Assumption Tests Report

Note: We tweaked our experiment designs slightly after submitting the Intervention Study document, since we realized that our previous weeklong study plans would limit the number of people that we would be able to recruit for the tests. Hence, we’ve summarized each experiment design in the first part of each section.

The response form that was used to collect data for the first two studies can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe8uxlES9ou8ej8xIcc_Rm_DoMeQm–et-U2LIfaAAbs-xw4A/viewform.

Test Name: Mood & Response Tracker

In this test, we attempted to figure out the effect that responding to a text had on someone’s mood. We did this by asking participants to rate their moods before and after responding to a text from someone. We recruited participants from a diverse set of dorm lounges, which helped us make sure that the participants were from different friend groups. This was important because certain friend groups have certain standards for responsiveness, so we needed diversity.

Learning Card

This screenshot from our response form shows the moods that participants had before and after responding to a text. On a general level, it’s clear that participants experienced heightened moods after responding to a text.

Test Name: Avatar Presence Test

In this test, we attempted to figure out whether people are more responsive on messaging platforms that use avatars. To test this, we mocked up two messaging screens, which were identical except for the fact that the first had avatar icons and the second did not. We then presented this to participants, who rated which screen they would be more likely to respond to messages on. We once again recruited participants from different dorm lounges, which helped us make sure that the participants had diverse visual preferences.

Learning Card

This screenshot from our response form shows that all 7 participants preferred Option 1, which is the screen with avatars.

Test Name: Survey of Comfort during Nudges

We tested with five students – all undergraduates. We conducted with random people at coffee shops and mutual connections, they were all based in Stanford. Experiments were conducted in person. They were all young adults aged 20-23 because they align with our target market (busy young adults who want to maintain their social relationships whilst also not compromising on their work). 4 of them had an easy time bumping texts for friends, one out of these bumped a text for a teammate and rated it a 5 on the scale of comfort mentioning that it was easy because it was for work and the deadline was tonight. One of the users mentioned that they did not have any unresponded texts from friends and did not feel comfortable bumping an acquaintance.