Participant Information

Project Title
Tuition: a time management application that incorporates real-life motivations

Chief Investigators
Mr Zeqing Lu

What this project is about
20% of the population are self-claimed chronic procrastinators, who avoid important
tasks and look for distractions on purpose. Procrastination has significant negative
impact on peoples career, personal life, and even health. For procrastinators, it is
particularly unlikely for procrastinators to finish side projects because there is nothing
to lose if they missed the deadlines they set themselves. However, getting side
projects done, such as developing a software in free time, learning a new language,
is very often much more important for individuals as they are usually what people are
really interested in and passionate about.

Tuition is intended to help procrastinators finishing side projects by adding to the
projects real-life, social, and monetary incentives through technology. Specifically, it
will (1) have real human supervising projects, (2) Increase potential loss for
procrastinating, (3) give rewards for making progress and finishing on time, (4)
motivate users to make and document progress, and (5) ask for support from friends
and families. This research project will test these features on a mobile/web
application to examine their effectiveness and feasibility. The purpose of this study is
to examine the effectiveness of the system, as well as the individual motivations.

Duration and Location
It is anticipated that this study will continue for approximately a month, completing in
J un 2014. It will take place at the University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus.

The data we are collecting
To do this we need your help as procrastinators who are working on projects.

We will be collecting:
Your activities on the software.
Your views on system as whole, and its individual features.
Information about you including your contact information, and the content of your
projects.

You will also be asked to complete 2-3 15 minute survey and may be invited to
participate in a 30min-1hr interview to obtain your views about the feedback provided
to you.

How we use this data & confidentiality
All information collected from you will be de-identified and/or allocated a code to
enable the alignment of all data collected.

All information that is obtained will be strictly confidential and will only be accessed
by the researchers. Taking part in this study is voluntary and you are free to
withdraw from participating at any time. Feedback regarding the major findings of the
research will be emailed to you on completion of the project.

We will provide you with information once the study has concluded
At the conclusion of the study, the major findings of the research will be compiled in
everyday language and emailed to you.

Risk to you & Benefits to you
There is not much risk to you participating in this study beyond that which exists in
normal daily life. The system is designed to influence your productivity, and this is
expected to be a positive influence.

You may elect to withdraw at any time
The decision to participate in this study is entirely voluntary and you are free to
withdraw your participation in this study at any time, without prejudice or
repercussion. To do this, simply email either:
Researcher J onny Lu (zeqing.lu@uqconnect.edu.au)
Project Supervisor Stephen Viller (viller@itee.uq.edu.au)

stating your name, course details, and request to withdraw. The materials containing
the data you have provided will be deleted from our records.

Ethics clearance
This study has been cleared by one of the human ethics committees of the
University of Queensland in accordance with the National Health and Medical
Research Councils guidelines. You are welcome to discuss your participation in this
study with project staff (phone 0452521104). If you would like to speak to an officer
of the University not involved in this study, you may contact the Ethics Officer on
3365 3924.

Need to know more?
For further information about this study please contact the Researcher:
Zeqing Lu
Master of Interaction Design student
ITEE
The University of Queensland
QLD 4072 Australia
Phone: +61 452521104
Email: zeqing.lu@uqconnect.edu.au

The researcher would like to thank you in anticipation of your willingness to
participate in this study.