5 Words: Solving Procrastination

with Group SMS

Andrew MartinStanford ‘13

T | @amartinsu13

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

Using only this..

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

I got..[93%] of students to send me a text

about their lecture

&

[73%] of students to vote on their favorite classmate’s text from class

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

But why?

Well, students are generally good at taking notes during lectures..But then we don’t look at the notes until weeks/months later to do homework or cram for the exam!

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

Students create their own stress by cramming for exams, rather than internalizing the material over the quarter.

The Problem:

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

The 5 Words Solution

I want to get students to review their lecture notes [THREE] times on the day of class:

First | Right after lecture

Second | In the late afternoon

Third | At night

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

How can you possibly get college students to review a lecture 3 times?!? Aren’t they always in a rush? (And isn’t that the original problem?)It’s easy! Just follow 3 tenets of behavior design…

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

1) Keep it simple, stupid

People are lazy.If you want them to do something time consuming OR

mentally draining ORphysically straining

THEY WONT DO IT

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

2) Make it social

Humans are social creatures.

If you get them doing something their friends are doing, they will be more likely to continue doing it.

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

3) Make it fun

If people aren’t enjoying it, they won’t do it.

Use game mechanics: make it a competition

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

5 Words:

3 Stepsto get college students to review lecture 3 times a day

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

Immediately after class, you’re asked to come up with an interesting insight you learned and to text it to me in 5 words.

Step 1

Why does this work?

It is a well-timed hot trigger!

You are texted when you are most able to respond.

It is simple!Who doesn’t have

time to text 5 words?

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

In the late afternoon, you get a text with your classmate’s 5 words, and are asked to vote on the best insight.

Step 2

Why does this work?

It is social!You get to read all of

your classmate’s responses

It is simple!All you have to do is

read the text, and respond with a #. Who can’t do that?

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

At night, you find out what classmate got the most votes.

Step 3

Why does this work?

It is fun!You compete with

your friends for the best insight of the day

It is simple!Who doesn’t have

time to read a text?

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

The Results?!?

In my pilot, I had [14] participants for 5 days:

12 students1 Professor1 TA

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

Voted

5 Words

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

[93%]24 of 26

[73%]19 of 26

Response Rates

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

Professor: “As a teacher I like the feedback [from seeing the student’s takeaways from class]”

Student (“The Good”): “Yeah I ended up thinking about lecture 3 times because of it”

Student (“The Bad”): “It might have helped me retain information more if you asked for a one sentence summary instead of an insight”

Feedback

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

1) Keep it simple for the user throughout all steps of your intervention.

2) Let your users see other user’s progress. Have them vote on the best user.

3) Make it fun. Make it a competition.

Your Takeaways for Texting Interventions

Feedback?

Andrew Martin – Stanford ‘13

Contact me (really)!

T | @amartinsu13E | amartin6@stanford.edu