Stoppen met roken

Running one-on-one behavioral experiments with a smoker to find an equally relaxing alternative to the cigarette.

UX Research
2023

Design challenge

How can I help the smoker relax by doing something other than lighting a cigarette, by making him think consciously about what he does and helping him find an equally relaxing activity that distracts him enough?

The project in motion

1UX Research

Research question

I worked one-on-one with a smoker. Instead of a general question, I chose a sharp behaviour statement: not "quit smoking", but finding a way to relax other than a cigarette.

2UX Research

Choose a method

I chose a series of behavioral experiments, each based on a different behavior principle. That way I could see per experiment what did and did not work for this person.

3UX Research

Conduct research

For twenty days we tracked the number of cigarettes per day and the mood. The first days had no goal, as a baseline. After that we set a goal every day.

Bar chart of the number of cigarettes per day from 6 to 25 June 2023, with an emoji for the mood of each day. Blue is no goal, green is goal met, red is goal not met. — Cigarettes per day, with the mood of that day.

4UX Research

Analysis and insights

The data showed that the goal was met more and more often towards the end, and that peaks coincided with stressful days. Even more important: I got to know the smoker's motives and intrinsic motivation.

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Advice and handover

Based on the insights, I advised which relaxing activities could truly replace the cigarette for this person, and which principles worked best.

Result