Information for Students
The Project Brief
Instructions for Developing the Brief
Project Briefs should contain the following information.
Demographics: age, gender, economic status, education, level of tech savviness or mobile app use, any accessibility issues, etc.
Current behaviors: including how they spend their day
Context: the context in which you envision they will use the application
Motivations: attitudes or emotions surrounding the described context
Additional Guidance for Brief Developers
Project Briefs should focus on the behaviors you want to motivate. That is, while theory has driven the intervention you are attempting to implement, your brief should stress the outcomes you want and not focus heavily on the theory behind the intervention.
THE PITCH
Student teams will be allotted a specific amount of time to present their idea and prototype. Teams will not be allowed to continue after allotted time has expired. Students retain all rights to the materials created as well as the materials and ideas presented at the Penn State mHealth Challenge.
By participating in the Penn State mHealth Challenge, students give the event organizers the right to post videos, pictures, and details related to their participation in the event.
Instructions for Developing Your Pitch
Teams participating in this year’s Challenge will first compete in a semi-final pitch night where they will present their ideas to a panel of industry judges. That evening 5-6 teams will be selected to continue on to the mHealth Challenge finals.
Below are some tips for pitching. Note that this is an IDEA pitch, not a business plan pitch. Therefore, you should focus on the execution of the idea in relation to the specific audience health need. You are not expected to discuss financials or provide sales projections. You do, however, need to show a clear connection to your users and build a case that your solution has the potential to successful address the health need.
Semi-Final Pitches: At the semi-finals, you will have 4 minutes to pitch your idea.
Final Pitches: For finals, you will have 5 minutes to make your case. This will be followed by approximately 5 minutes of Q&A with the judges.
What your pitches should cover
Specifically, your pitches should include information on the following:
Some things to keep in mind:
Project Briefs should contain the following information.
- Team member names and emails Include first and last name and email addresses for each team member
- Project Title
- Overview of health issue to be addressed
- Description of target audience
Demographics: age, gender, economic status, education, level of tech savviness or mobile app use, any accessibility issues, etc.
Current behaviors: including how they spend their day
Context: the context in which you envision they will use the application
Motivations: attitudes or emotions surrounding the described context
- Description of the behavior you are attempting to encourage or discourage
- Offer information on any other related applications that may exist
Additional Guidance for Brief Developers
Project Briefs should focus on the behaviors you want to motivate. That is, while theory has driven the intervention you are attempting to implement, your brief should stress the outcomes you want and not focus heavily on the theory behind the intervention.
THE PITCH
Student teams will be allotted a specific amount of time to present their idea and prototype. Teams will not be allowed to continue after allotted time has expired. Students retain all rights to the materials created as well as the materials and ideas presented at the Penn State mHealth Challenge.
By participating in the Penn State mHealth Challenge, students give the event organizers the right to post videos, pictures, and details related to their participation in the event.
Instructions for Developing Your Pitch
Teams participating in this year’s Challenge will first compete in a semi-final pitch night where they will present their ideas to a panel of industry judges. That evening 5-6 teams will be selected to continue on to the mHealth Challenge finals.
Below are some tips for pitching. Note that this is an IDEA pitch, not a business plan pitch. Therefore, you should focus on the execution of the idea in relation to the specific audience health need. You are not expected to discuss financials or provide sales projections. You do, however, need to show a clear connection to your users and build a case that your solution has the potential to successful address the health need.
Semi-Final Pitches: At the semi-finals, you will have 4 minutes to pitch your idea.
Final Pitches: For finals, you will have 5 minutes to make your case. This will be followed by approximately 5 minutes of Q&A with the judges.
What your pitches should cover
Specifically, your pitches should include information on the following:
- Statement of problem or need to be addressed
- Overview of intended audience/consumer
- Behavior you want to change; desired outcomes
- How your solution will solve the problem or address the need (i.e., your prototype)
- What you did to verify your solution (e.g., feedback from real users, discussion with experts)
- A preliminary assessment of what would be needed to take the app forward to implementation
Some things to keep in mind:
- Dress for success. Business attire is expected.
- Do not read from the PPT or note cards. It is fine to have some notes to help guide the flow of information, but you should avoid reading text.
- For the PPT, keep text to a minimum (5-10 words per screen). Add images to create visual interest.
- Use a large font (40+ font size).
- Keep slides to no more than 8--basically, one for each content area with a few more to show your prototype.
- Keep theory limited to key concepts that drive the design of your prototype.
- Address the judges directly.
- Smile.
- Enjoy the experience.