Breathe Easy - Quit Smoking - Smoking Cessation

Abstract

Smoking tobacco has been around for really long time and as it started out it was deemed healthy due to having medical benefits. Over the time as people began to use smoking regularly and the side effects of tobacco started to show. Which were cancerous cells in the lungs, throat, mouth, risk of heart disease, bronchitis and so on. Tobacco smoking in the later years became a social construct where people would smoke it to relieve stress, to fit in, peer pressure, and if they are not mentally well. Cigarettes are mixed with nicotine, tar, and other harmful carcinogens. It is because of the nicotine that it becomes addictive and is hard to quit. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the highest mortality rates per year are caused by smoking. The project aims to critically evaluate and determine the gaps in current methods of smoking cessation and to design, develop and evaluate an IT solution for a better way to manage and quit smoking. The project focuses on addressing the problems faced by smokers and the risk of smoking. To design an effective solution existing literature were critically analysed to determine about existing methods and the gaps found in it. This research was validated further via questionnaires and interviews with professionals. The project and the solution were tackled while utilising the iterative and incremental model. Where everything was built in components. The gathered requirements gave an idea of what the stakeholders were expecting to be included in the solution. As a result, Breathe Easy was designed and developed to keep track of positive health progresses, to enter cravings, to predict cravings with a probability of the user smoking or not, to create a plan that will include a coach to chat with depending on whether the user chooses one, a community forum where the user can interact with likeminded people, adding and unlocking rewards and being able to unlock achievements. The solution was evaluated by the stakeholders and professionals, to determine the completeness of the solution and was commended in terms of a unique approach taken to help those battling with a severe addiction.