Background
The Problem
The meat industry is one of the largest contributors to global emissions, making a plant-based diet one of the most impactful actions individuals can take for the climate. Yet, meat is still central to many people’s diets.
How might we both increase awareness about the environmental impact of meat, while also motivating people to change their lifestyle, through behavioral science-backed techniques?
What I Did
As the final project of the School of Climate Action Design program, I applied behavioral design principles and designed a 7-day plant-based eating challenge for real-world impact.
In just two weeks, I…
Built a recruitment and engagement strategy
Engaged an audience and got 24 sign-ups
Designed and built a functional app on Glide Apps
Successfully ran a 7-day plant-based challenge 🎉
Creating a Strategy
After some initial research, I decided to host a 7-day plant-based eating challenge, given that diet is one of the most impactful ways individuals can reduce their carbon footprint.
I led a behavior-mapping workshop with my challenge co-leads to create a project strategy.
I targeted early-career members of Climate Action Club in the Bay Area, as I was already part of the community of young people still forming long-term habits.
Engaging the Community
My goal was to get at least 10 people to eat plant-based for 7 days. The main challenge was turning attention into sign-ups within an already busy and attention-limited community. I knew I had to drive participation by engaging people with a compelling story.
I introduced the challenge in Slack using a hero’s journey narrative. I carefully crafted a message framing participants as protagonists, addressed concerns, and ended with a clear call to action.
I also created a sign-up survey to:
Understand participants’ current eating habits
Create commitment by having individuals sign their names, pledging to complete the challenge
When sign-ups slowed, I added a reward: a custom embroidered Climate Action Club hat for the winner.
Result
343 members in Slack
9 attended the screening
13 initial sign-ups -> 26 sign-ups after introducing the reward
Sign-ups doubled after adding the incentive, showing the power of tangible rewards in driving action.
Designing and Building the App
I launched the 7-day challenge with the help of my vegan co-leads, and we had 24 participants onboarded.
I observed participant behavior closely and made real-time improvement.
Early on, I noticed many users were curious about what other people were eating. In response, I added a community feed on day 1 that allowed users to upload meal photos and captions.
When I saw participants screenshotting and reacting outside the app, I introduced an in-app commenting feature on day 2 to support native interaction.
Results
The app MVP was completed in time for launch and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Participants shared comments like…
Launching the Challenge
I launched the 7-day challenge with the help of my vegan co-leads, and we had 24 participants onboarded.
I observed participant behavior closely and made real-time improvement.
Early on, I noticed many users were curious about what other people were eating. In response, I added a community feed on day 1 that allowed users to upload meal photos and captions.
When I saw participants screenshotting and reacting outside the app, I introduced an in-app commenting feature on day 2 to support native interaction.
Midway through the challenge, I noticed a drop in motivation among participants who were falling behind on the leaderboard and felt they could no longer catch up. To address this, I introduced:
A weekend “points boost” (1.5x points for vegetarian, 2x points for vegan meals)
Two separate prize groups to balance fairness (former vegetarians vs non-vegetarians).
Result
People stayed competitive throughout the week - frequently checking on their place in the leaderboard. The community feed became a key driver of participation and inspiration, and the points boost was also critical to increasing motivation for the weekend.
Final Results
Of the 24 participants:
14 completed the full 7-day challenge
I awarded:
Two custom embroidered hats to winners (one was a former frequent meat eater)
Custom fridge magnets to all participants
The challenge also led to real behavior change:
I personally moved toward a vegetarian diet
One participant shared they chose a salmon bowl instead of beef after the challenge
The project was recognized as the Winning Project of 2025, showing that a short behavioral intervention can lead to real diet changes and real impact.
Result
Gamification was highly effective! The leaderboard, rewards, and playful elements drove engagement.
Small interventions added up. Even a short challenge like this was enough to spark longer-term behavior change for some participants.
Motivation was uneven. Participants lower on the leaderboard tended to disengage over time.
What I’d do differently next time
Track more detailed and precise data to better measure impact and behavior change
Host more interactive or live events
Add daily novelty (mini-challenges) to sustain momentum and support users who fall behind
Create teams or pods for accountability and social support
