Experimental App Content and Unique Features
The EC app version mirrored the SC’s design, content, and functionality with 3 key exceptions. First, the home page of the EC version included, as the main content, a series of 9 cognitive and behavioral exercises called experiments. Each experiment was designed to help users clarify their values, build and strengthen their motivation for reducing or quitting smoking, and enhance their self-efficacy for changing smoking behavior by learning specific skills that could help them manage cravings and resist the urge to smoke (The theoretical rationale for the experiments, an overview of their design and flow, and preliminary formative research testing their acceptability and potential impact with smokers ambivalent about quitting have been previously reported [With the exception of the first experiment, which could be completed in a few minutes, each exercise was designed to be practiced for a 24-hour period, after which participants were prompted to return and report what they learned by answering a brief series of reflective questions. Emphasis was placed on trying and learning from each exercise, as opposed to mastery or success, to avoid creating a sense of failure if participants did not complete or master the experiment. The experiments also built on one another, so lessons and skills learned in earlier experiments were designed to support success with later experiments.To encourage sequential completion and forward progress, each experiment unlocked after completion of the previous experiment. If an experiment was started but not completed, the next experiment automatically unlocked after several days.Enhanced care experiments’ targeted skills and goals.Example of experiment setup.