I led the competitor analysis with support from our US mobile experts, user reseach, developed the personas and user-flow through the quit journey. Our strategist was responsible for delivering the quit programme with support from myself and input from the experts at J&J.

Our methods of research and outputs

We had no money for a big ethnographic study and surprisingly there wasn’t much info from the client.

So I went out and spent time with people in places where they were likely to have a cigarette, having honest conversations about their smoking history and what it felt like when they tried many times to quit but relapsed.

I read countless studies and whatever data the client could throw at me.

I relied on both family and friends to interview and survey in the early launch markets (UK, Germany, Greece) to get the information I needed.

We looked at over 70 apps including the client’s own apps and programmes. Most were smoking cessation, however we also looked at other health apps that employed behavioural change methodologies like Weight Watches.

I enlisted our US team to analyse smoking cessation apps from a UX lens. Having been in regular contact with them, they understood the task at hand.

What I wanted to do was to approach these apps from the mindset of a smoker looking to quit. I was focused on the what the quit programme offered and how it would help me quit smoking. The idea was to see if we could use some of the learnings to inform our programme.

A couple of apps were based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), however the majority of the ones we tested weren’t based on any behavioural change methodologies and seemed to focus only on the long term goal.

Personas were based on the psychological and emotional need to quit smoking; why they began smoking; why they continue to smoke; and why they were unsuccessful in previous attempts. These personas were story driven so the client could have a better understanding and create a bond with their user.

As the research evolved, so did the quit programme and change methodologies. We explored 2 more methodologies (amongst others) against our personas and our user research to sit alongside TTM.

We looked at the Habit Loop by Charles Duhigg which details how cues lead to a routine and then reward. A cue is reguarded as the trigger in smokers terms. Some found stressful situations at work as a trigger. The routine would be to head outside for a smoke. The reward was satisfying that craving.

We also referenced Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg which focuses on adding a new tiny habit onto an existing habit until it then becomes easy to maintain and a part of everyday life.

With the backing of the J&J experts, we could tie the Habit Loop into changing how triggers were handled, and Tiny Habits into instigating change by breaking it down in many tiny changes.

The Habit Loop

Tiny Habits

The client was delighted with the full recommendation and the work that had gone into it.

At the time, the device was still going through the clinical trail phase. We had recommended that once it had passed the clinical trial, that the quit program be tested with the device.

This would prove difficult as clinical trials were running a lot longer than anticipated. Then the product hadn’t passed approval which killed the project.

However because they were impressed with the work, they decided to incorporate parts of the quit program to re-invent their UK app. Up until that point they had no intention of touching that app.