise
and the Jawbone app was continually bugging me to be
active. Maybe it needs an option where you take a data
holiday in busy work weeks?
I think the vibration idle alert is
such a clever idea. I’m sat at a
desk for the majority of the day
so I really appreciate the
physical reminder to get out of
my seat, as I don’t spend all day
looking at my phone waiting for
app notifications!
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JAWBONE UP24
Daily commitments
When it comes to Jawbone’s
recommendations, we are in
two minds. Sometimes the
‘Today I will...’ prompts are
valuable and supportive, but at
other times they seem to take
things a little too far!
However it is certainly clever
the way that Jawbone can
identify a ‘problem’ and then
set you a relevant challenge –
for example when they realise
you need to ‘eat more fiber.’
I really like the personalised tips...
They do motivate me to try and keep
my daily steps up
I really appreciated the idea behind the food
challenges, but I feel like I have enough on my
plate trying to do all my steps and eat the right
number of calories!
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JAWBONE UP24
Insights
Now apart from tailored
recommendations, Jawbone
provides motivational insights
that really seemed to resonate
with our users – in fact, it’s
what sets the device apart
from the crowd. Some of these
insights (like the one shown
here), nicely summarise a
user’s activity over the previous
month. Others focus on
different aspects, but all seem
to be driven by the user’s data
in some way or another (tick!),
and are accompanied by a link
to find out more (double tick!).
Over the next few pages we will
take a look the four categories
of insights in more detail: Sleep
(purple), Workout (Orange),
Food Drink (Green) and
Mind (Yellow). We have to say,
we find many of them rather
intriguing and inspiring.
I was actually
surprised to find the
links that were
included in the
Jawbone tips often
led to really
interesting articles, I
think the message
stuck with me a bit
more as there was a
story behind it
I found the updates keep me motivated
to try and ensure I stay way ahead of the
average 50 something
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JAWBONE UP24
Insights – Sleep
First up, Sleep. A lot of the
insights take a ‘Did you know?’
or ‘Try This’ format, providing
you with a fact about the
importance of slumber, advice
on how to get more of it or tips
on using the app. And as we
mentioned above, each of these
is accompanied by a tempting
‘Learn more’ or ‘Take Action’
link. However for our users,
the most engaging insights
belonged to the two more
personalised categories:
‘A Closer Look’ and ‘Today
I will.’ The former provide
insights relating to your
personal performance (e.g. an
analysis of your recent sleep
patterns) whilst the latter
challenge you to take on a new
goal or activity (e.g. tonight I’ll
go to bed at half ten). Being
able to opt in or out of the
challenges (‘I WILL’ vs., ‘No
thanks’ or ‘Not Today’) is a
nice flexible touch.
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JAWBONE UP24
Insights – Activity
Now in the Workout category
we have a great example of a
‘learn more’ insight. Yes, you
might have been racking up
the daily step count – but have
you been making the most
of those miles? The advice
that you should perhaps ‘Pick
Up the Pace’ is accompanied
by a genuinely informative
and meaningful ‘Learn More’
link – this time to a New York
Times article on why a brisk
walk is better than a stroll.
This additional content gives
credibility to the app and
added value to the user: what’s
not to love? The other highlight
was an insight generated
from a third party beauty app.
The Estee Lauder LAB ‘Skin
Hydration Challenge’ really
drew in one of our reviewers
(as young as he is wise),
demonstrating once again that
whilst steps matter, it’s often
the thought of a better looking
end result that keeps
us motivated.
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JAWBONE UP24
Insights – Food
And so we move on to Food,
or rather ‘Eat Drink’. There
are some great ‘Did you
know?’ insights in this category,
including one we saw that was
mysteriously entitled ‘A Tall
Toilet Tale.’ This was actually
a myth busting insight, about
the diuretic effects of coffee
consumption. We also love
the Fiber related ‘Today I will’
challenge. The level of personal
detail they provide on your
progress is pretty good – how
much fibre you ate yesterday
compared to the recommended
amount for your age and
gender. And of course, there’s
always the option to take up the
challenge tomorrow or to leave
it for another day.
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JAWBONE UP24
Insights – Mind
Finally we have the Mind
insights. These all take
the ‘Did you know’ format
(perhaps because anything
more personalised might feel
a little overtly psychological),
but nevertheless the content is
engaging. The ‘Learn More’
links take you to articles and
videos designed to keep you
motivated and on track. Our
favourite insight is ‘Not Only
the Number’, which reminds
users that it’s not just the digits
on the scales that count, but
how your fitness regime is
making you feel all around.
And you can’t get much more
insightful than that.
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MISFIT
SHINE
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Well there’s something to be
said for the old adage ‘style over
substance.’ When it comes to
Misfit Shine, we find a device
that many would consider the
most elegant available, though
its behavior change potential
leaves us wanting (we could
only spot 15 techniques, or 22%
of the total, during testing).
You can’t deny it, the
contemporary, minimalistic
visualisation of the data is
a huge crowd pleaser (and
none of our Apple fans would
disagree), but there are a few
improvements that could nudge
it towards greater effectiveness.
I really like the way it displays
your information, really modern,
like what Apple might do
MISFIT SHINE
R
EGULATION
CONSEQUENCES
SELF BELIEF
KNOWLEDGE
IDENTITY
NATURAL
CONSEQUENCES
MONITORING
FEEDBACK
GOALS PLANNING
REWARDTHREAT
SHAPING
SCHEDULLED
LEARNINGCOVERT
AS
SOCIATIONS
BEHAVIOUR
COMPARISONOF
ANTECEDENTS
SUPPORT
OFOUTCOMES
COMPARISON
SOCIAL
Misfit Shine:
deployed
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Let’s start with what impressed
our reviewers.
For the swimmers amongst you,
Misfit Shine happens to be the
only device waterproof up to
50 m – which is an attractive
benefit for those pool addicts
who are tired of having to
manually upload their data.
And when it comes to goal
setting and planning, Misfit
Shine has it covered. Helpful
guidance is given on how
many Misfit points are needed
to reach ‘kinda’, ‘pretty’, and
‘very’ active status in walking,
running and swimming, plus
the system remains flexible
enough to allow users to
adjust their goals in 100
point increments.
MISFIT SHINE
Goal setting
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68
It’s simple. Increase your points goal, and Misfit Shine will
automatically modify the work needed to achieve that goal – it
might only take a 20 minute run to reach 700 points, but if you
want to break a thousand then its clear to see you’re going to
have to endure another ten on the treadmill. Effective huh?
Goals for sleep and weight can also be set in a similarly elegant
fashion, but we’ll be getting on to those in a sec…
I especially liked achieving my
goal before breakfast because
I’d been to the gym on the way
to work! But I know there are
days when I could do better...
and I’m actively trying to have
less of those
MISFIT SHINE
Goal adjustments
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Daily activity data is presented
on an easy to read progress
dial, with a prominent central
display of current point status
and what’s required to reach
your goal. A light tap of the dial
brings up step count, calories
and kilometres – but for those of
us primarily interested in these
metrics, we feel there should be
a default option to make this
the main screen. Below the dial,
the intensity of daily activity is
presented as a timeline – with a
trophy icon indicating when the
goal has been achieved.
I actively check my fitness throughout
the day and am keen to see how slight
differences (e.g. route walked to the office)
impacts the points achieved on the tracker
MISFIT SHINE
Activity
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70
A smooth swipe of the screen
reveals activity badges stamped
with the time they happened.
They’re editable, (but
unfortunately only on that day)
swimming, cycling, basketball,
soccer or tennis – whatever you’ve
been doing, you can see just how
well you’ve been doing it.
After 2 days I found myself wanting to
surpass the data from the previous day.
On one Sunday I spent most of the day in
the car and felt frustrated that I didn’t get
anywhere near my usual point score
When a daily goal is achieved
(e.g. 1,000 points), that nifty
trophy icon reappears on the
dashboard, once again stamped
with the time it happened. So
all in all you have a pretty neat
sequence of badges to visually
describe your day’s activity.
And if you’re linked up to
MyFitnessPal, Misfit will also
display, in dark blue, calorie
status and calories consumed
by meal. It’s a great perk, but
we’re just not sure why this
isn’t organised by time – our
morning snacks normally come
before lunch!
MISFIT SHINE
Badges
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Talking of companion apps, if
you’re a Runkeeper user then
Misfit will kindly import that
data so you can also see it on
your dashboard. And that’s
not all. Key milestones, such
as lifetime kilometres and
continuous day ‘streaks’ are
displayed across the panel at
the same time.
Tapping on each of these
badges also provides a
motivational message. So it’s
clear to see why Misfit ticks so
many boxes in the ‘feedback
and monitoring’ category,
however just like goal setting,
this is pretty standard stuff for
wearable tracking devices.
MISFIT SHINE
Milestones
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72
So what happens when you
tap that little calendar icon on
the top left? Well to start with,
your week-to-date activity and
total Misfit points will appear
in the progress dial (and you
can tap that again to reveal
steps, calories and kilometres).
Below that you’ll find a graph
comparing this week’s progress
to your average (that’s the
orange line vs. the grey line),
and once again a handy green
trophy marker lets you know
whether or not you have
reached your goal.
I enjoy comparing my activity from one day to the
next. In particular, I enjoy looking at a working
day vs the weekend and a gym day vs a day just
at my desk. Seeing the differences in the level of
my activity has motivated me to be more active
and to get more exercise
A friendly swipe up reveals
new goal and feedback goodies
– this time you can view
the number of goals you’ve
‘hit’ that week alongside a
breakdown of achievement
per day, and the percentage
difference compared to your
usual. 1% less active
than last week?
Must do better next time!
MISFIT SHINE
Progress
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73
If all of that exertion has left
you a little tired (it has us),
then you’ll be glad to know
that Misfit also takes care of
your sleep patterns. It depicts
night time activity much like its
daytime counterpart, though
now we have an alluring
purple hue to remind us of last
night’s dreamy slumber. Don’t
be fooled by the prettiness
however – each shade of violet
corresponds to a depth of sleep,
and how much quality shut
eye you’ve managed to grab is
depicted hanging down rather
than rising up (other Apps
take note).
I am particularly fascinated by
the sleep information/movement
as I am not conscious and it’s
interesting to see how much I
move about!
Want to tap that calendar icon?
Of course you do, and your
reward will be to see the week’s
record of sleep. If your goal was
to drift off for 7 hours, then this
(in tasty turquoise) will appear
alongside your actual data.
And they don’t just track the
regular kind of sleep, but that
coveted deep sleep as well
– just take a look at that
shaded line at the bottom.
What’s more, if you tap on
an individual day, you’re able
to numerically quantify what
percentage of your daily goal
was achieved, and once again
an attractive colour coding
system will let you know
whether you performed above
or below expectations.
MISFIT SHINE
Sleep
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Finally we get to that favourite
(or not so favourite) topic –
weight! Misfit Shine depicts
this in their usual goal-
orientated fashion – you see
your current weight vs. what
you dream to be (if only your
metabolism behaved ;)). Once
again, a simple line chart lets
you quickly view monthly
progress against the chosen
goal, and a swipe left lets the
user see a day by day history.
Not bad, but it would be great
to also see 3 and 6 month
progress on a single screen – in
whatever shade of beautiful
blue they so desire…
MISFIT SHINE
Weight
Tracking weight was a
nice feature, but I was
actually keen to tone
up, so it wasn’t really
tracking what I was
interested in
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WITHINGS
PULSE O2
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76
If it’s true what they say
about this being the era of
big data, then Withings Pulse
O2 is looking bang on trend.
Analyzing digits and gushing
over graphs may not be
everybody’s cup of tea – but if
it’s yours, then this is the device
for you.
It seems our review panel
contained a fair few ‘Quantified
Selfers.’ For those people, data
is king, so they just gobbled
up the charts that Withings
threw at them. And kept on
throwing at them. For others,
the numerical avalanche was
a bit overwhelming. Either
way, Withings was our second
best scorer, employing 37%
of the total behavior change
techniques. How do they do it?
A solid covering of the wearable
tracking ‘standards’ (Goals
Planning and Feedback
Monitoring) alongside a
spattering of ticks in the ‘Social
Support’ and ‘Reward Threat’
categories. Let’s see what our
reviewers spotted…
Having used
the watch I
decided to buy
the scales and
blood pressure
monitor - so it
does encourage
you to know
more about your
own health.
Overall I’m
loving it!
WITHINGS PULSE O2
R
EGULATION
CONSEQUENCES
SELF BELIEF
KNOWLEDGE
IDENTITY
NATURAL
CONSEQUENCES
MONITORING
FEEDBACK
GOALS PLANNING
REWARDTHREAT
SHAPING
SCHEDULLED
LEARNINGCOVERT
AS
SOCIATIONS
BEHAVIOUR
COMPARISONOF
ANTECEDENTS
SUPPORT
OFOUTCOMES
COMPARISON
SOCIAL
Withings Pulse O2:
deployed
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77
When you join up to Withings
Pulse O2, you actually join up
to a whole world of monitoring
excitement. The device itself
tracks blood pressure, pulse
and blood oxygen saturation,
but by using the accompanying
‘Healthmate’ App to connect
it to other devices (like scales),
you can record and view a much
wider range of information.
This certainly differentiates it
from the crowd.
Ready to delve into the data?
Brace yourself… this stuff
gets pretty complex, pretty
quick, which is why it’s great
that Withings gives you two
different options to view your
data at a glance. The beautiful
summary dashboard
(overleaf)and a much more
technical (and we think
fascinating) timeline.
The Timeline is Withings’ main
data viewing screen. On the
main screen you see today’s
activity, including the % of
steps you have left to complete,
and your place on the leader
board if you have buddied
up with other users. Plus we
find our first bar chart, a dark
orange profile of your activity
by the hour. Just below the
main screen you have data
for heart rate, sleep, weight
and blood pressure – all
time stamped for maximum
accuracy. Start swiping up
and you’ll enjoy a feast of data
– mini charts and summaries
that build up to form a (very!)
complete history of your days.
And as a special treat, each
Monday two extra panels are
displayed – for ‘Weekly Sleep’
and ‘Weekly Steps.’
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Timeline
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78
If the timeline became too bogged down in
charts and graphs for your liking, the dashboard
view is sure to satisfy. Quantified Selfers might
find the simplified info a little ‘light’, but for
the rest of us the butterfly visual device is quite
satisfying. The dashboard displays data for daily
activity (orange), heart (green), sleep (blue) and
weight (magenta). As you progress in each of the
four areas, each ‘wing’ fills up with increasing
‘wellness’. The overall goal is to colour in all the
wings – so can someone get this user a good
night’s sleep please!
Tapping on the butterfly allows you to access a
summary status for each of the four sections, and
underneath the wings you can find connections
to widgets and other third party apps. So if
you’re a Runkeeper user you can see your weekly
‘Vigorous Activity’ and if you’ve bought the
Withings Smart Scale you can see a history of ‘Air
Quality.’ The current status of each wing is clearly
visible, with a week view that let’s you compare
your results to the previous week (greyed out in
the background).
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Dashboard
I like the way the butterfly gives
you an overall picture... I always
click on each wing to see the
commentary which always seems
to be positive, perhaps too positive!
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Back to the timeline where we
can access the most interesting
and detailed data. Firstly
to activity which is always
displayed on top. A gentle
tap on the graph and the full
screen version appears – this
time the bar chart is shaded
to show activity intensity, a
bit like Fitbit (but with less
differentiation).
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Activity
It’s a shame that it
only tracks steps -
any swimming or
activity in water
can’t be tracked
directly
Want to check how you’re
doing so far this week? Click
on the three circles in the top
right to see the activity of the
past few days in red, and of
the entire last week in grey.
A cumulative total of your
weekly steps appears below,
together with elevation climbed,
distance, and both active and
total calories. A bright blue
number lets you know how
many times this week you’ve
achieved your daily goal. Our
reviewers (especially the data
driven males amongst them),
thought they’d died and gone
to heaven!
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Not enough detail for you? Well don’t worry!
Pick a panel, any panel, and a quick tap will reveal
even more data. Take heart rate for example - the
blue band represents the normal range and the
green outer circles represent peripheral capillary
oxygen saturation (uh-huh). The first cool thing
to notice is that the Healthmate app can measure
pulse via your phone’s camera light (see overleaf).
Neat huh? If you prefer, you can measure using
the device (though it can be a bit of a pain to
remove it from its strap) or the Withings Blood
Pressure Monitor – either way you’ll be presented
with a vast range of display options. And when
you are in the ‘all data’ mode, tapping on an
individual point will bring up your heart rate
and SpO2. Yep, we know. The Quantified
Selfer’s dream.
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Heart rate
SPO2 HEART RATE
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81
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Heart rate
I prefer to measure my heart rate using my iPhone...
it’s a really neat feature, much more convenient than
taking the device out of its strap and clicking through
to activate the monitor
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WITHINGS PULSE O2
Blood pressure
What about blood pressure?
Same deal here really – all the
stats you can cram in your
head. Select different time
periods to view different data
permutations and tap a time
point to show systolic and
diastolic blood pressure as well
as heart rate at a particular
measured moment.
And of course, if you want
to concentrate on a certain
time of the day, you can chose
to display only morning or
evening data. Finally you
can ping those numbers over
to your doctor (or any other
interested party) by a quick
click to email.
I like the blood
pressure monitor...
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WITHINGS PULSE O2
Weight, fat mass, BMI
Time to get heavy. Weight,
fat mass and BMI can all
be viewed over various time
scales and the cleverly flexible
graphs auto-adjust each time,
maximising visibility (as well as
the geek factor).

If you want to check your
weight is in an acceptable
range, a blue ‘normal’ area can
be toggled on and off. And to
interact with more time specific
data, just tap on a point to
reveal weight and BMI. It’s
great that you can set a weight
goal, but at the same time it
makes us realise – what other
goals can you control? Unlike
other devices, you can’t input
an individual step target, which
seems a little, well, impersonal
if you ask us.
I like the way
the graph
adjusts
automatically...
you can see
everything you
want to see
and all the detail
ALL
1 YEAR 3 MONTHS 1 MONTH
I love the way you can browse
through your data to see how far
you’ve come... makes me feel
good about myself!
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Starting to snore with all
this data? Well we bet the
Quantified Selfers out there are
wide awake. Here we have a
colour coded summary of your
previous night’s sleep – light,
deep and awake – and once
again the data dictators have
provided extra stats including
the number of hours slept, total
time in bed and time taken to
fall asleep. A click on the three
circles allows you to view the
current week (in blue) vs. the
previous (in grey).

But it is here that a couple of
niggling complaints worm
their way in. Our users
couldn’t find a way to
manually enter sleep, and the
8 hour goal is automatically
set by Withings – once again
suggesting that with goal
setting in general, this device
starts to lose some ground.
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Sleep
I don’t know why they
don’t allow you to enter
your sleep if you forget
to set your device. You
should be able to enter
it manually and it
should highlight that it
is a manual entry... it’s
really frustrating when
you forget
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As we said upfront, Withings
does tick a lot of boxes when
it comes to feedback and
monitoring. Not only does
the Healthmate App let
you know how you’re doing
through activity insights, but
it gives you the opportunity
to respond and assess the
accuracy of their advice.
Insights can be positive
or negative, but it was the
former that had the most
motivating impact on users
(though as one reviewer
rightly pointed out, there
are always limits to
artificial intelligence).
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Feedback
I really like the way
the ‘Did you know’
tells you how you
compare to all
HealthMate users...
being in the top 0.2%
really motivated me
The way it said with only 11,693
steps it’s the least active you’ve
been, together with a frowning
smiley isn’t that intelligent is it?
It should have said something
like,‘well done for exceeding the
recommended 10,000 but not
quite up to your usual par’ with a
puzzled smiley. I felt that I’d caught
the app out!
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WITHINGS PULSE O2
Feedback
One day I didn’t sync my tracker I got
a pretty motivation-crushing message,
which actually made me want to throw
it in the bin!
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Badges are a key feature of
Healthmate feedback and one
that appealed to a number
users. In fact many people
wanted to know via their
smartphone which badge
was coming next, and were
disappointed to find that this
feature is only available on the
desktop version. Wearable app
developers take note – people
just love a reward, even if it’s a
virtual one.
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Badges
I only wish I knew what I had
to do to get the next badge
I love getting
a badge, it
makes me
feel as
though I’ve
achieved
something
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88
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Badges
They’re nice and colourful, puts you in a
positive mood. Often I’ll click through on
the learn more or discover in pictures...
is that sad?
DAILY STEPS LIFETIME DISTANCE LIFETIME ELEVATION
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Apart from blowing the competition out of the
water when it comes to data provision, Withings
also does an excellent job with it’s system of
reminders. Gentle nudges and motivational
pick-me-ups appear on the smartphone
notification screen – which is nice, but the info
felt a little dated. Our advice to Withings? Make
the content less retrospective, and consider
prompting actions at certain times based on
learning from a user’s behavior.
Reminders also appear in the app itself, this time
in full colour glory. Reviewers found them a great
aid – they assist in habit formation and provide
ideas for behavioral substitution. The best bit is
that you can tailor them – by clicking on ‘Add a
new reminder’ you can choose from 19 reminders
organised into the 4 categories (weight, activity,
heart and sleep).
By clicking on the reminder you can adjust its
settings, deciding which days of the week and
at what time you want the message to appear.
A brief overview of the reminder is provided
alongside tips on when to schedule it – for
example you don’t want to be promoted to
‘Make calls while walking’ at a time when you
know you’ll be in a hurry! It’s great that you can
set different timed reminders for each day of
the week, but from a behavioral change point of
view what we really want is to take the concept
one step further – by allowing users to create
their own reminders based on implementation
intentions (e.g. If you take a walk this
afternoon, you’ll be able to have that glass
of wine after work.)
Saying all that, when the reminders are set and
summarised they do look quite fabulous. Colour
coding makes it easy to see the category of
reminder you have set up, and its great that you
can have separate prompts for weekdays
and lazy weekends.
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Reminders
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WEIGHT
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Reminders
ACTIVITY
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WITHINGS PULSE O2
Reminders
SLEEP HEART
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WITHINGS PULSE O2
Help centre
So what other tricks have our
data divas got up their sleeve?
Well the help centre is a nice
support functionality, providing
users with answers to every
question they could possibly
think of (though we still want
to know why we can’t set more
goals please!). The information
is certainly comprehensive,
but it could be made more
prominent by putting it
alongside the Timeline and
Dashboard as one of the main
app offerings.
I’ve only just come
across the help
centre which is
actually really good
in a lot of places...
wish I’d seen it two
weeks ago at the
beginning
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Less driven by data, more by a yearning for first
place? For the competitive users, Withings’
leaderboard proved to be an addictive add-on.
You can invite friends to form a group, and then
compare and contrast progress between you (i.e.
check out who’s winning). Your can see how
you’re performing at any time, with a handy
summary provided at the end of each week.

Not only that but the feature will appeal to
those Facebook ‘pokers’ amongst you. By
tapping on a friend’s name you can cheer, taunt
or simply message them. These notifications
will then form (a hopefully motivational!) part
of your friend’s timeline.
It’s a nice extra, but we have to say that other
devices are doing it better. There is no automatic
commentary on the progress of others – you only
find out how well they are doing if one of you
overtakes the other. It also would be great to see
Withings include an option for competing against
weight loss goals, or calorie intake vs. outtake on
a weekly scale.
WITHINGS PULSE O2
Leaderboard
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COLOPHON
Writers:
David Davenport-Firth
Lexi Fletcher
Matt Balogh
Ritesh Patel
Simon Stebbing
Design:
Chris Chappell (Creative Director)
John Green (Art Director)
Angel Zhang (Illustrator)
No article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
without the written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 2015 Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide
For more information please contact:
wearablepublichealth@ogilvy.com
Editor:
Rebecca Salama
Sub-editor:
Paul Williams
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Wearable Technology Futures 2020: A New Path for Public Health?

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