Eco-visualisation as an effective design tool for increasing
awareness regarding the environmental impact of
electricity consumption: a user study
Rina Vaendel
10535837
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE
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ASTER
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NFORMATION
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TUDIES
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ULTIMEDIA
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ACULTY OF
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NIVERSITY OF
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MSTERDAM
July 4th, 2017
1st Supervisor 2nd Supervisor
Eco-visualisation as an effective design tool for increasing
regarding the environmental impact of electricity
consumption: a user study
Rina Vaendel
MSc Human Centered Multimedia University of Amsterdam
rinavaendel@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of eco-visualisations over time in regards to changing behaviour towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Eco-visualisations have been tested and proven to be successful in creating awareness regarding environmental impact, but, to date, no further research with eco-visualisation as applications tested in households over time is known. Therefore the following research question will be answered in this thesis: do eco-visualisations of a habitat, based on electricity consumption, trigger behavioural changes towards a sustainable lifestyle over a month? First, a qualitative interview is conducted to set a baseline regarding the level of awareness and sustainable behaviour. Second, a field study is conducted where participants test visualisations over a month to validate if the eco-visualisations create awareness, and trigger behavioural change. The third empirical part of this study is another qualitative interview, to see if a more sustainable lifestyle is achieved, and to evaluate the visualisation design. In conclusion: the eco-visualisation scenes instigated awareness regarding electricity consumption. The state of both the habitat and animals used in the eco-visualisations triggered participants to try to minimize their environmental impact.
Keywords
Eco-visualisation; human-computer interaction (HCI); persuasive design; sustainable lifestyle
1. INTRODUCTION
The planet’s resources are finite, and by using them linearly, these resources will run out, leaving the Earth’s ecosystem broken, potentially beyond recovery (Field, 2014). To change this, linear processes should be replaced by circular processes. The philosophy of maintaining the diversity of life and resources on Earth is described as sustainability (Holmes, 2007). Governments, businesses, and people could all work together in order to create sustainable economies. An example of this is the Paris Climate Summit, which is a collaboration between 55 countries, where countries set their own goals to achieve the collaborative goal to reduce CO2 emissions to 0 before 2050 (Sterl, 2016). The Dutch government has set their first threshold on a national mean decrease of 3,5% energy consumption (gas and electricity) by 2020. One of the pillars used to help achieve this goal is the replacement of all analogue energy meters with digital ones, based on the assumption that digital energy meters motivate users to reduce their electricity consumption. Although 25% of all the analogue meters have been replaced with digital ones, recent statistics show that the energy consumption of users with a digital meter dropped 1%,
being less effective than calculated, which has led the government to rethink this € 3.3 billion project (Vringer, 2016).
This means a different approach has to be chosen to motivate people to decrease their electricity consumption. One way is to make people aware of the environmental impact of their energy consumption, since this is not common knowledge for the general population, considering energy consumption is an intrinsic component of everyday life (Brounen, 2013). A visual representation based on a person’s energy consumption could be a way to create awareness about its impact on the environment, which makes it the first step to persuade people into behavioural changes towards a more sustainable lifestyle. In this context, a “sustainable lifestyle” entails a person’s reduction of their carbon footprint by altering the consumption and use of resources, such as energy consumption, diet, or transportation (Winter, 2007; Ainoa, 2009). An at-a-glance eco-visualisation, which is a data-driven visualisation of the environment or nature, could therefore be a solution (Gandomani, 2013).
Hereafter, theoretical notions of the current market gap in the Netherlands regarding energy managers are explained, followed by a brief introduction about behaviour change, and an explanation regarding eco-visualisations. The goal of this study is to test the effectiveness of eco-visualisations in relation to behavioural changes toward a more sustainable lifestyle of users over time, in their homes. In order to do so, different forms of eco-visualisations will be tested amongst a variety of households over a period of 30 days. The value of this research therefore is to gain new insight into the effectiveness of eco-visualisations in households, particularly if this tool could change behaviour over time. When proven successful, the tested form of eco-visualisation can be used to create an in-home display (IHD) that can be installed at a visible place in people’s homes, creating business value as well.
2. RELATED WORK
This research explores how energy saving technology can help decrease CO2 emissions in the Netherlands, since this is where the research takes place. Therefore, in section 2.1, the current applications of energy saving technology in the Netherlands are explained, and why these are not as successful as initially predicted. In order to decrease energy consumption, people ought to change their behaviour. Different frameworks for changing behaviour are researched, and explained in section 2.2. Two of the key aspects in being able to change behaviour is perceptualisation and awareness, therefore eco-visualisations could work as persuasive design to raise awareness regarding energy consumption, enabling behavioural changes, explained in section 2.3. Based on the literature review, in section 2.4, the research question and sub questions are described.
2.1 Electricity consumption in the
Netherlands
Although digital energy meters are placed in households, users are not able to see their electricity consumption directly because the Dutch government explicitly chose to not include IHDs with digital energy meters. This was done in order to give Independent Service Providers (ISP), such as Google1, and Samsung2, the opportunity to
innovate and market their displays as an extension to the digital meter (Vringer, 2016; Meijer, 2016). Although this gap was intended to be filled by ISPs, large energy corporations, such as Eneco, are using this market gap to launch their own products (e.g. Toon3; a smart meter with an IHD (Meijer, 2016)), increasing the
difficulty for ISPs to market their innovations. Eneco markets Toon at a high price; €275,-, which non-customers have to pay completely, or buy it with a discount price of €199,- as part of a 1 year energy contract, pay €99,- as part of a 3 year energy contract, or get it for ‘free’ when signing a 4 year energy contract. This is quite expensive for people if they are not yet motivated to decrease their energy consumption.
The motivation for Eneco to install Toon in every household can be questioned, since Eneco is a company selling energy, and gaining profit by doing so, it is not likely Eneco has the incentive to decrease people's energy consumption. This is the reason why it is important that ISPs are dominant in filling this market gap - they gain profit by selling the product itself, and do not lose profit if users decrease their energy consumption.
Van Elburg states that ISP Innovators created 40 energy manager applications, that convert data from the smart meter about the user’s electricity consumption, to a visualisation, displaying it on personal computers or handheld devices. However, the Dutch consumers market is not broadly adopting these applications (Elburg, 2014). The reasons for this are, first, they are perceived as intrusive in everyday lifestyles, for example the pop-ups on mobile applications, or the extensive user interaction necessary to see the electricity consumption on desktop applications. Second, the data is visualised as graphs, which is not a logical visualisation of energy consumption since it is dependent on the values of its axis (e.g. energy usage over time). The exclusion of a representation of the environmental impact makes it harder for users to perceptualize (Constanza, 2012). This perceptualisation is a key aspect to persuade people into choosing sustainable options during the decision making process (Constanza, 2012).
Thus, current available technologies are marketed with wrong incentives, or are too analytical and intrusive. In all cases, users are not likely to become aware of their electricity consumption, nor can they perceptualize its environmental impact, and therefore will not be motivated to change behaviour to live a sustainable lifestyle.
2.2 Behavioural changes
Behavioural change is a topic widely researched, with various models, such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1986), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Fishbein, 1979), and later TRA’s extension; Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Venkatesh, 2000). These can be classified as conceptual frameworks, describing the basis (constructs) for behavioural theory, and how these constructs are connected (Hekler, 2013). Although both the topics of behaviour and technology are covered
1 https://nest.com/nl/
2 https://www.smartthings.com/ 3 https://www.eneco.nl/toon-thermostaat/
in these theories, they disregard a key aspect; namely the process to persuade people through technology to change their behaviour. The goal of this study is to make participants aware of their environmental impact, thereby persuade them to change behaviour towards a sustainable lifestyle. One example of a model focussing on the process of behavioural change is the transtheoretical model, which is used as an organizing framework for persuasive eco-feedback design (He, 2010). Although the focus lies more on different stages of behavioural change, instead of one single event, the transtheoretical model only uses the concept of motivation; giving people a reason to change behaviour4. Whereas with this
eco-visualisation design, besides motivation, persuasion (convince someone of something5; in this case convince participants that the
impact they have on climate change is a reason to live more sustainable) is a key aspect as well. Other research intersecting the topics of HCI and behaviour is Fogg’s behaviour change model (Fogg, 2009). This model gives insight into the process of behaviour change through persuasive design using three main components: motivation, ability, and triggers. Because of these specific topics used in this model, and its focus on persuasive design, this can be considered a good fit as a behaviour model to achieve the goal of this study.
Fogg states that in order to change behaviour, the user needs to be motivated to change certain behaviour, and the user must have the ability to actually change the behaviour. When those two components are met, all the user needs is a trigger which instigates the actual behaviour change. An overarching invisible component is that the desired change to behaviour should be small. By changing behaviour, ‘success momentum’ is created; which means that users feel successful, increasing their motivation intrinsically, therefore enable them to change behaviour that was harder to change before. However, before this success momentum is reached, ‘baby steps’ have to be taken. (Fogg, 2009)
Thus, in order to change people's behaviour, (i.e. reduce their electricity consumption) an IHD with the capability to persuade people to become more aware of their environmental impact, they need to be motivated to change their behaviour over time, by triggering them to take small measures (baby steps) towards a sustainable lifestyle.
2.3 Eco-visualisation as persuasive design
To become aware, people have to be able to see (perceptualize) their environmental impact. Perceptualisation can be a difficult process, where cognitive and psychological processes can create barriers, making it difficult for a person to understand the underlying cause, or to see the relevance of taking sustainability measures (Moser, 2006). Visual stimuli, such as videos, images, and animations, tend to be effective in clarifying perceptions, breaking through the internal barriers more easily than other forms of stimuli (Gibson, 1950). When these psychological barriers have been broken down, people will become aware of new perceptions. This awareness entails consciousness about the impact that the participant’s electricity consumption has on the environment, giving the participant the ability to consciously make decisions about reducing their environmental impact (Duval, 1972). An approach which combines the concepts of technology and sustainability is the interdisciplinary topic of eco-visualisation. Holmes states that it “offers a novel approach to display thereal-4 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/motivation 5 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/persuade
time consumption statistics of key environmental resources for the goal of promoting ecological literacy. Therefore, eco-visualisations could be data-driven animations that display ecological information of any sort in real time” (Holmes, 2007, p. 2). Through converting abstract data, such as kWh and m3, into visual representations, perceptual abilities are enabled (Schneiderman, 2010).
Thus, by using eco-visualisations, the direct impact of energy consumption on the environment is apparent, making it easier to persuade people to change their behaviour, and therefore decreasing their environmental impact (Pierce, 2008).
Many people lack awareness and understanding of how the activities in their daily lives have an impact on the environment (Pierce, 2008). Olsen tested images and concluded that the user preferred a visualisation of a tree instead of a graph visualisation, especially when the eco-visualisation was displayed as a wallpaper, informing its users of their energy consumption by casually looking at it (Olsen, 2014). Chi researched the usability of eco-visualisations in general in comparison to statistical numbers, aiming to find a more effective way to raise people’s awareness on environmental issues. This research concluded that cost, environmental impact, and social influence are three factors which are the most effective in changing people's attitude towards environmental issues (Chi, 2014). Makonin et al. researched the effects of people’s lifestyles and their requirements of eco-visualisations, and concluded that people, especially busy ones, prefer at-a-glance software (Makonin, 2014). Other research concluded that from the three tested designed interfaces: numeric, an abstract symbol, or an animated image, the highest level of emotional valence was evoked by the animated image, which was significantly higher than the numeric representation (Fang, 2016).
2.4 Towards the research question
From the literature review, it can be concluded that eco-visualisations tend to be successful in creating awareness of a certain topic by creating a visual representation of a certain concept, giving the user the opportunity to perceptualize their environmental impact. Although there is consensus in literature that eco-visualisations should contain images of nature (Holmes, 2007), there are no specific images of nature that are tested on being more successful than other images within this domain. Therefore, in this research, the eco-visualisations consist of scenes of a habitat, an environment (home) where certain animals live6. Since
sustainability is a broad topic, this research investigates the influence of eco-visualisation on electricity consumption as a data source. Using the eco-visualisation as a motivator, with a person’s ability to reduce their own electricity consumption, and the eco-visualisation showing a negative vibe as a trigger, this leads to the assumption that this is the basis to change behaviour towards a sustainable lifestyle. Therefore, the following research question is formulated: do eco-visualisations of a habitat, based on electricity consumption, trigger behavioural changes towards a sustainable lifestyle over a month?
In order to answer the research question, a set of different sub-questions need to be answered:
1. How to maintain user engagement in the eco-visualisation over time?
1.1. Is the user still interested in the eco-visualisation after a certain time period?
2. Is the user more aware of their environmental impact after their experience with the eco-visualisation?
6 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/habitat
3. Do participants take actions to support the behavioural changes in response to the eco-visualisation?
3.1. Does the ‘bad’ state of the eco-visualisations trigger action?
3.2. Is a mixed habitat-animal eco-visualisation more effective in changing behaviour than a habitat only eco-visualisation?
3. METHODOLOGY
As Fogg states in his research, behaviour change happens over time (Fogg, 2009). It is therefore important to conduct an empirical study (Bryman, 2015). To be able to evaluate the behavioural changes the participants go through, a baseline regarding sustainability needs to be set; second, there should be a phase where behaviour change is instigated; and third, a phase where the behaviour is evaluated so it can be compared with the set baseline of behaviour. To set a baseline, and evaluate behaviour change, two qualitative interviews are held. This enables the opportunity to investigate behaviour change in depth. To trigger behaviour change, a field study is conducted, which aids the opportunity to evaluate it, and to see if action is taken towards a more sustainable lifestyle. In order to do so, the field study has to take place within the household. In an ideal testing environment, changes in behaviour would be observed, however, since observing participants non-stop for 30 days risks the opportunity for biased results, (where the presence of an observer could trigger behaviour change), an alternative should be set in place. This alternative is an activity log in which participants log their interactions with the eco-visualisations.
3.1 Field study
3.1.1 Participants
Eleven people, divided over six households, participate in this empirical study. Participants are selected from the researcher's personal network, based on the presence of demographic diversities. The field study lasts for 30 days. Nine participants start on May 1st, and end on May 30th. Two participants start May 18th and end on June 18th.
3.1.2 Activity log
The ideal scenario to measure the interaction of the participants with the eco-visualisations is to observe them, but since observing the participants for 30 days invades their privacy too much, and might negatively impact the research findings, an activity log (figure 1.) is created as an alternative (Zimmerman, 1977).
Figure 1. field study material; activity log, pens, tablet, power cord with grey box.
Each interaction with the eco-visualisation, (i.e. looking at it) is called an event. Participants log how many events occur, and their impressions and observations about the current state of the eco-visualisation. If they switch to one of the other eco-visualisations, participants log this and provide the reason for the switch. They are encouraged to write as freely as possible, adding information that
comes to mind, even if it is (for them) indirectly linked to the eco-visualisation. Participants can choose to either write everything down at the time of the event, or daily. This is to ensure participants are not discouraged by extensive logging if there are too many events occurring, and stop logging events altogether. To explain the use of the activity log to the participants, a user guide is created (appendix 1.).
3.1.3 Qualitative interview
To achieve the goal of being able to see changes in the participants’ behaviour regarding sustainability during the field-study, a baseline needs to be established before the field study, to measure what sustainability means to them, and how it already affects their daily routine. Therefore, a pre-field study interview is conducted (appendix 2.). Another interview (appendix 3.) is conducted after the field study, which focusses on the thought processes and actions the eco-visualisations triggered, and how participants experienced the eco-visualisations. Both interviews are semi-structured, and the data is coded via the Grounded Theory Methodology (Strauss, 1994). The results of the pre-field study and post-field study interview are compared to be able to see if behavioural changes take place.
3.2 Interface Design
3.2.1 Design
In this research, images of the arctic and rainforest are chosen (figure 2.), because they are identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the two areas in the world most impacted by climate change (Field, 2014). Based on this source, media uses these scenes as the face of climate change, and it is therefore assumed that the mainstream, and therefore the participants, are aware of the connection between climate change and the arctic and rainforest.
Figure 2. Eco-visualisations used in this study (1st and 3rd row;
‘good’ state, 2nd and 4th row; ‘bad’ state).
In addition to scenes of nature, animals are included in the eco-visualisations, because of the increased empathy that they can
7 https://www.asus.com/nl/Tablets/Nexus_7_2013/
invoke (Taylor, 2005). The animals chosen are well-known to be endangered due to climate change, since these scenes are their natural habitat. Namely, a polar bear to aid the arctic theme, and a tiger to aid the rainforest theme.
Every theme contains one visualisation which is not an eco-visualisation, per se, but an abstract visualisation within the scope of the themes. For the arctic theme, there is a visualisation of an ice cube on a marble surface, and for the rainforest theme, an animation of a tree. Both visualisations serve as a measurement to see if more abstract forms of visualisations create the same level of emotional engagement as direct scenes of the subject matter regarding climate change. Participants are free to choose whichever eco-visualisation they prefer, and it is not mandatory to use all eco-visualisations.
3.2.2 Hardware & back-end
The eco-visualisations are set up as a web-based environment, and can be accessed through rinavaendel.nl/ecovis/home.php. Every household received one 7“ Asus Nexus7 tablet for the sole purpose
to display the eco-visualisations continuously for a period of 30 days. Participants are asked to situate the tablet in such way that it can be plugged into a power socket at all times, and that it is displayed in the most ‘crowded’ room/place of the house so it is easy for the participants to perceive it. Using a somewhat loose approach of the Wizard of Oz technique (Dahlbäck, 1993), the participants are under the impression that the eco-visualisations react on the participants’ electricity consumption. They are told the grey box (figure 1.) attached to the power cord of the tablet takes their electricity consumption as input, delays and encrypts this data (for security reasons) and outputs the different states of the eco-visualisations. In reality, the eco-visualisations react based on an algorithm, programmed to change states at certain hours (table 1.), based on the assumption when participants are most likely to be at home and actively using electricity. The switch between the two stages is gradual, and takes either 30 minutes or 60 minutes to go from one state to another.
Table 1. Schedule of changes between states
Start Time End Time State or transition Start Time End Time State or transition 00:00 00:30 bad to good 12:00 12:30 good
00:30 06:00 good 12:30 13:30 good to bad
06:00 07:00 good to bad 13:30 15:00 bad
07:00 08:00 bad 15:00 16:00 bad to good
08:00 09:00 bad to good 16:00 19:00 good
09:00 11:00 good 19:00 20:00 good to bad
11:00 11:30 good to bad 20:00 00:00 bad 11:30 12:00 bad to good
3.2.3 Various eco-visualisations states
The eco-visualisations can be categorized as ‘at-a-glance’ software; with one brief look, people are aware of the information that is displayed. The eco-visualisation needs different states to let the user know if they are doing a good job (i.e. consuming a low amount of electricity) or a bad job (i.e. consuming a lot of electricity). Therefore all eco-visualisations have two states: a ‘good’ state, and a ‘bad’ state. The contrasts between the states of the habitats are kept as clear as possible; snow / no snow for the arctic scenes, green / no green in rain forest scenes. By using these
high differences in contrast, the chance of colour change blindness is minimized (Rensink, 1997). To keep the distinction between different states in animals as clear and simple as possible, emoticon expressions (happy and sad) are used (figure 3.), assuming these are understood by all participants.
Figure 3. Animals in ‘good’ (left) and ‘bad’ (right) state
4. RESULTS
Participant demographics are displayed below (table 2.). In section 4.1, results of the pre-field study interview are presented, followed by the results of the activity logs in section 4.2. The results of the post-field study interview are explained in section 4.3, including the comparison between the pre-field study and post-field study interviews, displayed in table 3. Correlation between the results and demographics is not tested for, since the sample size is not large enough to yield significant results.
Table 2. Demographic information participants
Household Participant Sex Age Education Job field
1 1 F 31 WO IT 2 2 F 26 WO IT 3 3 F 26 WO Government 3 4 M 28 WO IT 4 5 M 41 HBO Electro technique 5 6 M 36 HBO IT 5 7 M 12 High school / 5 8 F 10 Elementary school / 5 9 F 42 WO Government 6 10 F 27 WO Retail 6 11 M 32 HBO Retail
4.1 Pre-field study interview
Seven core categories around sustainability arose from coding the qualitative interview held before the field study: perspective, actions, motivation, feeling, future, media, and social. These core categories will be elucidated hereafter.
When asked about the participants’ perspective regarding sustainability measures they take, seven out of the eleven participants feel like they are not taking sustainability measures at all, and say that sustainability is not a theme in their lives now (64%), while four participants feel like they do take some measures (36%).
Although 64% of the participants state to not take any sustainability measures, 10 participants (91%) give examples of sustainability measures they take in their daily routines. Their efforts vary, and can be classified into four categories: energy consumption, transport, waste, and products. Within the category energy consumption, nine participants take measures (81%), including: consuming green energy, turning off lights when not in a room, not turning on the heat (unless absolutely necessary), or keeping it at a low temperature, taking short or cold showers, or not excessively watering the garden. In the transport category, the effort is kept to a minimum: three participants take measures regarding sustainable transportation (27%), counting the use of an electric scooter; one household got rid of their car; and one participant does not have a car and uses carpools as much as possible. Waste generation and separation measurements are taken by five participants (45%), including waste separation, minimizing waste by only buying products that will last long, and buying products that contain as few plastic wrapping as possible. In the products category, nine participants (81%) take measures, including: buying isolation to insulate their roofs, buying food from biological origin (if it is possible financially), and buying LED or energy saving light bulbs. To see what motivated participants to take these measures, different drivers were mentioned, both intrinsically and extrinsically. The intrinsic drivers include, four participants do not want to ruin the world (36%), four participants adopted habits from their parents (46%), one participant feels sorry for children that suffer from making products in poor countries (9%), and two participants want to be healthier for humans, animals, and nature (18%). Extrinsic motivators include: four participants state financial incentives (36%), two participants feel pressured by society (18%), and two participants by quantifying their energy consumption, and seeing that positive progression leads to more effort to minimize the energy consumption more (18%). Although, two participants state to be too lazy to take measurements (18%), one participant does not want to compromise on quality of living (9%), were three participants find that sustainable products are often too expensive to buy (27%).
Three participants feel ashamed that they have not taken more measures yet (27%), and six participants want to be more involved with learning how to live more sustainably (54%).
In the future, two participants feel like they need more guidelines and hands-on tips to be able to take more sustainability measures (18%). Two participants feel their actions could not be significant enough to contribute to global sustainability (18%). Three participants would like to add a competitive element to becoming more sustainable, and like to take measures together with others to increase the impact (27%). One participant would like to eat less meat (9%), and three participants would like to buy only biological/ecological products and products (including clothing) that last a long time (27%).
All participants said to not actively seek news regarding sustainability in the media (100%). One participant said to do more research when reading news of interest about sustainability (9%). One participant actively talked about welfare and well-being, the environment, and the impact we have on the Earth with friends (9%). Two participants felt like it is not an easy subject to talk about, and only talk about it when their conversation-partner has knowledge about the subject (18%).
4.2 Activity log
The activity log gives insight into the frequency at which events occur. The mean of days that participants have logged is 18. The mean of logged events over the logged days is 3. The least events logged during the field study is 11, where the maximum is 129. Appendix 4 shows which participant had events occurring on what day in detail. All participants choose to log at the moment an event occurred (using the blue pen only).
Participants had the chance to change the eco-visualisations at any time during the field study, all changes are shown in appendix 5. Various reasons were given for changing the eco-visualisation, such as experiencing boredom after a while, wanting something different, or because the different states of some eco-visualisations were unclear.
Participants also logged their feelings and thoughts regarding the eco-visualisation. Appendix 6 shows the reactions of participants towards the eco-visualisation, divided per eco-visualisation state (‘good’, ‘bad’). Participants experience a positive feeling when the eco-visualisation state is ‘good’, words such as ‘happy’, ‘fulfilling’ and ‘glad’ are mostly used to describe this state. The bad state calls for a wider variety of feelings, including: ‘sad’, ‘aww’, ‘unhappy’, ‘polar bear is breaking my heart,’ and ‘disappointed.’ Participant 3 wondered with numerous events how bad the impact of the electricity consumption was on the environment. It is also notable that participants 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 felt on numerous events that the state of the eco-visualisation did not match their electricity consumption. Participants 5 and 9 wondered how this was possible, and if they could do something about it. Participant 5 also felt frustrated after a while, because he did not feel that changing his behaviour would result in a ‘good’ state.
4.3 Post-field study interview
Participants were asked to elaborate on what they think their impact on the environment is. Five participants think their personal impact is not that big since there are a lot of people who can have an impact, therefore not feeling that their impact is significant, but believe that it is important to contribute to minimize their environmental impact (45%). Two participants state that choices made locally impact the environment, but also think that one person is not able to make a difference (18%). Participant 2 said the eco-visualisation was a motivator to gain knowledge about personal ecological footprint, and did a test to check personal ecological footprint to gain that knowledge, which in turn instigated realisations about all the resources that contribute to the participants environmental impact (i.e. products, clothing, waste). Participant 6 says to eat too much meat, producing too much methane, and loves to shower, using too much water.
When asked what participants have learned from the eco-visualisation, four participants state they have learned varying notions from the eco-visualisations (36%). Participant 4 learned that the power of these real life images regarding the impact of electricity consumption are very compelling in steering behaviour; it immediately invoked a feeling that the participant would like to intensify taking actions to minimize the participants’ environmental impact. Participant 6 noticed moments of awareness regarding electricity consumption when looking at the eco-visualisation. Participant 7 said to have learned to turn off the lights because it costs a lot of energy. Participant 8 realised that their household (5) does not have a good impact on the environment. Participant 9 said that the eco-visualisation is a reminder of what is already known, namely to be parsimonious regarding energy.
When asked why participants think the visualisations specifically represent the arctic and rainforest scenes, all participants state that this is because these are the most visible areas regarding the impact on the environment (100%). Participant 1 stated that these are the areas one can save by living more sustainably. Participants 5 and 10 state, in addition, that these are areas used often in the media to create a perception about climate change for people.
When asked if participants took new measures to live more sustainably, four participants did take new measures (36%). Participant 1 states that instead of using disposables to eat lunch with at work, the participant started bringing their own cutlery to decrease waste generation. Participant 2 started researching possibilities to buy more sustainable clothing. Because participant 8 felt that their personal impact on the environment is not good, this participant went to the beach and collected PET bottles to bring to the supermarket, so they can be recycled. In addition, the awareness triggered an increase of turning off lights more often, and showering shorter than before.
Seven participants state that no new measures are taken, or current measures are intensified (64%), but they were constantly aware and looking for different electronic devices and the impact they have on the eco-visualisation. Participant 5 specifically felt like it became a theme in everyday life. Participant 4 said to have not taken action because the participant created a domotic system for their household, where all the devices using electricity are programmed to turn on and off to minimize their electricity consumption all together. Participant 9 experienced that the eco-visualisation was not accurate regarding electricity consumption, so this participant did not try to change the states, but stated that the participant would take action if the states would change accurately.
Five participants state they would like to take more measures than they do now (45%). The motivation behind this thought is that it is the only way to keep the planet decent, according to participant 2. Participants 5 and 9 state that before feeling motivated to take measures, the accuracy of the eco-visualisation should be increased so there is real-time visualisation of the electricity consumption. When asked if participants would do things differently because of the different eco-visualisation states, five participants felt that the states of the eco-visualisation, and the animals, in particular, trigger a general feeling of empathy (45%). Participant 1 reacted on the ‘bad’ state by noticing that action could be taken to help reduce the impact on the environment, but chose not to act because it would cross a limit (i.e. noticed that partner takes long showers, but did not want to berate them about the environmental impact it causes). This is particularly interesting because it shows that the effect from the eco-visualisation extends beyond the participant's own thoughts and actions; namely onto a third person. Participant 5 stated to feel good after seeing the happy state of the eco-visualisation. Participant 7 stated that in the beginning when the polar bear or tiger was sad, the participant tried to make them happy again, but after a while that faded away, because the eco-visualisation became part of the house. Participant 8 felt more empathy for the polar bear in the beginning, but this slowly decreased, resulting in not paying attention towards the eco-visualisation as much as in the beginning, but feels that nature is a lot more important now. Two participants think the eco-visualisations are confronting, but have not taken any specific actions (18%).
Four participants stated the presence of the eco-visualisation in their house instigated conversations about it with other people (36%). These conversations only entail information about explaining the eco-visualisation to others, or trivial information shared with other participants of the same household. Participant 2
felt to have an opinion now due to the research towards environmental impact, and felt that this new insight needed to be shared, and steered conversations towards the subject of sustainability when possible.
The following table (3) shows, in short, the comparison between the participants’ perspectives and actions, before and after using the eco-visualisation.
Table 3. Comparison pre-field study and post-field study
P Perspective Actions
Pre Post Pre Post
1Not spilling Constant being reminded of env. impact Not turning on heat or lights if not necessary
Does not use disposables at work 2Waste, food, energy Overwhelmed, do my actions make a difference? Nothing Researched and looked for sustainable clothing 3Use resources that are sustainable (long term) Handle nature accountably Use of energy resources controlled by domotics In search for more ways to live sustainable 4Habits; learned from parents Reduce negative impact Use of energy resources controlled by domotics In search for more ways to live sustainable
5Not spilling Can my actions make a difference? Turn of lights, buy sustainable products No increase; Eco-visualisation needs to be more accurate 6Economical Shower too much
and eat too much meat
Turn off lights
Turn off lights sooner 7Sustainable with energy resources How to minimize energy consumption? Waste in waste bins
Turn off lights
8None Nature is more
important now Waste in waste bins Turn off lights; recycles waste at beach 9Sustainable with energy resources I can make a difference for me, my family, animals and nature Tries to shower short, lights off, heat off or low. No increase; Eco-visualisation needs to be more accurate 10Do not want to
ruin the world; but taking measures should not take too much effort
I would like more tips to live more sustainable Electric scooter, shower short, lights off Not increase; Eco-visualisation needs to be more accurate 11Not sustainable, maybe when I have children I do not believe we (people) are responsible for climate change No No
4.3.1 Evaluation of the eco-visualisation design
When asked if participants have a favourite eco-visualisation, participants 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 preferred eco-visualisations with animals because they brought up more emotion than habitat only visualisations (63%). Participants 3 and 4 stated that the abstract visualisations were less clear, and that these, and the animal animations, had less impact than real-life images of a habitat, therefore saturating faster than real-life-images (18%). Participant 3 preferred the forest without the tiger (eco-visualisation 7), because the contrast between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ states of the eco-visualisation was too confronting. Participant 5 stated to have a clear preference for eco-visualisation 8 (rain forest and tiger), and felt happy when the forest was green and the tiger smiled, and felt empathy for the tiger when it was sad. Participants 6 and 7 both had a preference for the eco-visualisation with a polar bear. Participant 7 was motivated by this eco-visualisation, stating that the polar bears cannot change habitat since there are only two poles, whereas the tiger could be moved to a different jungle. Participant 8 stated that the emotions of the polar bear was an important addition, which increased empathy. Participants 10 and 11 stated to like the arctic visualisations without the animals, because they were confronting. They found it easier to ignore the arctic habitat-only eco-visualisation when they did not feel like thinking about sustainability because even when the snow had melted, there was still pretty scenery.
The two states in different eco-visualisations also caused various effects on the participants. Participants 3, 4, and 5 stated that the eco-visualisations were not equally clear (27%). Participant 3 felt that eco-visualisation number 3 in ‘good’ state looked a lot like a tropical island, so it did not give a good impression about how bad the impact was. Participant 4 stated that when a new visualisation was chosen, it was not always immediately clear if at that time the ‘bad’ or ‘good’ state was visualised. In most cases, it became clear when the other state was visualized. Based on the contrast, the participant could figure out which state was the ‘good’ state and which the ‘bad’ state. Participant 5 stated that the different states of eco-visualisation 10 and 11 were unclear, i.e. if the state was ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
When asked if participants would like to own an eco-visualisation as presented currently on the tablet, participants 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 would like that (81%). Although participant 3 stated that, at the moment, specific actions could not be taken. However, in winter the participant thinks it could be valuable, instigating actions, since the electricity consumption is much higher than now, in summer. Participant 4 would like to own one, with the condition that the images automatically refresh after a few days in order to avoid becoming non-sensitive to a particular eco-visualisation. Participant 5 and 9 would only use the eco-visualisation if the representation of the electricity consumption was real and accurate. Participant 7 would not like to own an eco-visualisation because the current tablet with eco-visualisation costs too much energy, and because, after a while, it does not get noticed anymore. Participant 11 would not like to own an eco-visualisation because it does not match the interior of the home; even the thermostat is experienced as annoying, not fitting in.
Regarding improvements, participants 1 and 3 would like to see progression of the electricity consumption, and participant 1 particularly would prefer more interaction with/from the animals to increase empathy, and to get reminders from. Participant 2 would prefer it if there were more and prettier scenes available of both the arctic and the rainforest to choose from. Participant 4 is interested in comparing electricity consumption with other participants, with
the goal of feeling rewarded when the participants electricity consumption would be below a certain mean threshold. If participant 5 could change something about the eco-visualisation, it would be to make the accuracy of the visualisation 100%, based on personal electricity consumption. Participant 6 would like a reward for adjusting behaviour based on the eco-visualisation. Participant 7 would like to own an eco-visualisation directly connected to specific things that consume a lot of energy, for example, on a waterproof tablet so it could be used in the shower, where at the beginning of showering the polar bear would be happy, and would become sadder the longer this participant showered. Participant 8 would like to see a list of actions that are particularly good and bad, and that the impact of those items could be visualised on the eco-visualisation. Participant 9 would like a smaller device, particularly placed in the kitchen because that is where the participant spends most time when at home, and where most energy is consumed. Participants 10 and 11 would like to see different images, with more nuance between states, so they can take action when they see that the state is transitioning towards the ‘bad’ state, but before it is completely transitioned.
5. DISCUSSION & LIMITATIONS
In this research, scenes of the arctic and rainforest were chosen for the eco-visualisations. These real-time images tend to be successful in creating awareness about climate change, as participants could likely recognise arctic and rainforest scenes from the media since they are widely used as the ‘face’ when visualising climate change. Participants did state the eco-visualisations triggered moments of awareness regarding climate change, and felt like the eco-visualisations were constant reminders of their impact on the environment. It is possible that the themes of the eco-visualisations in general create this awareness, not the particular scene displayed. It can therefore be argued that the scene of eco-visualisation is not as important as the connection participants have with the overall theme, raising the question if random eco-visualisations could achieve the same effect, as long as participants can perceptualize the impact? Although scenes could be less important than themes, the abstract images used in this research did not trigger awareness, it can therefore be argued that images should contain real-life nature scenes, not abstract visualisations, to raise awareness. This research focuses on ways to raise awareness regarding electricity consumption. Although participants did try to minimise their electricity consumption, some participants took actions that had no direct effect on their electricity consumption: waste, sustainable clothing, and other energy resources, such as gas and water, are named when participants are asked if they took new sustainability measures based on the eco-visualisations. It is interesting to see that even though participants know that only their electricity consumption is represented in the eco-visualisation, they go beyond their electricity consumption, taking different actions to minimise their carbon footprint, implying that participants think ahead, and could see the electricity consumption as a symbol for a sustainable lifestyle in general.
Besides taking measures beyond reducing their electricity consumption, there was one participant who reflected on the personal energy consumption of other people. This participant got annoyed when the participant’s partner showered too long, not thinking about the environment when doing so (the partner did not participate in this research), indicating that the information received from the eco-visualisation is important enough to the participant that it is reflected beyond the participant's own actions.
Due to the above mentioned discussions, it can be argued that the eco-visualisation as a concept is far stronger than a particular scene. The animals stimulate empathy in the eco-visualisations, but it can be argued that because the particular scene is not important, it could also not be important which animal is used to stimulate this empathy as long as it participants can perceptualize it, and it stimulates participants’ awareness towards a sustainable lifestyle. The Wizard of Oz methodology was used in this study so participants would not notice that their electricity consumption was not displayed accurately on the eco-visualisation. This was true for approximately half of the participants. However, to be able to answer the sub questions and research question, it was sufficient to make the participants believe that their electricity consumption was connected to the eco-visualisations. Only one participant started to notice a pattern in the changing of the eco-visualisation states after a few weeks. The accuracy of the eco-visualisations did come up a lot as feedback from the participants. Their electricity consumption not being visualised accurately led to a decrease in interest in the eco-visualisations because they were not immediately rewarded with a ‘good’ state of the eco-visualisation after taking action to decrease the electricity consumption. Nevertheless, almost all participants stated to be interested in owning an eco-visualisation, therefore it can be assumed that when the eco-visualisations are accurate, participants would likely remain interested in the eco-visualisations, and therefore continue to be motivated to change their behaviour. It is therefore recommended to test the eco-visualisations as an IHD directly connected to a household's smart meter, instead of a simulation (e.g. Wizard of Oz) as used in this study.
Although an accurate representation of their electricity consumption could better motivate participants to achieve a sustainable lifestyle, a dilemma arises when the electricity consumption of the participant remains static at one point, and/or cannot be decreased anymore. This could happen in two scenario’s. First, the electricity consumption could become static at still a high consumption rate, which could mean participants do not know how or if they can decrease their electricity consumption. Second, the electricity consumptions remains static at a near 0 electricity consumption rate, were participants are not able to decrease their electricity consumption even more. In both scenario’s it could mean that besides electricity consumption, people could stop being aware of their carbon footprint, and discontinue living more sustainably, even though there are a lot more topics to cover before achieving a sustainable lifestyle.
It can be argued that because the field study took place in spring, participants did not use as much electricity and other energy resources as they would in the autumn and winter seasons, since the temperature rose. This made it unnecessary to turn on the heat, and the days got longer, making it unnecessary to use the lights as often as on dark winter days. Therefore it could have been more difficult for participants to take action to decrease their electricity consumption, resulting in a discontinued interest in using the eco-visualisation.
6. CONCLUSION & FUTURE WORK
Based on the results, the sub questions (Sx) are answered, which work towards answering the research question (RQ) at the end of this section.
S1: How to maintain user engagement in the eco-visualisation over time? The data of the electricity consumption in the visualisation has to be accurate, displayed in real time, to keep the user engaged. Participants stopped taking action when they noticed
the eco-visualisation did not respond to them taking specific actions to decrease their energy consumption.
S1.1: Is the user still interested in the eco-visualisation after a certain time period? Interest was decreasing over time, since the data was not real-time visualised. In contrast, all participants would like to own some version of this eco-visualisation, where approximately half of the participants set the condition that the eco-visualisations have to respond accurately on their electricity consumption.
S2. Is the user more aware of the environmental impact after their experience with the eco-visualisation? There is awareness regarding the reason behind displaying arctic and rainforest scenes as eco-visualisations since these areas are the most affected by climate change, and act upon this by taking measures to live more sustainably. Participants stated that the eco-visualisation is a reminder of their impact, and that they can contribute in decreasing this impact.
S3. Is the user motivated to take actions to support behavioural changes in response to the eco-visualisation? Once awareness is present, different ways of taking action based on the eco-visualisations are instigated; some actions were physical, others were cognitive and did not extend beyond the thought process.
S3.1 Does the ‘bad’ state of the eco-visualisations trigger action? The ‘bad’ state of the eco-visualisation is perceived as confronting, whereas the animals triggered empathy. There is an incentive to take action to keep the animals happy, and the habitat green (rainforest) or frozen (arctic).
S3.2 Is a mixed habitat-animal eco-visualisation more effective in changing behaviour than an habitat only visualisation? There is an increase in empathy towards the eco-visualisation due to the animals. Most of the participants felt empathy for the animal, and were therefore more concerned with keeping the animal happy, instead of the habitat alone.
RQ: Do eco-visualisations of a habitat, based on electricity consumption, trigger behavioural changes towards a sustainable lifestyle over a month? The eco-visualisation scenes of the arctic and rainforest instigated awareness regarding electricity consumption. The animals in those habitats instigated empathy. Both the habitats and animals encourage to minimize a user’s environmental impact by taking action that would decrease their electricity consumption in order to make or keep the eco-visualisation state ‘good’.
Topics that require further research cover a wide variety, such as: (i) does the accuracy of a user’s electricity consumption visualisation, increase the actions taken to live a more sustainable lifestyle?; (ii) are less familiar nature scenes, subject to climate change, still able to trigger the same kind of awareness as the tested, familiar nature themes?; (iii) in contrast, are images of nature scenes that people have a personal connection to (e.g. scenes from their home country/town, places they frequently visit) also able to trigger awareness regarding sustainability?; (iv) as abstract images did not instigate awareness as real-life images did, do visualisations of real-life animals instigate more empathy than visualisations of animated images from animals?; (v) as the sample size in this research was too small to test correlations between test results and participants’ demographics, this can be tested in future research, using a larger sample size.
7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank all participants for their participation and commitment; Dr. Frank Nack for providing me with the help and resources I needed to conduct this research successfully; Erin White MA, for proofreading over and over; Sarah Bartholomé BA, for designing the animals in the eco-visualisations; and everyone else who supported me one way or another.
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Note: all content in the appendices is translated from Dutch to English.
APPENDIX 1. Activity log user guide
Goal activity log: I would like to know how you experience
these eco-visualisations, and how this affects you. Please elaborate your answers as much as possible, and write down what you think and feel. If you notice any change in behaviour (i.e. don’t turn on lights all over the house) please write this down too. This activity log is anonymous; you don’t need to write down your name.
Explanation activity log usage
Every page represents one day.
Next to the time blocks, you can write down your notes regarding the interaction with the eco-visualisations. Below, all the fields on the activity log are explained, and what is
expected from you.
Tally - count when you looked at the eco-visualisation. You can choose if you want to do it daily (use the black pen), or every time you look (use the blue pen).
Describe the status - whenever you look, what do you
notice/see?
Describe your emotion and reaction - describe your feelings
and thoughts that you get when looking at the eco-visualisation status.
Change - write down the number of eco-visualisation you
changed to.
Why change? - motivate why you wanted a new
eco-visualisation.
Notes - write down when you noticed behaviour change, or
when something else comes to mind. This can also be thoughts or feelings who are not directly connected to the eco-visualisations, but with sustainability or your energy consumption in general.
APPENDIX 2. Pre-field study interview
Semi-structured interview, questions are elaborated and asked more in-depth during the interview if necessary.
What do you think sustainability means? Did you grow up with sustainability?
To which extent are you sustainable in daily life? Which measure did you take to live more sustainable? What motivates you to make these decisions? Would you like to be more sustainable? What stops you from taking action?
Do you keep up to date on recent developments regarding sustainability?
Do you look up more information regarding sustainability? Do you talk with other people about sustainability?
APPENDIX 3. Post-field study interview
Semi-structured interview, questions are elaborated and asked more in-depth during the interview if necessary.What do you think is your environmental impact?
Did you take more or new measures to live more sustainably? Did the eco-visualisation trigger you to do things differently? Would you like to be more sustainable?
Did you ever take action after looking at the eco-visualisation? Instigated the eco-visualisation conversations about sustainability?
What have you learned from the eco-visualisation?
Why do you think the eco-visualisation contained scenes from the arctic and rain forest specifically?
Which eco-visualisation spoke the most you? Were all the eco-visualisation clear to you?
Did you feel more attached to some visualisation then others? Changed your feelings when seeing an eco-visualisation a longer period of time?
Would you like to own an eco-visualisation?
What do you think should be improved regarding the eco-visualisations?
APPENDIX 4. Events per day, per participant
Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Participant 1 2 4 5 1 2 4 5 7 8 9 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 1 2 5 11 1 5 6 1 2 6 9 11 2 5 6 7 8 9 Day 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Participant 1 2 5 9 1 2 45 9 1 2 5 8 9 4 5 7 8 9 11 2 5 7 8 11 1 5 8 9 11 1 2 5 7 8 9 11 Day 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Participant 5 1 2 5 8 9 2 4 5 8 9 11 1 4 5 8 1 2 5 8 1 2 5 8 9 1 2 5 8 9 Day 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Participant 1 2 11 2 4 5 8 9 11 2 5 8 9 11 1 2 11 2 8 9 1 2 5 8 11 2 5 9 Day 29 30Participant 1 2 5 9 11 1 4 5 9
Frequency of logged days
APPENDIX 5. Changed eco-visualisations
Participant Days Events Mean events per day
1 21 68 3 2 22 81 4 3 9 26 3 4 10 19 2 5 25 96 4 6 4 11 3 7 6 13 2 8 17 31 2 9 20 129 6 10 14 36 3 11 14 29 2 House hold Partic ipant Changed eco-visualisation From To Day Why
1 1 11 10 4 Wanted something different 10 3 8 Wanted something different 3 12 18 Wanted something different 2 2 3 1 2 Wanted something different
1 2 6 Wanted the polar
bear
2 5 28 /
5 3 29 Wanted something
different
3 3 3 11 3 Partner changed it,
not sure what this visualisation represents; confused 7 8 13 Wanted something different 11 5 7 Wanted something different 4 3 5 3 Became bored 5 12 13 / 12 1 30 / 4 5 8 10 2 Curious 10 11 2 States in 10 unclear 11 7 3 States in 11 unclear 7 6 3 States in 6 a bit clearer 6 7 4 States clearer in 8 5 6 12 4 7 Became bored 6 10 1 7 1 Became bored 7 12 1 Became bored, nothing happens 12 4 3 Saw tree often
enough
11 4 1 23 Fed up with sad tiger and sad polar bear.
APPENDIX 6. Reaction on eco-visualisations
Participants reaction on the ‘bad’ state of the eco-visualisationsP arti cip an t Visu ali sa ti o n S tate Ev en ts Comment
2 1 bad 1 causality; heat or season? 2 bad 1 aww
2 bad 1 glum
2 bad 1 polar bear is breaking my heart 2 bad 7 meh
2 bad 3 meh, fits how I already felt
2 bad 1
realisation that the emotion of the polar bear triggers a reaction
3 3 bad 1 wonders if state is relative to usage 3 bad 1 sad
3 bad 1
no more ice left, feels like a tropical scene; confused
7 bad 1 looks so sad
7 bad 1
after 3 days I become insensitive to the status, like I get used to it.
8 bad 1
It feels like a given now, I think I get a bit tired of it.
1 bad 1
how many energy are we using? how bad is it? feeling quite bad, guilty
4 3 bad 2 nice image, does not feel negative 5 bad 1 nice forest area, feel natural 5 bad 2 state logical, relative to usage 12 bad 2 state not logical, relative to usage
1 bad 3 state not logical, relative to usage 5 10 bad 2 sad
8 bad 1 sad, small ice cube
8 bad 8 state not logical, relative to usage 8 bad 2 state logical, relative to usage 7 12 bad 1 does not really matter to me now
4 bad 3 sad
4 bad 1 does not matter much 8 12 bad 1 I need to save more
4 bad 6 not so happy to see this 4 bad 3 ok
4 bad 3 too bad
9 4 bad 4
This picture makes me feel less and less, because it seems that the polar bear’s happy / not happy is a rhythm
4 bad 1
sad that we cannot keep the polar bear happy longer
4 bad 15 sad/disappointed 10 4 bad 3 sad, tree is gone
5 bad 1 no feeling, medium, meh 5,
2,
4 bad 6 stupid :( 2 bad 1 why no ice?
1 bad 1 nice landscape! huh, ice melted? 11 12 bad 3 disappointed; where is the tree?
2 bad 5 disappointed, where is the ice? 2 bad 1 Done with the sad animals.
12 bad 1
There is a small tree, but why is the tiger still sad?
Participants reactions on the ‘good’ state of the eco-visualisations P arti cip an t Visu ali sa ti o n S tatu s Ev en ts Comment 2 2 good 6 :) aww 3 7 good 1
world looks nice like this! I want to keep it this way.
7 good 1
hey! I saw the image change from green to greener, nice!
8 good 1
not as pretty as the other images, curious as to what the tiger will look like if I use more electricity
8 good 1
after 7 days I feel I become insensitive towards this image, it is more a given now. 8 good 1 pretty
1 good 1 pretty image
4 5 good 1 wow how green! green looks a bit fake 5 good 2 state logical, relative to usage
12 good 1
I like how the feedback is not only the growing tree, but also approval from the tiger.
1 good 2 happy!
12 good 1 happiness is infectious
5 8 good 5 state not logical, relative to usage 6 good
cute bear
6 good 2 happy
6 12 good 1
surprised that my consciousness got stimulated
12 good 1 neutral
4 good 1 state not logical, relative to usage 4 good 1 neutral
7 12 good 1 happy 4 good 1 happiness 8 12 good 1 happy 4 good 1 ok 4 good 8 happy 9 12 good 1
nice feeling, yesterday evening the state was bad, now I feel relieved
4 good 16 nice/good feeling
8 good 5 state not logical relative to usage
12
1
tree and tiger have had different sizes throughout the day; every time the tree is full of leaves I feel relieved.
10 4 good 2 finally ice! but why?
8 good 1 boring image, but glad the tiger is happy! 12 good 1 A tree has grown! how nice!
12 good 5 Nice! tree has grown! happy feeling 11 1 good 1 no emotion
1 good 1 yay, ice! :)
1 good 1
yippie, ice cube! but how is this possible? it is 28 degrees celsius inside.
