Persuasive Tech Group Guide
This guide is for participants assigned to the Persuasive Tech Group. It explains the 28-day budgeting-engagement study. For shared app help, read the General Guide.
Study Assignment: Full Or Control
The Persuasive Tech study has two conditions. When a new participant joins, KakeiBuddy assigns one condition on the server in a concealed, balanced order. In each group of four participants, two are assigned to Persuasive Full and two to Persuasive Control. The assignment is locked after consent and cannot be selected or changed by a participant.
- Persuasive Full includes the shared budgeting app plus optional challenges, progress, rewards, points, badges, streaks, and levels.
- Persuasive Control includes the same shared budgeting app, reflections, study-week review, and neutral reminders, without challenges, rewards, points, badges, streaks, levels, or Budget Coach.
Both conditions complete the same 28-day schedule and common study check-ins. The comparison helps the research team understand whether the optional challenge-and-reward features affect budgeting engagement and motivation.
Your Four Study Weeks
The study lasts 28 days and has four personal seven-day weeks. Your first week begins when your study enrollment is completed, so it may start on any weekday rather than Monday.
On Home, Study Week Overview shows the current week and its exact dates. Use that range for study-related activity rather than the calendar-week labels elsewhere in the app.
You will complete:
- Pre-study forms during setup.
- A midpoint check-in around Day 14.
- A final check-in around Day 28.
The notification list has Study tasks when a check-in is due. You may also receive an optional phone reminder. Opening or dismissing a notification does not complete the task; complete the task in the app.
Review Your Study Week
The Home card may offer Open study-week summary or Review this week. It opens an overview for your exact personal study-week dates.
You can intentionally review an empty week. No transaction is required, and opening the overview alone does not mark it complete. If you choose Mark as reviewed, KakeiBuddy records only that you reviewed the overview. It does not claim that you logged a transaction or changed your budget.
Budgeting does not have to be daily. A study week can include logging or updating a transaction, reviewing your overview, or completing a reflection when useful to you.
Features In Your App
Use the features provided for your assigned condition. In Persuasive Full, challenges, progress, rewards, points, badges, streaks, and levels are optional support tools, not requirements. In Persuasive Control, their absence is expected and does not mean the app is broken.
Do not try to enable unavailable features or change groups. Continue using the shared budgeting tools, study-week review, reflections, and study tasks available to you.
When challenges or rewards are available, use them only if they fit your situation. They should never require you to cut essential spending or set a fixed amount. Cancelling or skipping an optional activity is okay.
Need Help?
Use Profile > Settings > Support > Report an Issue or the KakeiBuddy Tester Bug Report Form. Include your participant code, but do not share passwords, tokens, raw transaction details, or screenshots containing sensitive financial information.