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June 03, 2006
"MetroNerd" - a mobile phone app to make nerds cooler
Can a mobile phone application motivate people to be less geeky? Three Finnish students think so. They outlined the concept during a course I taught on mobile persuasion at the University of Oulu.
motivates... 
In eleven slides engineering students Teppo Raisanen, Saana Orjala, and Samuli Ruti describe how MetroNerd can help the "typical male nerd" to "be more popular with the ladies." Specifically, MetroNerd is a mobile quiz game intended to improve the appearance, behavior, and sex appeal of nerds (sign me up!). In theory, the app would motivate users with a vision of greater social acceptance [see storyboard]. As people play the game, they rehearse behaviors and receive instant rewards for hip choices.
The MetroNerd design trio won an award. To motivate the (often shy) Finnish students to take risks, I offered the class a prize for the wackiest project. After the presentations were done and the student votes were counted, MetroNerd came out on top. Their award for wackiness? Three big Snickers bars.
-- BJ Fogg
Posted by BJ Fogg at June 3, 2006 08:27 AM
Comments
Could it be possible nothing could make that guy cooler? Sounds like a brain age program to be 'cool'.
Posted by: Brandon at October 10, 2007 10:25 PM