SERVice Stars!

[picture coming soon!]
We all say that feedback is the key to success; clearly, our group has tried to maximize feedback since our [awesome] study break. Even more beneficial is the combination of others’ ideas. For a little while, Steve had asked us to make something to put on display, to try and exploit social proof on a larger scale, such as hanging a poster in the dining hall showing those who participate in community service and when. At first, our team was a bit skeptical; ultimately, peer feedback we received last class made all the difference.
Last class, Steve had one representative from each team stand by their board area, in which we wrote about our bright spots and frustrations. I chose to stay, and had at least 6 people flock to me immediately. One suggestion shone above the rest: service stars. Our group chose to combine this idea with Steve’s idea of having a display in the dining hall, creating a goal-driven concept that we hope to make permanent.
To become a service star, you simply create a goal for yourself, and write it on a dinosaur. This dinosaur was then stuck on the “SERVice Star” poster [which is five feet long-as tall as me!] Each time you come to a service activity, you get a sticker next to their dinosaur, marking a step closer to your goal! We’re pushing this idea to be goal driven, rather than reward/competition driven.
We hope that by having a bunch of dinosaurs, we can encourage more people to join in, implementing social proof. I’m sure many people have walked by, and wondered what the poster of dinosaurs near the SERV table is about. This curiosity is what leads to progress in such a display. Another key concept is consistency-we believe people will want to earn those stickers to join their dinosaurs on the poster in order to meet their goals.
Wednesday the 2nd was our first day of pitching this idea-in the course of an hour, over 30 people had created their own service dinosaur! I had never seen such excitement at the SERV table before, over the entirety of this year. This new poster, along with the poster with information about upcoming Friday service activities, have given more life to the SERV table, helping us spread our love of service to others.