There is a significant gap between intentions and outcomes related to pregnancy; young adults say overwhelmingly that while they don’t want to get pregnant right now, they also are not fully protecting themselves from pregnancy by the careful, consistent use of contraception. This session is about a program designed to address that gap called Bedsider. We’ll talk about why the gap exists and look at established theories of behavior change for ways to approach the problem. We’ll denote a knowledge gap but offer that for most people, intentions are good. Sex is complicated, messy, emotional, and driven by desire. Yet most keep trying to attack the problem with logic. They speak like doctors, appeal to reason, and show pictures of smiling people who look like they’re about to buy a car. This session will detail how to apply design thinking to the problem and re-frame birth control. For most, sex education usually comes at the wrong time, in the wrong context, in the wrong voice. How might a different tone and branding of birth control affect adherence? And how do you test for it in developing a program? We will address those questions in our session. We’ll talk about how Bedsider has to fit in visually and verbally—it can’t look like the health department—and the role that language plays in attacking the excuses to not use birth control. In this session we’ll also address how to design for feedback in an area where “nothing” is the usual reward.
Jenn’s career as a storyteller began at age seven when she penned (well, actually, penciled) her first novel. “Shark!” was a 75-page, double-spaced tour de force—the story of a beach town terrorized by a man-eating Great White. In the riveting, Scooby-Dooesque denouement, readers discover the shark’s true identity. He was simply a movie producer casting for authentic sounding screams.
Friends and relatives urged Jenn’s parents to curb her TV consumption.
Since then, she’s worked as an agency account planner—conducting qualitative consumer research—as well as a copywriter. She’s helped tell the stories of clients like HP, Oregon Chai, Microsoft, Michelin, PeopleSoft, Red Envelope, Snapple, and more. Most recently, Jenn was an Associate Creative Director at MRM Worldwide, the interactive arm of McCann Erickson. Her writing has been recognized by The One Show, Clios, John Caples International Awards, and the Bay Area Addys.
Today, Jenn offers brand strategy, storytelling, and project leadership to an equally diverse group of IDEO clients, including Marriott, Nike, Mattel, ConAgra, Coca-Cola, and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Jenn holds a BA in Women’s Studies (focused on Literature and Anthropology) from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Lawrence has spent his career studying the intersection of technology, media, education, and how it can better people’s lives. Currently, as Director of Digital Media at The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy he is attempting to change behavior through the innovative use of social media, games, video, mobile devices, and the Web. For ten years before that, he used technology as a tool to teach about the history of the Holocaust and to motivate people to act to end contemporary genocide. Whatever the digital intervention, measurement of behavior change and learning is essential. Lawrence oversees the evaluations undertaken to understand whether and how behavior is affected by the interventions.
