In 2000, the Museum of Modern Art developed a visual thinking strategies curriculum designed to help students learn to understand the meaning of art. Since then, studies have proven that individuals who take in information visually have greater ability to problem solving, deduce reasoning, and make complex observations. We are all visual thinkers. Presenting information [...]
Over the last 18 months, the element of gaming on Facebook has seen exponential growth. According to Bloomberg, Facebook is the world’s largest gaming portal with 100 million users. One popular game on Facebook called Farmville has more players than Twitter accounts. Zynga, the two year old company that creates games, including Farmville, expects annual [...]
One of the key principles of designing for Personal Metrics is that the experience must be entertaining. Incorporating a game-like analogies into the experience brings in important elements such as competition, scoring, and rewards. Fitness and staying healthy is not a priority for many people. The thought of going to a gym or running is [...]
One of the key principles of designing products or services around Personal Metrics is that the experience must create a reward for the individual. Innovative companies understand that reward systems aren’t just for kids. As adults, it can be just as, if not more, effective in motivating and challenging us to change our behavior. There’s [...]
The health care bill that was recently signed into effect requires that restaurant chains post the caloric values of all menu items. The idea is that by making people more aware of the calories in each item, they’ll be motivated to make better decisions about what they consume. Unfortunately, when it comes to the effect [...]
A key reason why people fall away from their goals is that they lack motivation. By making an activity competitive, whether against others or one’s self, you can raise motivation and challenge people to push themselves to a personal best. Mint.com makes managing your personal finances a competition against yourself. It aggregates real-time information from [...]
Waterpebble is a novel device that monitors the amount of water being used when you shower. It memorizes your first shower and then, using it as the baseline, it visually indicates from green through to red so you know when to finish your shower. But here’s what’s so great about it, each time you shower, [...]
Recycle Bank is a company that measures the amount of recycling a communities, companies, or individual produces, and the financially rewards them for taking positive green actions in their lifestyles. Here’s how they’ve put the idea of Personal Metrics to work when it comes to recycling … Recycle Bank has partnered with communities to place [...]
One of the main reasons that people struggle with losing weight is because they don’t understand the true connection between maintaining the balance of eating less and exercising more. LoseIt! is an iPhone application that aims to help people make better lifestyle decisions by providing them insight about the impact that each of their decisions [...]