Life Ladder- A Self help Cross-Platform Project
Life Ladder is a management service that gives the user the advice, motivation and means by which to achieve life goals and dreams. The service, across internet and mobile platforms, empowers the user to achieve a better and more fulfilling life by taking their long term goal(s) and evolving personal information and lifestyle, then constructs a life ladder persona, interactive ladder to climb and assigns the user a mentor to guide and push them to achieve.
Life Ladder is for everyone that wants to change or achieve something in their life but needs a helping hand to guide and manage their journey. More specifically it is suited to technology literate individuals with (preferably with an iPhone or other high end GPS phone), someone with time and a certain degree of flexibility in their life…but most importantly the individual must have the desire and a degree of commitment to achieving.
A personalised internet user face will become the primary port of call for users. Here they can input and update their circumstances, track their progress on their ladder and through their online persona and also receive guidance and advice from their mentor. Users will also be able to connect with and track the progress of other users and gain knowledge and encouragement from their experiences.
An on-the-go mobile application will be a supporting/additional component opening up a multitude of opportunities and advantages. Some features of the ‘App’ would include – One touch logging of ‘micro achievements’, goal reminders and mentor instructions and numerous GPS avenues including….Time/location goals – spend more time at the gym or less time at the office….data sent straight to your profile/ladder… AND… for those wanting to get fit/improve diet, GPS suggests healthier eating establishments near to your location or scenic run near your location…again data is sent to profile and ladder.
One of the most popular goals revolves around living a healthier lifestyle. In this case the main long term goal would be to live healthier, this main goal would then be split into smaller categories and then smaller goals would be set within these.
For example ‘A healthier lifestyle’ might be split into DIET, EXERCISE, WELLBEING…
Lets take DIET and break it down to show how Life Ladder would work.
The user would log their diet for a week, on internet profile or by using ‘one click’ or scan bar code app.
The overall goal for DIET might be then set to consume 500 less calories and eat five fruit or veg a day, achievable in a month.
The user would be set micro-goals by their assigned mentor that relates to their diet. e.g. Eat 2 pieces of fruit this week and two less packets of crisps.
The user would be required to log what they have eaten and this would be translated into calories and then the data would be put into their DIET ladder (one of the ladders within Healthy Lifestyle Ladder)
Mentor would give feedback and progress on their diet, suggest tasty and healthy alternatives and where to buy them from at the cheapest prices, live updates on exceeding calorie allowance and recommend healthy eating establishments close to work/home.
The users DIET ladder would become part of their overall Healthier Lifestyle ladder.
When a user is nearing the achievement of their goals other recommended/related achievements are suggested…e.g Run a marathon? Get a better job? etc etc. This feature would encourage users to take up a further goal and ensure that they are loyal to the service after they have reached their first goal.
Business/Profit Opportunities
The service would operate by offering three levels of subscription to the service.
1.Free – Users have access to ladder, micro-goal setting system and App/GPS interactivity. They are guided through their journey by an automated computerised mentor – User feedback/ rating system chooses the right knowledge/micro-goals/advice for the users specific needs. They also have access to vblogs and guidance from other users with ‘Top Climber’ status, voted for by other users.
*’Top Climber’ users qualify for upgraded subscription free of charge.
2. Basic – £2 per Week – Above features + Users receive mentoring in groups by an individual qualified in the field of their goals. Users are grouped according to goals, level and compatability. Mentor then addresses the group with goals and advice and sub-groups (e.g people under achieving) within the group.
3. Premium – £10 per week – Above features + User receives one on one mentoring from an expert in their field. advice and knowledge that is specific to their personal needs and requirements. Includes video/skype contact. Monthly meet up to discuss progress.
There is also the profit potential of selling back-end data and advertising space.
Motivational apps are quite popular for iPhone. This is a well-thought-through idea. It would be better explained with the use of diagrams that show what we see each step of the way and with a user-journey. If you develop this further, you should create a couple of very different personas and test it our.