About

The Perfecto Project builds on previous work done by researchers at the Stanford HCI Lab on WhoIsZuki, a fitness tracking app which tells the story of Zuki, a cute purple alien, as users meet their weekly fitness goals. The Zuki team, led by Dr. James Landay and Dr. Elizabeth L. Murnane, was able to show proof of concept that integrating easily glanceable visual narratives with a fitness app can increase users' motivation to meet goals. The Perfecto Project was born out of research insights from the Zuki pilot study which indicated that narrative feedback could be especially salient for groups with a strong oral tradition.

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What are potential impacts of Perfecto? 

Physical activity is essential to prevent and manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and cancer, which are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the US and abroad. Nevertheless, the majority of adults in the US do not engage in sufficient physical activity. This is particularly true for specific subgroups such as US Latinos, who are the largest ethnic minority in the country and report some of the lowest levels of physical activity engagement. While technologies such as mobile apps have been broadly adopted to help encourage physical activity, many rely on complex monitoring approaches that can actually result in discouragement. Perfecto provides an alternative: harnessing the power of technology and culturally-relevant visual narratives to promote curiosity, engagement, and reflection, Perfecto aims to encourage US Latinos to stay active.