Down Your Drink (www.downyourdrink.org.uk) is a website dedicated to assisting people with excess drinking to cut down their alcohol intake. It offers information as well as application tools.
home page of Down Your Drink
sample content page
e-tool: alcohol unit counter
User/Usability research findings
Make parts of the content available to public users without accounts, as complete non-access for first-time visitors has been shown to discourage further usage of website.
Peer support is a strong factor in the success of long term behavior change. The integration of peer support should be welcomed but implemented with realistic expectations that focus on giving user emotional support.
Most users perceive their drink reduction effort as an on-going struggle of relapses. The current interface does not reflect this model. It might be useful to consider restructuring the information to resemble a cycle-based structure with emphasis on staying on track rather than a linear path comprised of steps.
The main limitation of the existing website is its lack of immediate support at potential drinking scenes. Users are most concerned with making the right decisions at the right moments. User’s mind is pre-occupied by the scene at the moment and does not think about harms that have no immediate effect, not to mention that target users are already accustomed to drinking in the first place, which makes refusal even difficult. Being able to refuse drinking at the scene is the front gate that has to be guarded before any other effort becomes useful.
A mobile component that keeps track of users drinking records and based on which can instantly calculate the remaining drinking allowance for the week is much desired as a solution. The mobile unit may present this allowance in alcohol units not just for the ease of understanding, but also to make friendly suggestion to the user what type and how much of a given drink can be consumed within a healthy limit. The user has a more realistic reference of self-restrain, and can make better judgments at the given moment accordingly.
A mobile app to offer immediate support to users when drinking opportunity arises.
On-Board and Home
Scenario A: Joanne downloaded Drink Pal at home and immediately wants to log the beer she just had
simple drinking
Scenario B: Joanne arrives at a new bar she really likes with friends and wants to start drinking
create drink spot using camera to capture menu content
Scenario C: Joanne visits the same bar again later that week and as she enters the venue, her phone sends a notification.
arrives at drink spot and accepts drink suggestion
Scenario D: If Joanne had chosen to select her own drink
arrives at drink spot but chooses to select own drink
Scenario E: Joanne has exceeded her drinking limit for the week. A message is sent to her drinking guardian to seek human support on her behalf.
A text message is sent to drinking guardian when user enters drinking spots while drinking limit has been reached.
