This project aimed to shift a deeply personal user behavior through community support. A framework of celebrations and redesigned inclusive community led to a 28% increase in in-app quit reports and a 10x increase in community interactions.
Company
Pivot
YEAR
2021
DURATION
2.5 months (discovery & design)
ROLE
Product strategy
Product design
Information architecture
Discovery
The goals were to increase in-app quit reports and drive user return for sampling at 30 days post-quit
Pivot, an employer-sponsored app combining coaching with a CO-measuring sensor, aimed to increase in-app quit reports and 30-day post-quit sampling.
This objective directly supported Pivot's revenue goals, as successful sampling ('going green') indicated effective cessation for the employee.
User research showed various triggers for our users, including the app itself
Given the stigma around quitting, expert interviews and academic research were prioritized over direct user interviews.
It's a journey, not a destination
Quitting is a process, but the app heavily focused (80%) on the initial quit, feeling preachy and one-sided.
Triggers are everywhere
Any reminder of tobacco, including the app, could be a trigger, making users hesitant to return post-quit.
Anxiety and social isolation are crippling.
High relapse rates create stigma, hindering users from leveraging support systems. Anxiety and isolation severely challenge sustained quitting.
How can we re-engage users responsibly, considering the app itself might be a trigger?
Internal brainstorming yielded key themes:
Create an inclusive community
Limited post-quit interaction stemmed from a single, undifferentiated feed. Reading about quitting struggles could trigger those who had quit. The antiquated linear feed made tracking posts difficult.
Give users a sense of vested support.
To counter Pivot feeling preachy, we aimed to communicate ongoing support for users both before and after quitting.
Shift Pivot's narrative from a tool for quitting to a partner in staying quit
I created a celebrations framework
Tasteful, not tacky
Aimed for a fun, lighthearted approach appealing to a diverse demographic (20-50, varying socio-economic levels) without being cheesy.
Acknowledge progress
Focused on making users feel that their progress, both pre- and post-quit, was recognized and valued.
Create sampling habits
Aimed to make sensor sampling a regular habit, replacing the hand-to-mouth action of smoking with a progress-validating coping mechanism.
Post Quit celebrations
Upon reporting a quit, users see a progress celebration and are prompted to sample and share in the community. The home screen is re-skinned with a new quit widget to reflect their changed status.
Promoting the sampling habit
A green stamp appears on the celebration after a successful sample, verifying the quit. The stamp fades over six days, encouraging more frequent sampling, reinforced by regular sampling notifications.
Quit celebration prompting user to sample and share to community
Stamp fades over 7 days encouraging repeated sampling
Inclusive community
While the Pivot community offered less stigma than external platforms due to shared experiences, post-quit users found it triggering to read about ongoing struggles. To enhance inclusivity, community posts were filterable via tags, post creation was simplified, and reactions with nested responses were enabled to improve interaction.
Pre Quit celebrations
To demonstrate investment in the entire user journey, personalized celebrations with custom GIFs were triggered by pre-quit milestones, encouraging sharing within the community for positive reinforcement and continued progress.
Post-quit celebrations resulted in a 28% increase in in-app quit reports within a month. Users continued breath sampling up to 180 days post-quit. Community interactions increased tenfold.