OpenAir - Social Media for Positive Behavioral Change

Overview

OpenAir is a prototype mobile social media application designed to encourage users to spend more time outdoors.

By combining social engagement with gamification, the app aims to promote healthier lifestyles while mitigating the negative effects associated with traditional social media platforms.

To determine the effectiveness of this concept and design, the app was released in a closed alpha study during a 2 week study which measured time spent outdoors before and after exposure to the application.

Purpose

Modern society often struggles with the health impacts of indoor lifestyles, such as fatigue and reduced cognitive and mental well-being. OpenAir seeks to showcase that this trend can be countered by leveraging the modern technologies, and harnessing the power of social motivation and a simple reward system in a social media application to inspire users to perform more outdoor activities.

Demo

This demo will go through a use case where a pre-existing user:

1. Logs into their account
2. Views the homepage, populated with their own and fellow users posts
3. Opens the edit profile section
4. Moves to the "My Profile" section, where they can view their unlocked badges and their own posted activites
5. Creates a new post activity, and see it in the home and personal feed
6. Notice the left-most badge is now unlocked

openair-demo.mp4

Core Features

The funcitonality of this application is based around users posting their outdoor activities, which based off catgeories and an unlock system earns them corresponding badges, as well as exposure to their friends posts via a scrollable feed.

Activity Posting

• Users can share outdoor activities by uploading photos, describing the activity, and categorizing it into predefined types such as hiking, swimming, or general outdoor activities.

• The posts are displayed in a visually appealing, scrollable feed that resembles a timeline of outdoor adventures.

  

Scrollable Feed

• The home feed displays all users' posts, simulating a “friends” list for the prototype phase.

• Posts are presented in a minimalist design with an emphasis on images and activity descriptions to inspire viewers without causing overstimulation or app dependency.

My Stuff Section and Badge System

• A personalized space where users can view their own posts and monitor their progress toward badge achievements.

• This section includes a clean and simple badge display that motivates users to engage more frequently in outdoor activities.

• To encourage consistent outdoor engagement, users unlock badges by reaching specific milestones, such as completing a set number of activities.

• Different badge types are linked to specific activity categories, offering variety and catering to diverse interests.

Edit Profile Section

• Users can select an image to display as a profile picture from their camera role and and a short description for themselves

  

Login / Signup

• Upon launching the app users can either chose to log in with an exisiting email and password or signup with a new one.

• Utlizies Google Firebases cloud based Authenitcation tool.

Streamlined User Interface

• OpenAir’s design prioritizes minimalism to reduce potential distractions and keep users focused on outdoor activity rather than prolonged app usage.

Technical Implementation

Platform and Development Tools

• The app was developed for Android using Java in Android Studio.
• Firebase services power the backend, providing authentication, data storage, and real-time synchronization.

Firebase Integration

• Authentication: Secure login and signup processes using email-password pairs.

• Cloud Firestore: A NoSQL database to store user data, including posts, profiles, and activity statistics.

• Firebase Storage: Used for handling user-uploaded images, such as profile pictures and activity photos.

Frontend Development

• RecyclerView and CardView: Implemented to create dynamic, scrollable feeds that display user posts in a card-like format.

• XML Layouts: Used for designing screens like login, signup, home feed, and profile management.

• Minimalistic Styling: Inspired by popular apps like Instagram and BeReal, but adapted to discourage app addiction.

Backend Architecture

• A singleton design pattern is used to manage user and post data across sessions efficiently.

• Data retrieval and storage are optimized by separating user and post information into distinct Firestore collections, allowing for seamless data operations.

Badge System Logic

• Badges are awarded based on activity thresholds stored in the Firestore database.

• Each activity type increments a counter in the user’s document, which is checked to determine badge unlock conditions.

Closed-Alpha Release & Study Results

Study Overview

The OpenAir application was evaluated through a closed alpha study to determine its impact on users’ outdoor activity habits. The study was conducted in two phases:

Phase One (Baseline Data Collection):

Participants recorded their outdoor activities manually without the app, providing a baseline measure of time spent outdoors. Activities were categorized into predefined types (e.g., walk, hike, swim) to align with the app’s structure.

Phase Two (Application Deployment):

Participants used OpenAir to record their activities while continuing to self-record data for comparison. This dual recording ensured data reliability and facilitated easy comparison with baseline results.

Results

Quantitative Findings:

• The results varied significantly among participants. While some users increased their time outdoors, others reported declines, influenced by external factors such as poor weather or changes in personal circumstances.

• After adjusting for two participants who experienced location changes during the study (moving from rural to urban environments), the modified data set showed a more balanced trend:

  • 40% of participants reported an increase in outdoor activity.
  • 40% reported a decrease.
  • 20% showed no significant change.

Engagement Metrics:

• Firebase analytics revealed that the average session engagement time was approximately 4 minutes and 20 seconds, with an average total engagement time of 23 minutes per user across the study period.
• This meets the requirements of avoiding excessive use of the application.

Qualitative Feedback:

Participants provided insights into their experience with the app:

• Several participants felt motivated to engage in outdoor activities, attributing this to the app’s badge system and social encouragement from viewing others’ posts.
• Suggestions for improvement included adding features such as a comment section, group functionality, and motivational notifications.
• No adverse mental health effects were reported, and the app’s minimalistic design helped avoid overuse or addiction.

Limitations

The study faced several limitations that affected the results:

• Environmental Variability: Poor weather conditions during Phase Two impacted outdoor activity levels for participants based in the UK.
• Sample Size: The small number of participants limited the generalizability of the findings. This was further reduced by the need for all participants to share posts in a shared feed, making privacy a concern for potential recruits.
• Study Duration: The study lasted only two weeks, which may not have been sufficient to observe long-term behavioral changes.
• Prototype Features: The app lacked certain features, such as a friends system and enhanced gamification, which could have provided stronger incentives for sustained engagement.