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StepGreen

This research paper explores the use of online social networks to motivate individuals to adopt energy-saving behaviors. Drawing from literature on HCI/Environmental Psychology, the study examines various approaches to motivation and behavior change. The researchers develop and study StepGreen.org, a research-driven platform that incorporates motivational techniques such as goal-setting, comparative feedback, and personalized recommendations. The results show that visualization of energy savings and actionable suggestions are effective in promoting behavior change. The study also highlights the importance of social interaction and customization in online platforms. The findings suggest that online tools can be a powerful tool for implementing successful energy change strategies at a large scale.

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StepGreen

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  1. StepGreen.org Increasing Energy Saving Behaviors via Social Networks Jennifer Mankoff, Susan Fussell, Tawanna Dillahunt, Rachel Glaves, Catherine Grevet, Michael Johnson, Deanna Matthews, H. Scott Matthews, Robert McGuire, Robert Thompson, Aubrey Shick, Leslie Setlock … and the rest of the StepGreen team

  2. Encouraging Green Behavior • Lots of literature on the HCI/Environmental Psychology side to draw from (Froehlich et al., CHI’10; DiSalvo et al., CHI’10) • Many approaches to motivation (Information; Goal-setting; Comparison; Commitment; Incentive/Disincentive; Feedback) • Many models of behavior (Norm-Activation, Rational Choice, Trans-Theoretic  He et al., CHI’10)

  3. Motivating Individual Change • Online interventions can allow us to scale up current approaches to individual change • E.g. Abrahamse et al., 2006 • Making a commitment(e.g. petition or logo / goal setting) • Providing comparative feedback • Providing regular individual feedback • Providing personalized recommendations

  4. -

  5. Issues that can be explored online • What are barriers and opportunities for online social networks to support reduced individual energy consumption? • What types of motivation will be most effective? • How does this change as group size, deployment length, and participation grow? • What role does social capital play in motivation? • Will online social networks have a structural impact on green behavior (e.g. socializing people to the issue, distributing information)?

  6. Our Research • Past work suggests approaches for creating green behavior • How to bring successfully into design of social sites? • Explored through the act of creating & studying StepGreen.org

  7. Research Driven Product • Literature studies, surveys and interviews, many discussions (multidisciplinary) • Focused on: • Overall Site • Actions • Visualization • How motivational techniques worked within StepGreen.org …

  8. StepGreen Server: • User history • External user accounts • Data to visualization MySpace Applet

  9. 1. Commit to actions -

  10. 2. Report on actions -

  11. 3. Visualize savings -

  12. 4. See Suggestions -

  13. Actions • Drawn from many sources • Designed to appeal • Confirmed with survey (122 people)

  14. Developing actionable suggestions • Surveyed 122 people through CraigsList • Each rated actions in terms of how likely they were to do them (1 .. 5)

  15. Results

  16. Results

  17. Visualization Design

  18. Visualization

  19. -

  20. Field Deployment • Three week field study (Fall 2007) • 32 participants with active MySpace accounts • Pre and post surveys; Interviews: on their environmental attitudes, decision-making styles, demographics • Tracked actions on the site, friend views, signups: saw 57 different actions over a 3 week period

  21. Results: Actions

  22. Actions that don’t change

  23. Popular, High Impact New Actions

  24. Results: Visualization

  25. Results: Visualization

  26. Results: Visualization

  27. Results: Visualization

  28. Results: Interaction • 4 stayed on for 50-90 more days • 3 visited other participants’ pages frequently (every day to 3 days) -> wanted to see each other in same visualization • 10 reported showing the site to others • 2 reported answering queries about the site • 6 friends of participants visited the sign up link

  29. Design issues • Users wanted the main site to be more social • Users wanted to create their own actions • More integration with social web (e.g. twitter integration) • More customization & flexibility

  30. 3. Share and Discuss -

  31. Next Steps • Cornell & CMU competitions • Public API deployment [in Beta] • “Full” Twitter and Desktop interfaces • Facebook game • Energy use over time [e.g. Google PowerMeter support]

  32. Next Steps • Piggyback on additional common technologies • Engage neighborhoods and cities • Behavioral manipulations in the field

  33. Conclusions • Online tools well suited for implementing successful energy change strategies • Can enable large scale deployment • Goals include: • Information about factors for changing individual energy use • Education and change across many individuals

  34. Research.stepgreen.org Stepgreen@cs.cmu.edu Thanks to the many many students who helped to make Stepgreen real.

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