This was quite a fast paced experience. Just to describe the scene…Dr. Fogg told us prior to arriving that his class is usually about 18 people. In addition to our large class sitting in, it was also admissions week so a few prospective students and their parents were also in attendance. It was a packed, standing room only classroom that day. But what really impressed me the most is that neither Dr. Fogg nor his students seemed to be phased by this.
The course we sat in on was a new persuasive technology course on promoting healthy behaviors, and today Dr. Fogg had planned to review results from an in-class survey and discuss what’s working and what’s not. He even admitted it was an interesting topic to cover with so many visitors but that didn’t deter him from the plan. Some issues he acknowledged like the need for more clarity on assignments. But on other issues like the vast sums of reading required, I felt I was back in my own IS360 (Intro to Research Methods) where the answer to similar grumblings was basically “suck it up…this is grad school.”
After the review of survey results it was time to move on to a status report on the class project. The project was to use Facebook to promote some sort of healthy behavior. Dr. Fogg demoed his efforts in which he was creating short videos almost daily on the benefits of sunscreen. The goal was to get people into the habit of applying it everyday…even if it was just face lotion, building the habit was the important success metric. Not everyone’s project was getting the hits expected but Dr. Fogg encouraged those struggling to find out what the successful teams were doing and essentially copy their strategy. I was impressed at how students were willing to go up to the front of the room, without hesitation, and provide an adhoc presentation of where they were on their projects…seemingly not noticing all the extra eyes peering into their regular class time.
Another thing that impressed me about Dr. Fogg and his students was their command of knowledge. Not just of their field but of seminal works and authors in peripheral fields. Behaviorism came up as a topic for deep debate and discussion. Not long after that someone gave a presentation on user experience design and this sparked a completely different debate on the value (or lack thereof) of personas. My takeaway from this experience was no matter how busy you are take time to read things outside of your immediate field. They can add so much to your discussion with peers and to your work even if the impact isn’t obvious at first.
An incredible high-energy experience, and an honor to sit in on Dr. Fogg’s class.
