Putting our technology to the test out in the world
With our prototypes trialled and tested, it’s now time to send them out into the world to answer the real question: are our ‘home exercise’ devices fit for purpose?
Building Our Technology
This stage represents a significant turning point from development to deployment. Up to this point, the work has been dedicated to understanding the elements that must go into building technologies for exercise snacking. Our earliest workshops explored the background of behavioural formation and how we might be considerate of the needs of different users in promoting active behaviours. Our following workshops looked at how to design technology to promote active behaviours, both through the specific components chosen and their implementation alongside existing habits and lives. We conducted literature surveys looking at co-design for the home environment and the development of technology for behaviour change. Once our prototypes began to take shape, our usability testing focused on the ability to derive active behaviour support from the devices, from turning on the system to meeting the presented goals (see Cam 2). All this work shares one common theme – it is lab-based, and therefore conceptual.
Our next step is therefore the transition from the lab to the home, examining how our theory-based technology operates when placed out into the world. This work is being approached through two studies. The first aims to evaluate an element of the technology, and to inform the next study in terms of any last minute changes required for the technology to function optimally. The final study will then evaluate the technology in its ability to support and sustain exercise snacking behaviours.
Home Deployment & Feasibility
The first study is a home feasibility study. We’re going to deploying our technology into homes in the short-term with the main intention of making sure they work. This may sound like an oversimplification, but it is in essence the main question of this study – in the short-term, are our participants able to use the technology on a daily basis to promote exercise, and are there any issues that arise when this technology is expected to operate continuously?
This study is currently in progress. It is being conducted as asynchronous one-week trials where technology is deployed, used, and then collected by the research team. The participant is provided with the technology (with slightly varied components, two versions of the core unit and two types of NFC game tokens are provided to note any preferences) and a product manual outlining how to use the devices and how to complete the exercises, and left to their own devices for a week to install the technology, use it daily and attempt to develop a habit.
This study should end in April 2026 and we will update this section when it’s done.
Profi Defnyddioldeb ac Ailadrodd
Following on from the feasibility study, the final key element of the project and the development of the Toolkit is the main evaluation of our developed prototypes. Whereas the feasibility study is mainly focused on issues arising when the system is expected to operate within the home environment, the main evaluation will focus on the ability of the technology to establish and support the exercise snacking habit. The study will run over several months, giving time for habits to form – or fail, should the user lose interest – as this will also be a good insight for our Toolkit.
This study will primarily focus on the behavioural impact of the technology and how well it served to promote and support the behaviours in the long term. We will focus on engagement with the exercises, habit formation and overall engagement with the devices over the months it is deployed. This, combined with the feasibility insights on home operation, will help us understand the full picture of how well our prototypes support exercise snacking behaviours in the home. The home study will also be a source of success and failure case studies which we plan to publish on the website.
The final evaluation study is scheduled for Summer 2026.
