Merry Miser

Abstract

This thesis describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of Merry Miser, a persuasive mobile phone application intended to help people to spend less and save more. The application uses the context provided by users' location (obtained using the phone's GPS) and financial histories to provide personalized interventions when the user is near an opportunity to spend. The interventions, which are motivated by prior research in positive psychology, persuasive technology and shopping psychology, consist of informational displays about context-relevant spending history, subjective assessments of purchases, personal spending limit contracts, and a glanceable display of the user's current financial status and savings goals. The application was tested with four users over a period of four weeks. The test results are described, and additional steps to improve the application are suggested.