Text2Calm: The LOL ProjectResults of Pilot StudyConrad ChanStanford University ‘13

Pilot Details and Design Ask participants to be honest to what they type

“Whenever you type any variant of “lol” or “haha” into any medium (texting, chat, Facebook, etc.), you have to laugh. Whenever you type any variant of , crack a smile.”

Daily reminders and requests for feedback every night

Why? Laughter and smiles- even forced ones- are proven to promote calm and have positive health benefits.

Study Signups10 participants signed up

1 was inactive (did not hear from him at all after his signup)

4 were friends

Study began right away after signups

Initial Reactions (9/10 responded)

“I usually type in what I feel…it wasn’t awkward because I really do have the same emoticons that I type…”

“It made me feel better! Yippee! =]”

“It was a little awkward, but I think I liked it…laughing was even more awkward because it was always afterwards that I remembered and forced myself to laugh. But I think maybe after another day it will get better”

Iterations / Design Updates Initially, sent reminders/requested feedback

through emails Didn’t get much after day 1

Staring from after day 2, switched approach to sending out an email AS WELL AS sending reminder texts Still not 100% response rate, but significant

improvement Easier to glance over an email than a text?

Thoughts During the Week(4/10 responded)

“I’m still not completely used to it but it’s getting more incorporated into my routine”

“…slightly less awkward. It’s still pretty awkward though but I like it!...”

Participants’ Final Thoughts (6/10 responded)

“it’s cool, still doin it”

“…definitely helped me rethink my emotes…def will continue outside of study =)”

“Yeah I like the habit…others should do the same”

“The study was really hard to do (especially if you use smileys sarcastically) but really fun…it’s definitely something I’d like to keep up. It’s easy to forget about though so maybe as a possible change if you ever did this again would be to just remind people more”

Insights and SurprisesForced laughter and smiles can still positively

benefit someone’s mood

People are very willing to stick with a behavior post-study if it’s relatively effortless and makes them feel better- the smallest behavior is what matters

Building routines is all about repeated activity from hot triggers. It helps if the activities are fun.

Even if someone is interested in a study enough to sign-up, this interest may not last for the duration of the study

What Makes Me SmileMany participants are planning to continue this

behavior after the study- long lasting changes

People had a lot of fun

Genuine smiles resulted

Questions?

Contact Me (really!)

Conrad Chan

conradchan@gmail.com

Stanford University ‘13

Computer Science

Twitter: @cchanman