Incorporating Prototyping and Iteration Into Intervention Development: A Case Study of a Dining Hall–Based Intervention

Abstract

Background: Previous research from the fields of computer science and engineering highlight the importance of an iterative design process (IDP) to create more creative and effective solutions. Objective: This study describes IDP as a new method for developing health behavior interventions and evaluates the effectiveness of a dining hall–based intervention developed using IDP on college students’ eating behavior and values. Participants: participants were 458 students (52.6% female, age = 19.6 ± 1.5 years [M ± SD]). Methods: The intervention was developed via an IDP parallel process. A cluster-randomized controlled study compared differences in eating behavior among students in 4 university dining halls (2 intervention, 2 control). Results: The final intervention was a multicomponent, point-of-selection marketing campaign. Students in the intervention dining halls consumed significantly less junk food and high-fat meat and increased their perceived importance of eating a healthful diet relative to the control group. Conclusion: IDP may be valuable for the development of behavior change interventions.

Keywords:

• college students
• healthy eating
• intervention development
• iterative design process

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Hasso Platner Institute of Design at Stanford University professors Debra Dunn and Nitzan Waisberg, Matt Rothe from Stanford Dining, and Bryant Cabrera. The authors are grateful to the study participants for their involvement. This work was supported by Stanford Dining. Dr McClain was supported by Public Health Service Training Grant 5 T32 HL 007034 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.