Problem
Space
The number of hours spent
sitting has increased since working from home during the pandemic. According to
the Harvard Medical school, spending too many hours sitting is hazardous to
your health. From our own user research, we have found that people sit for an
average of 6 hours per day. Habitual inactivity raises the risks for
life-threatening diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular
disease. More than 5 million people around the world die from causes associated
with inactivity.
User pain
point + feedback
We conducted surveys and
interviews and gathered valuable insights. Most people sit for prolonged
periods of time (6 hours on average) every day.
Landing on
the solution
How might we make the experience
of physical activity delightful for those who sit for extended periods of time so
that it reinforces their behaviour?
Explanation
of solution
Shimmy app is simple to use, fun
and friendly. It consists of several set-up pages, main dashboard with calendar
view and stats page. During initial launch, the app will prompt the user to
register using their email and password. After that the user will set the time
they want their movement break to be scheduled for and confirm notification
enablement. After onboarding and landing on the main page, the user may choose
to start their movement break. The timer will go off and Shimmy Time will
start. Shimmy Time page has a 1 minute timer and an upbeat song playing in the
background. Our mascot Shimmy is also dancing with the user. Once the minute is
up the user get congratulated on an accomplishment with confetti fireworks – we
would like our users to be happy about their results and feel the support from
Shimmy and the community.
The number of hours spent
sitting has increased since working from home during the pandemic. According to
the Harvard Medical school, spending too many hours sitting is hazardous to
your health. From our own user research, we have found that people sit for an
average of 6 hours per day. Habitual inactivity raises the risks for
life-threatening diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular
disease. More than 5 million people around the world die from causes associated
with inactivity.
Researchers at UC San Diego
School of Medicine have found that even light physical activity, including
standing, can combat the effects of prolonged sitting. A lower risk for death
was observed in participants that stood still for as little as 30 mins per day.
The positive effects of standing were even stronger when participants moved
around during the time they were standing. Given the research, breaking up long
blocks of sitting with some light activity seems like a wise move for us all.
User pain
point + feedback
We conducted surveys and
interviews and gathered valuable insights. Most people sit for prolonged
periods of time (6 hours on average) every day.
Most people could benefit from a
boost of energy in the late morning (10-11am) and early afternoon (2-3pm). Some
people have a workout routine at the gym while others prefer non-traditional
forms of exercise. Whave learned that most people either do not achieve their
activity goals or are not consistent with achieving them in the long term. The
common reasons for this include their busy schedule, a lack of motivation, and
a disinterest in the fitness methods that are popular today. A lot of people
also mentioned that doing a workout alone at home is something that demotivates
them as they need a community of likeminded people around to keep going with
their workout routine.
Our potential users work or
study extended hours at the desk and want an alternative way to be active and
be reminded to get up. They need to get a boost of energy when their energy is
the lowest. Some of our users have an “all or nothing” mentality when it comes
to fitness, and they want to set sustainable movement goals and celebrate
achievements so that they can stick to the habit long term.
Landing on
the solution
How might we make the experience
of physical activity delightful for those who sit for extended periods of time so
that it reinforces their behaviour?
A possible solution will be to
send users reminders (push notifications) to get up and move at times where
they are most likely to need an energy boost (10am and 2pm, according to our
user research). We can incorporate upbeat music and allow users to move in the
way they feel best. This will help address the first pain point which is that
users are bored of typical fitness exercises and want alternative ways to be
physically active throughout their day.
During our initial discussions,
we agreed that we want to help people move more and make the process fun. At
first, we thought we would build an app with several fitness exercises and
video tutorials for them. After several user surveys and discussions within the
team we decided to make a pivot to a different type of movement activity.
We
came up with a solution that aims to:
Help users break up long periods of sitting and increase overall physical activity
Provide a boost of energy when they need it
Help users stick to movement habits long term