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Psychological Frameworks for Persuasive Information and Communications Technologies Psychological Frameworks for Persuasive Information and Communications Technologies Joseph J.P. Simons Social and Cognitive Computing Department Institute of High Performance Computing, Singapore When developing devices to encourage positive change in users, social psychology can offer useful conceptual resources. This article outlines three major theories from the discipline and discusses their implications for designing persuasive technologies. Developers working on devices or systems that and discover more of the backstory. Between aim to make users happier, healthier, or more runs, they can make decisions about how to motivated would do well to talk to a social deploy in-game resources. This structure packs psychologist. (The experience of trying to two levels of psychological sophistication: the influence human behavior might also drive feedback on performance alone can be developers to seek out a psychotherapist, but motivating, but creating a larger immersive that’s a separate matter.) Since the 1930s, experience also taps into users’ intrinsic researchers have been conducting rigorous, motivation. quantitative studies probing the causal processes underlying social influence, attitude change, and How can developers achieve such design motivation. The discipline provides a fertile sophistication without a PhD in psychology? resource for understanding the drivers of Here, I present three frameworks for use in the people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. development of pervasive technologies intended to foster positive change: Information and communication technologies • The theory of planned behavior provides an (ICTs) that interface well with human account of the factors influencing conscious psychological mechanisms are more engaging, intentions. It’s particularly useful for exciting, and motivating for users. A good understanding why people aren’t always example is the Zombies, Run! game (www. resolved to engage in positive behaviors, zombiesrungame.com), a fitness app that even when they recognize the benefits of incorporates standard features of a running app doing so. — such as recording performance —with a • Self-determination theory addresses when layer of narrative and game-like elements that people will be internally motivated to occur both during and between running engage in a behavior. It’s particularly suited sessions. During the run, users are on a mission, for understanding how deep psychological and they find items, experience zombie attacks, This is the accepted manuscript for an article published by IEEE in Pervasive Computing, available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7508853. © © 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. Psychological Frameworks for Persuasive ICTS | 2 change (as opposed to more superficial due to a solid history of application (as compliance) can be induced. references cited later attest). However, perhaps • Control theory provides an account of the the most important feature is their conceptual process of goal pursuit. It’s particularly fertility. The theories presented abstract away useful for understanding why positive from the details of specific application cases intentions don’t always translate into action. without seeking to provide a unitary account of all mental functioning. Hence, they provide a set My goal is to provide developers with a flexible of complementary perspectives, each of which and generative conceptual toolbox for bringing can be applied to gain insight into new psychology to bear on ICT design. application cases—a particularly useful feature given how fast pervasive technology evolves. Psychology and ICT: an overview Other psychological approaches can be relevant Just as different tools are relevant for different to developers. For example, behavioral aspects of a task, different theories can be useful economics and the psychology of judgment for conceptualizing different parts of a problem. probe the heuristic rules-of-thumb by which Similarly, just as tools can be useful for a wider people make sense of the world (such as using or narrower range of tasks, theories can be mental availability to judge probability). By relevant for solving a broader or narrower range examining these mental quirks, researchers hope of problems. The three theories discussed here to uncover why people sometimes make constitute foundational tools that complement seemingly “irrational” decisions. A popular each other and can provide insight across a overview of basic research is provided by broad range of cases. This article therefore Daniel Kahneman,3 and Richard Thaler and provides “conceptual frameworks” in the Cass Sunstein4 apply these ideas to changing terminology of Eric Hekler and his colleagues.1 behavior via noncoercive “nudges.” The aim isn’t to provide a fine-grained list of particular techniques to use or a universal theory A second approach is positive psychology, of all behavior change, but rather to equip which is the study of optimal human developers with practical working models of experiences (including the study of well-being, how devices affect users. the sense of meaning, and flourishing). An influential early example is Mihaly Why these theories? Csikszentmihalyi’s study of flow experience,5 the state of intrinsic interest and absorption Psychology has generated a wide range of stemming from a calibration of situational theories and techniques for influencing demands to individual ability. Jane behavior. A recent taxonomy has identified McGonigal6 has profitably applied ideas from more than 90 different intervention techniques this area to designing games that promote in the health domain alone.2 Here, I highlight growth in players. Clearly, these approaches three theories, selected on the basis of practical can offer insights for specific design utility to developers. In part, this usefulness is challenges. However, in keeping with the toolkit Psychological Frameworks for Persuasive ICTS | 3 metaphor, I focus here on three theories that, practical primer on some fertile conceptual taken collectively, offer a fruitful starting point frameworks. for conceptualizing a wide range of use cases. Theory and the development process Psychology in ubicomp research The interaction between technology and Many ubicomp researchers already make good psychology is a two-way street. As I noted use of psychological theory in their work. In earlier, researchers have identified many ways some cases, this involves using particular in which psychological theories can guide the theories to inform the design of devices. For development process.1,7 However, ubicomp example, the design of the UbiFit system was devices are an especially potent medium for guided by the theory of goal-setting.7 The refining psychological theories. As Hekler and system motivated participants to exercise by set his colleagues discuss, these devices often have ting specific goals rather than by exhorting them several advantages over traditional self-report to do their best, allowing them to set their own research methods.1 They offer more accurate goals rather than assigning general expert measurements, reduce user burden (and hence advice, and requiring goals to be set such that it allow longer studies with more frequent was unambiguous whether or not they were met. assessment), and unlock big data research strategies. The EmotionSense platform10 Other researchers have presented integrated provides an example of this in action; through models for changing behavior with technology. collaboration between computer scientists and For example, the Fogg Behavior Change model psychologists, it provides a mobile phone identifies three main factors required for application for the measurement of emotion in behavior change: motivation to engage in the everyday life. Although the emphasis of my behavior, the ability to do so, and specific work here is on the resources psychology can behavior triggers.8 offer developers, it isn’t meant to deny the importance of new technologies for theory In other cases, researchers discuss the role of testing and refinement. theory in the development process. Hekler and his colleagues describe how using theories can My discussion of the three theories will focus on facilitate decisions about functionality, the relevance of each theory for ICT design. The assessments of efficacy, and targeting of the goal of these discussions is to show how the most amenable user groups.1 Predrag Klasnja, psychological constructs postulated by these Sunny Consolvo, and Wanda Pratt9 elaborate on theories can provide a working model of how the role of theory in evaluation, arguing that device features affect users. To serve this having a hypothesized mechanism of action purpose, I emphasize concrete examples of how opens up more tailored ways of assessing the some commonly used device features can be effectiveness of new technologies. My article understood within the terms of these theories. I here is intended to contribute to this ongoing also discuss the utility of the theories in interdisciplinary dialogue by providing a highlighting potential “boomerang effects.” Psychological Frameworks for Persuasive ICTS | 4 These
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