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May 09
2011
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Craig just got back from the Mobile Health 2011 Conference at Stanford University where he was a member of the content team that developed the conference program and a chair for one of its opening sessions.
In the lead-off to his panel, Craig talked about the theory that underlies what we know works in mobile. The answer is 'contiguity.' Beginning with Aristotle, and tracing through learning theorists including Pavlov, Guthrie and Skinner, the idea that things that are in close relationship or proximity to each other are most likely to be associated with each other and affect learning is a foundational premise for mobile health. We talk about ubiquity and the 24/7 nature of mobile devices, but the secret sauce is when it provides a platform for introducing contiguity in new ways, whether it be by:
• spanning geographic boundaries by connecting people who ordinarily might not be near each other,
• bending time by making events more contemporaneous or asynchronous as needed,
• bringing new perspectives to situations as we are seeing with augmented reality applications or introducing highly localized ones,
• satisfying immediate needs for information through enhanced mobile search products and web experiences (as Bill Gates has said: Search is a verb),
• allowing people to seek ways of motivating themselves through digital record-keeping and other applications using self-change principles as well as increasing access to social support networks,
• developing co-presence among people whether it is through mobile social networks, digital coaches or connecting in real time with other agents, and
• increasing timely access to information not just through apps, but through better design of information that can be easily accessed and understood through the mobile web.
The research base for what works in mobile health is still in its early phases and there is a need to have some foundational principles for applying mobile technologies to health issues. Contiguity is one of those central ideas and can drive many types of innovation with a high degree of confidence.
For more about the conference, see a more complete report at On Social Marketing and Social Change, and also:
Kevin Clauson - Mobile Health 2011: A Look Back at What Really Worked
Katie Malbon - Lessons, home runs and more from Mobile Health 2011 (Stanford)
Stay tuned for more from socialShift about mobile health. And feel free to contact us with questions and comments.
In the lead-off to his panel, Craig talked about the theory that underlies what we know works in mobile. The answer is 'contiguity.' Beginning with Aristotle, and tracing through learning theorists including Pavlov, Guthrie and Skinner, the idea that things that are in close relationship or proximity to each other are most likely to be associated with each other and affect learning is a foundational premise for mobile health. We talk about ubiquity and the 24/7 nature of mobile devices, but the secret sauce is when it provides a platform for introducing contiguity in new ways, whether it be by:
• spanning geographic boundaries by connecting people who ordinarily might not be near each other,
• bending time by making events more contemporaneous or asynchronous as needed,
• bringing new perspectives to situations as we are seeing with augmented reality applications or introducing highly localized ones,
• satisfying immediate needs for information through enhanced mobile search products and web experiences (as Bill Gates has said: Search is a verb),
• allowing people to seek ways of motivating themselves through digital record-keeping and other applications using self-change principles as well as increasing access to social support networks,
• developing co-presence among people whether it is through mobile social networks, digital coaches or connecting in real time with other agents, and
• increasing timely access to information not just through apps, but through better design of information that can be easily accessed and understood through the mobile web.
The research base for what works in mobile health is still in its early phases and there is a need to have some foundational principles for applying mobile technologies to health issues. Contiguity is one of those central ideas and can drive many types of innovation with a high degree of confidence.
For more about the conference, see a more complete report at On Social Marketing and Social Change, and also:
Kevin Clauson - Mobile Health 2011: A Look Back at What Really Worked
Katie Malbon - Lessons, home runs and more from Mobile Health 2011 (Stanford)
Stay tuned for more from socialShift about mobile health. And feel free to contact us with questions and comments.
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