Category Archives: Product (5985)

Problem

I personally suffer from chronic back/neck pain from sitting at a computer for most hours of the day and my problems have increased since going remote due to the Pandemic. My posture has become poorer and it is harder to sit properly for many hours during the day. When I am on video calls with other students, for class, clubs, etc. I notice their posture is not the greatest, usually slouching, and particularly for the students without expensive chairs (I also do not use one).

Solution

The solution should be at the cause of the problem, poor posture, which takes place at your computer. That is why the solution will be accessible from any computer. I am a culprit of downloading apps with the goal of improving my health and productivity but don’t use them because of a lack of motivation and difficulty getting started. The smart tasks must be convenient and realistic otherwise they will become just another notification on our devices. The app is useless and potentially annoying unless the user wants to follow it so Posture will be designed to make it as easy as possible.

Unique Value Proposition

Dynamic smart tasks make it as easy as possible to complete. The tasks will fit around your schedule, can be completed in 15 seconds, and while sitting down. Posture will be designed with psychological principles of motivation and gamification to incentivize users to complete the tasks. The smart tasks will change based on the data collected (did a user complete the task, how many did they complete, etc.). Similarly, how your favorite social media and gaming apps send you notifications to hook you, Posture aims to do the same with productive and hyper-quick tasks

Unfair Advantage

Many solutions require a physical device such as a brace that stretches you or something you stick on your body. Both of these can be costly, cumbersome when getting started, and interfere with clothing. Posture will only require your computer and will be inexpensive or free.

Customer Segments

The target customers are Baruch students. This will increase to all students and then to professionals working from home, and eventually all sedentary workers. I believe many desk workers live overly sedentary lifestyles and as a result, suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain is something many people can relate to and spend a significant amount of money to alleviate.

Existing alternatives

Upright, MacBreakZ, Posture Man Pat, and Apple watch reminders are some of the many existing alternatives. While these may work for some people, (more research is required), I think they can be improved through calendar integrations and utilizing psychological principles of motivation to build lasting habits in an easy way.

Key Metrics

It is important to know if users are actually using the app and for how long. This data will help us improve posture and understand if we are actually making the tasks easier for users to perform and if we are motivating them. The percentage of users who complete the tasks will further help this (users will press a button when completing a task).

High-level Concept

Chrome web-extension or app that integrates with your calendar and at appropriate times, gives you a convenient task to improve posture and alleviate pain. Data analytics are used to customize the app to improve the amount and difficulty of tasks completed.

Channels

Social media is where people are spending their time. If we can communicate how Posture allows you to become more confident, productive, attractive, and pain-free, we can tap into thoughts already spurred up by the content users are viewing through social media. Also, maybe LinkedIn is an appropriate place for ads as people may use it more at their desk during working hours.

User references are also important as if my friend says this helped improve their posture, I will be very motivated to try it. This can also be tied into gamification as the app improves.

Early Adopters

The Baruch undergraduate student population is a great customer segment to test and release as almost all classes are online and have been for the last two semesters. Even while on campus, the library is always packed with tired students hunched over in chairs without a great ergonomic design.

Using this feedback, we can look at other people who spend many hours on a daily basis on a computer such as other college students or even people who work from home.

Assumptions

One assumption that must be true for this idea to succeed is that other young people suffer from chronic pain and are looking to improve it. Maybe other students don’t care about their posture as they never turn on their camera and the pain is only an inconvenience and not a problem.

Another assumption is that Posture can actually reduce chronic pain and improve posture enough in the beginning when the tasks are easy and infrequent enough to encourage users to continue using the app. While the smart tasks may be easy enough, users will stop doing them and using the app if they don’t notice a change.

Finally, are the smart tasks able to help change a user’s habits outside of when they are completing the tasks?

I welcome all feedback!

– Leo

Since the pandemic hit the U.S. in March of 2020, it has become an extremely easy and common place for me to sit at my computer almost all day. Most of my daily activities are tied solely to a computer, including work, school, school organizations, socializing remotely, gaming. As my lifestyle has become more sedentary and I could not go to the gym, I developed poor posture causing pain and discomfort in many places including my neck, shoulders, and back. I’ve tried certain solutions such as stretching in the morning and trying to sit up straight when I notice myself slouching. While the stretching helped, throughout the day my posture would progressively get worse without a reset and I would often not even realize that I am slouching.

The solution is an app or Chrome extension called Posture. Posture sends you smart notifications with specific tasks to improve your posture that take 15 seconds. Posture syncs with your calendar to not disturb you during meetings and works around your schedule. Posture is fully customizable allowing you to change the amount, frequency, and types of tasks, for example stretches that don’t require you to stand up. In the future, there will be breathing exercises and other smart breaks included. When a task appears the user must confirm that they completed it or quit it off and posture will use this information to tailor the tasks to you. Camera-enabled features include analyzing your sitting posture to improve the tasks, monitoring the head position throughout the data, and ergonomically aligning your desk setup. Posture will allow everyday undergrad students who are doing school and much more from home to improve their health, focus, and feel better throughout the day with no more than 15 seconds and without ever leaving your chair.

From my preliminary research, Posture may be a perfect fit for students. Posture does not require a physical device and is inexpensive (free or $.99) unlike many of the solutions which can be at least $100 and only have reminders to fix your posture. Many competitors are not device agnostic and phone-only. Two roadblocks that I anticipate in the future of Posture is that I am not a developer nor am I a health professional. Despite this, I could see myself and others using this product.