We were all designated areas of research, the area I was given was "Self - Help".
Our app intends to help people getting over an addiction to social media websites, by I intend to look at overall self help, in order to find strategies of boosting confidence and motivation.
The Habit Factor - Price: Free
BreakkUp - Price: Free
I like the idea of this app, and I feel that if the design was better, with more sophisticated navigation, it could be a lot more popular.
iStress - Price: $0.99
This app uses the options of jokes , quotes and poetry to uplift your feelings. It also has a "reframe" section, where you can post your negative thoughts, and reflect them
into something positive.
Gratitude Journal - Price: Yet To Be Released
This app is not so much self help, but it makes you grateful of what you have/ have had. It works in a way that you write down each day five things that you are grateful for, with the addition of adding photos. When reminiscing, you can see the positives of certain days, and be thankful for what you have.
DBT - Self Help - Price: $8.99
The most professional and most expensive app I have looked at. The app is aimed at people with impulsive and overwhelming personalities (such as my own!). It aims to break down the behaviours through rationale. It also, supposingly, is meant to work well in conjunction with psychotherapy. This app seems to be the most extreme, and also the most serious.
Self Help App - Price: $0.99
This app is directly at people who are interested in literature. I includes extracts from famous novels, with the option of "plus" app, which is more expensive, and holds more novels in it's library.
I like the concept behind this, however, I feel that it has a very limited audience. Also, I struggle to read a mass of body text on a phone screen, so the app would probably only work on a tablet.
Lift - Price: Free
This is my favourite app of all the self help apps I have looked at, and is also the most successful.
The app works in the same way as Facebook, and other social media. You can set your habits, and others can "like" the activity. If you achieve something positive, you are given the opportunity to "check in", meaning you can show off your accomplishment. You can also see how many others are participating in the same activity as you, which may help you spur on.
I love the simple colour scheme the app has. It only uses 4 colours (apart from profile photos), which means it would even fit this brief.
The Danger of Facebook Addiction----------------------
A report on Facebook:
A report on Facebook:
Summary:
- Facebook distracts you from socialising, as well as healthier hobbies, such as sport.
- Facebook is so easy to log into and check, that avoiding an addiction / breaking the habit could be extremely difficult.
- Younger generations see interacting on Facebook as the same as "using the telephone". Going on Facebook for hours a day is seen as the norm.
- This video was uploaded over 3 years ago, before social media could be accessed via mobile phone. The problem is much worse now.
Other Professional Opinions From Psychologists
Infographics on Facebook / Social Media Addiction:
How to Stop a Facebook Addiction----------------------
I looked up strategies of how to stop a Facebook addiction, and this is what I found:
Bird Logo Research----------------------------
In order to come up with an understandable and friendly logo, I researched into logos that contained birds, and in particular, owls. I chose to look at a variety of styles, as we were yet to decide how we wanted to come across at this stage. However, I seemed to favour much more innocent and happy looking owl logos, as oppose to sharp and almost "strict" looking owls.
Stickers-------------------------------------------
Despite my area of design within the project not being stickers, I chose to look at different stickers anyway for design influence.
- Facebook distracts you from socialising, as well as healthier hobbies, such as sport.
- Facebook is so easy to log into and check, that avoiding an addiction / breaking the habit could be extremely difficult.
- Younger generations see interacting on Facebook as the same as "using the telephone". Going on Facebook for hours a day is seen as the norm.
- This video was uploaded over 3 years ago, before social media could be accessed via mobile phone. The problem is much worse now.
------------------------------------
Other Professional Opinions From Psychologists
- 'Facebook users
tend to be more extraverted and narcissistic compared to non-users'. Ryan et al.
(2011).
- 'The number of
Facebook friends potentially hinders academic adjustment, and spending a lot of
time on Facebook is related to low self-esteem'.
- Kalpidou et al. (2011).
- 'The more frequently
people go on Facebook and update their status the lower their self-esteem.
' - Schwatrz et
al. (2010).
- 'Increased
Facebook use significantly predicts Facebook-related jealousy'.
- Muise et al.
(2009).
------------------------------------
Infographics on Facebook / Social Media Addiction:
How to Stop a Facebook Addiction----------------------
I looked up strategies of how to stop a Facebook addiction, and this is what I found:
Track your usage. Keep tabs of what you actually do on
Facebook. After every session, ask yourself, "What did I just accomplish
by checking Facebook?" Odds are, you're probably just logging in to for mindless tasks you do to waste time — even
if you logged in for a set purpose, like accepting a friend request.
Define your Facebook goals. Why did you originally sign up? So you
could remember friends' birthdays? Find and keep old friends? Meet people
with similar interests? Whatever your goals may be on Facebook, make sure that
you devote your time there to accomplishing those goals
instead of going off-track with activities that get you nowhere.
Follow a Facebook schedule. For each Facebook goal, write down how
much time and at what frequency you'll need to be on Facebook to achieve that
goal. Then, write down the total number of hours per week that you should be
spending on Facebook.
Focus on the other activities you're
ignoring. If you find
yourself spending, say, 10 hours a week on Facebook, make a list of all the
other things you could accomplish in that time eg. Reading a book, going to the
gym, or anything else just productive.
Block the time you spend on Facebook. There are websites such as “Cold Turkey”
which can limit this.
Leave Facebook. If you've created a schedule but can’t
stick to it, or if you've decided that any time spent on Facebook is wasted, you
may need to quit the bluntest of ways. This is a last resort and is easier said than
done.
Find alternatives to using Facebook. If you've gotten into the habit of using
Facebook messages instead of email, update your email address book. A lot of
people get addicted to Facebook because they check it when there's nothing else
to do, like in between classes or during a lunch break. There are plenty other
websites that one can use when bored that will educate you more than Facebook
does.
Bird Logo Research----------------------------
In order to come up with an understandable and friendly logo, I researched into logos that contained birds, and in particular, owls. I chose to look at a variety of styles, as we were yet to decide how we wanted to come across at this stage. However, I seemed to favour much more innocent and happy looking owl logos, as oppose to sharp and almost "strict" looking owls.
Stickers-------------------------------------------
Despite my area of design within the project not being stickers, I chose to look at different stickers anyway for design influence.
