Harnessing the Small Victories: Goal Design Strategies for a Mobile Calorie and Weight Loss Tracking Application

Abstract

This research presents a characterization of goal design strategies under the context of mobile health. Estimating a dynamic structural model of calorie consumption with large-scale data from a popular mobile calorie and weight management application, we first confirm that users do indeed receive higher utility from goal achievement (relative to goal failure). With this estimated model, we uncover potential tensions between different objectives (e.g., user utility, goal adherence, weight loss) that the mobile application developer may need to consider when designing the daily goals. In particular, goals that optimize adherence need not align with goals that optimize utility and weight loss.

Keywords: Behavioral Analytics; Customer Development; Gamification and Goal Design; Health and Wellness; Mobile Application; Reference Points