StepGreen.org: Increasing Energy Saving Behaviors via Social Networks

Decades of research have explored factors that can influence green behavior. However, much less is known about the ways in which technology in general, and social technologies in particular can mediate participation in green activities. In this paper we describe the motivation, design and evaluation of StepGreen.org, a site intended to promote energy-saving behaviors. We present the results of a three week, 32 person field study. We show that participants engaged in about 16 different actions, and reported completing about 100 actions per week. Our results suggest that although the website was liked and used, further design is needed to leverage motivators like public commitment and competition. We conclude by presenting our redesign. Our contribution is to create an understanding of the impact of different decisions on the success of StepGreen.org that can benefit the designers of other multifaceted, online systems for behavior change.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: ICWSM
• Authors: Jennifer Mankoff, Susan R. Fussell, Tawanna Dillahunt, Rachel Glaves, Catherine Grevet, Michael Johnson, Deanna Matthews, H. Scott Matthews, Robert McGuire, Robert Thompson, Aubrey Shick, Leslie D. Setlock
• Keywords: Energy-saving Behaviors, Green Behavior, ICWSM 2010, Internet Technology, Person Field Study