Sober Curious

Why Alcohol Reduction?

In group discussions, alcohol consistently came up as a common way to socialize. While it helped people connect, many stories highlighted regret from overconsumption.

We designed a project for people who want to reduce their alcohol intake without eliminating it, offering social options where alcohol isn’t the main focus.

Problem Statement

An employee trying to cut back on alcohol needs a way to socialize with friends and colleagues without pressure because social norms and expectations make it difficult to say no.

Importance of the Problem

Alcohol is linked to socializing, relaxation, and fun, but overconsumption can lead to regret and discomfort. Our research explores why reducing alcohol intake is challenging and how to support mindful drinking.

Perceived Social Norms And Alcohol Consumption
Individuals overestimate peer alcohol consumption, and this misperception significantly affects their own drinking habits.

Stress Coping Motives, And Alcohol Use
Higher stress levels correlate with increased alcohol consumption, particularly among individuals who identify drinking as a coping mechanism

A Tailored Timed Nudge

Our research revealed that people often default to alcohol-centered spaces due to current social norms because alternatives aren’t surfaced when they’re most needed. To address this, we created a message service that sends timely suggestions for “third places” where alcohol is optional and secondary. By aligning with the journey map, we found that subtle nudges could work better than a stand-alone app, making the solution feel effortless.

Psychological Factors – Stress, Anxiety, Mental Health

• Men drink more, at higher levels, with greater dependence risk.
  
• Women more cautious due to health, appearance, and safety concerns.
  
• Masculinity linked to binge drinking and risk-taking; beer/liquor = “masculine.”
  
• Femininity tied to wine/cocktails; heavy intoxication stigmatized.
  
• Women in male-dominated jobs drink more to “keep up.”
  

Goals

• Seeking meaningful social engagement
• Finding a space to unwind and bond with others

Motivation

• Desire to feel part of a community
• Escaping routine stress and loneliness

Self-Image

• Aspire to feel confident and authentic without relying on alcohol
• Currently feeling self-doubt and fear judgment when considering alternatives

Coping 

• Uses alcohol as a way to manage social anxiety or stress.

Norm Signficance

• Struggle with existing norms where drinking is associated with bonding
• Questioning if alcohol is necessary for connection

Mental Models

"And you're leaving your house, there's, a big world out there, but what seems like a finite number of options of what you can, like, realistically get your friends together to go."

"Drinking makes socializing easier."

Target Audience

Individuals looking to drink less or not at all.

Journey Map

Our journey map, "Journey Towards Reducing Alcohol Consumption Through Third-Places" is focused on the Micro View instead of Macro View to dive deep into specific moments during an individuals experience would be great to introduce our solution.

Legend

O Inflection Point: opportunity to "nudge" with solution
O Shows the positives of the activity.
O Shows the negatives of the activity.

2 Key Moments For Our Solution

We determined that the 2 key moments for our solution to make the greatest impact were the "Seeking Social Interaction" and "Exploration Of Alternatives" moment when deciding to go to a "third place".

Seeking Social Interaction

Opportunity Areas

• People want to connect. Alternatives like sober venues or shared activities (axe throwing, billiards) can fulfill that need.

Decision Levers

• Success depends on making these spaces convenient, socially inviting, and clearly valuable to strengthen relationships.

Exploring Alternatives

Opportunity Areas

• When considering options beyond bars, late-night cafés and sober events help shift routines with like minded people.

Decision Levers

• Offering fun, engaging choices makes the transition feel exciting, not limiting.

Participant Details

Total Participants
10 (5 drinkers, 5 non-drinkers)
**Eventhough our project was for drinkers we believed hearing stories from non-drinkers would be valuable for our solution.

Age Range
23-28 years

Gender Distribution
6 Male, 4 Female

Occupations & Fields
Students, business professionals, non-profit, and tech workers.

Why This Sample?

Ensures a diverse range of perspectives Covers different life stages: students vs. working professionals Balances personal drinking habits for unbiased insights

Interview

Format
10 total = 5 drinkers + 5 non-drinkers
4 females, 6 males

Recieved Consent
Screen & audio recording

Interview Question Types
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Card-Sorting Activity
Our card-sorting activity is about understanding the participants' perception of different types of people alcoholic drinks per week. 

Post Card-Sorting Activity Questions
Perceptions of Others Messaging & Education Stress & Coping

Theme 1: Prioritization Of Health For Non-Drinkers ❤︎

Personal Health
Reduce or elimate anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, allergic reactions

"I noticed that I would have like more anxiety when I was drinking, and like the anxiety is what caused the GI issues."

"I have seen that my body doesn't go well with alcohol."

Social Interactions from Influences
Observed: Family problems stemming from consumption & friends/strangers acting unsafe when intoxicated

"A lot of like the problems that have happened in our family, like arguments and stuff are always worse. They either happen because people have the courage to fight with each other because they're drunk, [...] and people say worse things when they're drinking."

"People lose control. Sometimes they don't know what their limits are."

Educational Programs
Drug abuse programs in college informed users about the effects, which deinfluenced them

"We also learned about the negative effects of alcohol. Alcohol can literally kill you. And people around you might not even notice it."

Theme 2: Alcohol Culture Fills the Social Gap ✨

A Way To Open Up 
Drinking showed signs of improved social life and friendships by reducing anxiety with everyone.

"Yeah, I think, you know, our house parties, especially because everyone's drinking and also, I think sometimes the alcohol actually helped me to open up a little bit." "You have people to talk around with. You can feel a bit more light hearted. It helps with the social anxiety."

Social Life = Physical Health
Participants with likeminded friends push each other for healthy habits.

"I think having a community around me would be helpful because you need people you can talk to about the cravings you're having, and it just helps you be distracted."

"Yeah, I did Dry January. I was like, okay, l guess / can do it. It's kind of a cultural trend, cultural challenge, you know? Some friends were doing it, so we supported each other and cut back on alcohol."

Bars, The Go To Third Place
Bars provide a comfortable environment to simply "hang out" with friends.

"And you're leaving your house, there's, a big world out there, but what seems like a finite number of options of what you can, like, realistically get your friends together to go."

Affinity Diagram Details:

The affinity diagram was created for participants who WANT TO REDUCE and CHOOSE NOT TO DRINK.

The affinity diagram sections are:

• Personal Drinking Habit and Motivations
• Social & Environmental Influences
• Stress and Coping Mechanism
• Perceptions and Awareness - After Revealing Data
• Questions about Card Placement
• Mental Models

Messaging Service

Pros

• Simple setup (only needs phone number).
• Works with existing SMS apps.
• Minimal storage (uses default system).
• Familiar interface, no learning curve.
• Low-cost, flexible, and lightweight solution.
  

Cons

• Easy to overlook as regular messages.
• Limited customization and branding.
• Harder to track engagement or analytics.

App Service

Pros

• Dedicated app with distinct notifications.
• More control over design, branding, and features.
• Can track usage and gather user data.
• Supports richer content (media, interactive features).
  

Cons

• Requires development resources.
• Takes storage space on device.
• Higher barrier to entry (download needed).
• Steeper learning curve for some users.
• May exclude users with limited data plans.

Market Research

We have turned a possible competitor, The Nudge, into our solution. 

About The Nudge

The Nudge is a service that messages users of any local place near them. They have proven that this is a successful model given its availability in 10 large cities with over 1 million users. Leveraging this idea to target people seeking alternative third places to replace bars and partnering with influencers with similar content and marketing would be an easy lift.

How We Would Use The Nudge

We would like to use The Nudge platform to suggest third places that don't primarily around alcohol consumption.

It's extremely simple feasible system, text-based subscription service, is low-cost and accessible to everyone with a basic cell phone plan.

Chatting With Sober Curious

V1 - Dependant On Typed Messages

• Many user's were annoyed that they would need to type their responses. 

FINAL

• We changed the user interaction from typing answers to clicking on options.