Abstract
Due to their widespread use, consumer technologies like messaging or video streaming services present a promising opportunity to disseminate wellbeing interventions, such as positive activities, to a large audience. Currently, this potential is primarily leveraged by dedicated wellbeing applications. To broaden the scope of applications, we conducted a student-led case study that explored how positive activities could also be integrated into consumer technologies that are not originally designed for wellbeing. Based on the analysis of concrete design examples, we identified three strategies for integration: 1. addition, 2. enrichment, 3. transformation. We showcase each integration strategy through a specific design example. A variety of design mechanisms were employed whereby particularly prompts to create an opportunity and self-reflection to foster motivation and capability have been observed. Together, our findings demonstrate how positive activities and mechanisms to support behavior change can be woven seamlessly into contemporary technology through minimal redesigns.
Keywords
design for wellbeing; positive activities; behavior change; digital wellbeing; positive design; consumer technology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.795
Citation
Wiese, L., Pohlmeyer, A., and Hekkert, P. (2024) Daily doses of wellbeing: How everyday technology can support positive activities, in Gray, C., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.795
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Daily doses of wellbeing: How everyday technology can support positive activities
Due to their widespread use, consumer technologies like messaging or video streaming services present a promising opportunity to disseminate wellbeing interventions, such as positive activities, to a large audience. Currently, this potential is primarily leveraged by dedicated wellbeing applications. To broaden the scope of applications, we conducted a student-led case study that explored how positive activities could also be integrated into consumer technologies that are not originally designed for wellbeing. Based on the analysis of concrete design examples, we identified three strategies for integration: 1. addition, 2. enrichment, 3. transformation. We showcase each integration strategy through a specific design example. A variety of design mechanisms were employed whereby particularly prompts to create an opportunity and self-reflection to foster motivation and capability have been observed. Together, our findings demonstrate how positive activities and mechanisms to support behavior change can be woven seamlessly into contemporary technology through minimal redesigns.