Scrunch App

Scrunch Designing an App step by step. A record of the process and learning of creating the Scrunch App for CarbonCulture.

Designed by Fee Schmidt-Soltau

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Scrunch

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Designing an App step by step. A record of the process and learning of creating the Scrunch App for CarbonCulture.

Designed by Fee Schmidt-Soltau

CarbonCulture is a project by More Associates.

It was piloted in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) at the end of 2011 for a duration of 6 months.

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www.carbonculture.net/scrunch

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Scrunch

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Your comfortable evening workspace

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03:27 1,575

home prizes help feedback logout

Scrunch starts at 6:30pm in area 5B Go home on time or come along to Scrunch and we’ll reward you witn points.

You don’t get points for staying at your desk late.

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How to Scrunch Easy Laptop moving Local printer details Energy saving info

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Head home

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Check in

Your September 2011 Scrunches

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Thank a Scruncher

Scrunching with a team Fixed desk?

Tonight’s Scrunchers

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Jeanie Cruickshank is scrunching 2 days 21 hours ago

01 CarbonCulture Team is scrunching 2 days 21 hours ago

Scrunch

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Your comfortable evening workspace 12

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Paul Van Heyningen went home 2 days, 21 hours ago

Ben Basson rated a Scrunch 3 days, 10 hours ago

You made someone happy at Scrunch

Scrunch is a CarbonCulture app which aims to save energy in workplaces through behavioural change. Scrunch is a comfortable evening workspace hosted on one floor of the office building. By encouraging all employees who are working late to move to this one floor all other lights of other floors to be switched off allowing a 16% saving.

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Mike Leonard went home 3 days, 20 hours ago 23 Maya Freedman thanked CarbonCulture Team for a lovely mug of tea 4 days, 6 hours ago

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30 Maya Freedman is scrunching 4 days, 6 hours ago

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Rate your last Scrunch Rating

Rate your Scrunch experience to earn some extra points.

The app can be applied in workplaces with hot desking. The idea for Scrunch derived from a user centred design process with employees at DECC, the Department of Energy and Climate change, through numerous workshops and prototypes and user testing.

Rate

Feedback Give feedback about Scrunch CarbonCulture is a More Associates project

Learn More Learn more about Scrunch

This app is provided by

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The App 1

Familiar ground Top Nav / own overall stats / Home

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What / Where / When Informs about Scrunch and gives

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Scrunch specific information links to useful Scrunch information like local printer details / How to move

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Actions / Choices Go home on time or go to Scrunch

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If Scrunching - Thank a Scruncher attempt to make Scrunch run without hosts, facilitated by Scruncher community themselves.

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Calendar / Personal Progress Helping to evaluate late night working

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Social Proof Who is already there? What have other’s done and how have they earned their rewards/points?

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Rate / Feedback Help improve the experience for all Scrunchers (this is a prototype).

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Dialogue Boxes All choices or extra information had a dialogue box with closing button or a simple form field.

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Outside Scrunch time Sorry but Scrunch check in not open 9

Welcome to Scrunch Confirmation of points and savings Going home Confirmation of points and savings Thanking Simple form with drop down of signed in Scrunchers and confirmation button Extra information Pop up with information and close button Feedback confirmations Thanks and point confirmation

Roll overs Meaning of calendar buttons Pop up with information and close button

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Challenges

Touchpoints First contact Invitation (1) / Announcement / Chat Helpers / Info Informative leaflets / Moving info (2) Bribes (3) Cake / Coffee / Tea / Iced Lemonade/ Evidence of potential savings (4) Recording/ Evidencing App / Social Proof / Register (5) Feedback Stats / Social Proof / Paper feedback (5) Signage & Posters (6) Proposal & promise / Useful information Cafe area (7) Setup / Choice / Information / Scrunch area Ensure comfort and promised lights

Motivating people Some people were easier motivated, for them free-bees like ice cooled home made lemonade, biscuits or brownees were enough. Others were motivated by the potential saving Scrunch could achieve.

Others were simply not up for it and got aggregated trying to involve them into a conversation about what would encourage them or why they are not up for it. A common answer was: they did not want to be working late, so moving would make them even more late.

To tap more into natural motivation, the app could have helped people to work better hours, supporting them in their own aim, and hence be designed for this particular use case. Scrunch your time at work. Do more after work and save carbon by not being in the office after 6:30pm.

Leadership. Don’t count on it and consider who is selected to lead / influence.

Keep to promises Should be a given of course, but promising a comfortable working zone with free coffee and lights on a longer timer is a basic requirement when the propsition/ invitations states as such. Is it truthful?

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Learning Designing inclusively During the research phase we engaged with people who had special needs.

However, the apps or activities were not designed inclusively. During the process there was a lot of PM lialising with unions and interest groups who argued the process was neglecting or disadvantaging certain interest groups.

Testing ideas As Scrunch’s most important element was the experience whilst Scrunching it could have been tested without developing the app, testing whether the group dynamics would work and keeping development to a minimum. A lot of design thoughts and developer time was not used efficiently.

Agile is hard work!

It’s easily said and it makes a lot of sense to keep time spend on a minimum before testing something. However the decision what and what does not need to be interactive and could be simply tested with paper prototypes needs to be considered.

Small concept Designing a beast without a sanity check.

Details for badges which unlock rewards, ratings and messanger feedback system, floor by floor competitions... all was thrown in the bin.

Achievable aims Scrunch would only be effective if taken up by the entire community. Set achievable objectives: Reduce number of late night workers.

No assumptions Don’t assume anything! Scrunch assumed people would be interested enough in their co-colleages to host a Scrunch from time to time for networking reasons. No. Even trying to encourage them to make tea for someone else (someone they barely knew) was too much asked when people were working late and feeling stressed.

Opinions don’t matter Only the ones of users. Whether boss, another team member or a very designy front end developer’s opinion should never count more than the of users.

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Scoping process Don’t ask for too much Don’t stretch first adopters’ good will and not too many new activities in a row.

Engagement activities Postcards / arrows to scope for what matters to employees at DECC to save energy

Test colours and branding What might look slick on the screen may not get any attention when in the space labelling the Scrunch area.

Opportunities Group and narrow the ideas down into opportunity clusters and rephrase for workshop use for ideas generation

Web is different than print design Detailing in Indesign is only allowed if pixel perfection isn’t needed or the front end developer has design sense for spacing etc.

Ideas Workshop Plan / Facilitate brainstorming and detailing ideas.

Ideas come in three when testing When testing, have alternatives prepared to get feedback there and then and understand differences.

Prototyping Try out some ideas and gain feedback Feasibility and sanity check What’s the potential outcome and success based on engagement and actualy savings Feedback workshop / ideas run through Share findings with user groups and get their input.

First details App, service, proposition etc.

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Design process Use Cases / Personas Who and their attitudes (senior / junior) User Scenario / Propositions Story boards and scripts. Proposition detailing and getting feedback Game Aspects / Motivation Working with game designers to detail the game feeling and gamification User flows Useful for flows as reference Wireframes Good way to get structure and copy refined Branding and detail/ copy Mood boards and editing copy Testing Feedback and adjustments Implementation / Iteration Feedback, ideas and notes for iterations

Keep it simple. Sometimes already existing elements are best, the wheel doesn’t need to be reinvented and bright colourful peeps might just simply work and be consistent with the overall brand.