Developing the concepts
The next stage of the project in Kent was the development of a working prototype of the proposed Fitmobs concept.
The emphasis was on trying out ideas, making adjustments where necessary and encouraging continuous feedback. Over the next five weeks, the Design Council team facilitated the creation of three ‘mobs’.
The focus of the initial stage was to learn how mobs could be created and sustained. The team alternated its time, spending a week in the studio developing ideas and a week at Park Wood testing them out.
‘The team was not sure what types of mob Park Wood residents would take up,’ says Chris Vanstone. ‘We also added two web designers to help us define the online element, and brought in two graphic and brand designers to work on the identity of the system.’
In addition, the team recruited a personal trainer to advise on activity and exercise, who soon became a core part of the project as its first ‘mob trainer’.
The first big change to the system was its name. Residents decided that the word ‘fit’ was too much like the phrase Keep Fit, so it was changed to the more generic name – Activmobs.
Residents were recruited to join the very first facilitated mobs, and the team advertised in the local press asking people to set up unfacilitated mobs as well.
Three facilitated mobs were created by residents:
Welliemob – a five-strong team of dog walkers
Five women who know each other from the school run and have eleven dogs between them decided to form Welliemob, meeting together each day to walk their dogs. All the women are interested in losing weight, and some of them have joined gyms in the past with little success. Once the mob was formed, the Design Council team introduced the women to trainer Anne-Marie, who helped push them a bit further and get more from their usually very leisurely walks.
Backmob – an older group who took up gentle exercising under the supervision of the trainer
A group of four older Park Wood residents, all with back problems, joined together to take gentle exercise under the careful eye of the Open Health trainer. Initially wary of making their problems worse, the group soon realised they could trust the trainer to take good care of them and only suggest exercises that would be beneficial. In only a short time, all the members reported feeling better about themselves and could see improvements in their flexibility and mobility.
Timemob – which would conduct walking tours of local historical sites of interest.
A local history enthusiast encouraged people to join him on historical walks around the local area. Organised walks like this were something he had been trying to start for some time, and the Activmobs concept gave him the support and infrastructure he needed. He planned to vary the distance and nature of his walks each time. Timemob demonstrates the flexibility of the Activmobs system and was very different from the two other groups. While they were based on existing social networks, Timemob required advertising, recruitment and significant coordination from its organiser.
The benefits of the mobs approach were becoming evident both for the design team and the participants.
- The small group model made mobs fun, a social occasion and a personal commitment.
- Groups provided self-confidence and offered a sense of security.
- Groups formed because of a shared interest or among people with similar lifestyles and values, with members sharing common goals which helped them to remain motivated.
- From a financial perspective, the cost of providing one trainer between six people compares favourably with an appointment for each of them with a GP.
