Process-based Guidance for Designing Behavior Change Support Systems: Marrying the Persuasive Systems Design Model to the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change

Behavior change is a highly relevant and studied topic in the psychology discipline. Through integrating technologies into everyday life, behavior change support systems (BCSS) have gained attention in information systems discipline. Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa (2009) have offered a persuasive systems design (PSD) model, a leading framework to provide a generic technical design process including 28 design principles. However, the model lacks a clear picture about which among these 28 design principles one should select for specific implementations. Consequently, researchers and developers who implement BCSS lack structured and evidence-based guidance. They need to invest time and cognitive resources to analyze different design principles. Because the influence of persuasive systems links strongly to processual state of behavior change, we combine the PSD model with Prochaska and DiClemente’s (1983) transtheoretical model (TTM) and posit a model that recommends appropriate design principles for the five transitions along the behavior-change stages. We refined the model using a systematic literature review. The results specify the PSD model and guidelines to select effective design principles for developing BCSS

Examining the Persuasive Potential of Web-based Health Behavior Change Support Systems

Understanding the persuasive potential of systems to support behavior change is increasingly important. If systems are not designed properly, their persuasive potential is not fulfilled. Previous research has shown that persuasive system design has a significant impact on adherence. Moreover, persuasive system features are likely to be advantageous in boosting effective user engagement with the technology and keeping the users motivated in their endeavors. In this study, we identify persuasive system features used in a selection of Web-based health behavior change support systems targeting excessive alcohol use and weight loss. We conducted en expert-based evaluation using the persuasive systems design model as a lens to view the twelve selected Web-based systems. The evaluation included a hands-on approach in which we used the systems for at least one month each and evaluated in terms of four categories: primary task support, computer-human dialogue support, system credibility, and social support. The results suggest that the systems harness a decent number of persuasive features. However, they had room for improvement (e.g., in terms of tailoring). Further research is needed to increase our understanding of how and under what conditions specific persuasive system features, either in isolation or collectively, lead to positive health outcomes in behavior change support systems across diverse contexts and populations. This study adds to the body of knowledge on designing persuasive health behavior change support systems

Native Mobile Applications For Personal Well-Being: A Persuasive Systems Design Evaluation

Smartphone applications have shown promise in supporting people to adopt healthy lifestyles. Hence, it is critical to understand persuasive design strategies incorporated in native mobile applications that facilitate behavior change. The aim of our study was to identify distinct persuasive software features assimilated in twelve selected applications using Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model and provide a methodical framework for systems developers and IS researchers to extract and evaluate such features. Further, this study aimed to provide deeper comprehension of persuasive design and strategies by learning from practice. Exhaustive evaluations were performed by four researchers specializing in persuasive information systems simulating users walking through the applications step-by-step performing regular tasks. The results disclose the need for improvement in designing and incorporating persuasive techniques in personal well-being applications. While self-monitoring and personalization were moderately exploited, tailoring, a key persuasive feature, was not identified among the evaluated applications. In addition, evaluated applications lacked features that could augment human-computer dialogue as well as social support. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: while it exposes weakness in persuasive design of native mobile applications for personal well-being, it provides a methodical approach for enhancing general persuasiveness of such applications for instance, through enhanced dialogue support. We propose that designers and IS researchers perform rigorous evaluations of persuasive features incorporated in personal well-being applications

Towards a Holistic Approach to Designing Theory-based Mobile Health Interventions

Increasing evidence has shown that theory-based health behavior change interventions are more effective than non-theory-based ones. However, only a few segments of relevant studies were theory-based, especially the studies conducted by non-psychology researchers. On the other hand, many mobile health interventions, even those based on the behavioral theories, may still fail in the absence of a user-centered design process. The gap between behavioral theories and user-centered design increases the difficulty of designing and implementing mobile health interventions. To bridge this gap, we propose a holistic approach to designing theory-based mobile health interventions built on the existing theories and frameworks of three categories: (1) behavioral theories (e.g., the Social Cognitive Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and the Health Action Process Approach), (2) the technological models and frameworks (e.g., the Behavior Change Techniques, the Persuasive System Design and Behavior Change Support System, and the Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions), and (3) the user-centered systematic approaches (e.g., the CeHRes Roadmap, the Wendel's Approach, and the IDEAS Model). This holistic approach provides researchers a lens to see the whole picture for developing mobile health interventions

Information Technology Enabled Persuasion: An Experimental Investigation of the Role of Communication Channel, Strategy and Affect

With advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), organizations of various forms now deploy an increasing number of ICT-enabled persuasive systems in several domains. Traditional computer-mediated communication (CMC) theories mainly focus on the effectiveness of media in the synchronous/asynchronous spectrum for effectively matching medium with communication task. The contemporary communication environment is rich with asynchronous channels such as email, Web, and text messaging, which makes it important to go beyond synchronicity and determine the nuances among various asynchronous channels. No rigorous research has compared the effectiveness of these channels in the persuasive systems domain where organizations use technology to persuade users to modify their behavior in a direction that they mutually agree to be desirable. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of CMC and the strategy used to frame the persuasive message. We explore persuasive strategies of praising, reminding, suggesting, and rewarding for health behavior and promotion. We model user experience as a mediator between channel strategy combinations and persuasive effectiveness. Through controlled user studies, we compared sixteen combinations of communication channel and persuasive strategy with or without emoticons. We found that channel/strategy combinations affect persuasive effectiveness (mediated by user experience) in varying degrees. Our findings contribute to the body of CMC and persuasive system knowledge and have practical implications for online advertising, health promotion, and persuasive technology design

Social learning approach in designing persuasive e-commerce recommender system model

Intention to purchase in existing online business practice is learned through observation of information display by online seller. The emergent growth of persuasive technologies currently holds a great potential in driving a positive influence towards consumer purchase behavior. But to date, there is still limited research on implementing persuasion concept into the recommender system context. Drawing upon the principle design of persuasive system, the main purpose of this study is to explore social learning advantages in creating persuasive features for E-Commerce recommender system. Based on Social Cognitive Theory, the influence of personal and environmental factors will be examined in measuring consumer purchase intention. In addition, dimensions of social learning environment are represented by observational learning theory and cognitive learning theory. From those reviews, this study assumed that social learning environment can be created based on attentiveness, retentiveness, motivational, knowledge awareness and interest evaluation cues of consumer learning factors. Furthermore, the persuasive environment of recommender system is assumed to have positive influence towards individual characteristics such as self-efficacy behavior, perceived task complexity and confused by over choice. Findings from those reviews have contributed to the development of a research model in visualizing social learning environment that can be used to develop a persuasive recommender system in E-Commerce and hence measures the impact towards consumer purchase intention

Effect of Values and Technology Use on Exercise: Implications for Personalized Behavior Change Interventions

Technology has recently been recruited in the war against the ongoing obesity crisis; however, the adoption of Health & Fitness applications for regular exercise is a struggle. In this study, we present a unique demographically representative dataset of 15k US residents that combines technology use logs with surveys on moral views, human values, and emotional contagion. Combining these data, we provide a holistic view of individuals to model their physical exercise behavior. First, we show which values determine the adoption of Health & Fitness mobile applications, finding that users who prioritize the value of purity and de-emphasize values of conformity, hedonism, and security are more likely to use such apps. Further, we achieve a weighted AUROC of .673 in predicting whether individual exercises, and we also show that the application usage data allows for substantially better classification performance (.608) compared to using basic demographics (.513) or internet browsing data (.546). We also find a strong link of exercise to respondent socioeconomic status, as well as the value of happiness. Using these insights, we propose actionable design guidelines for persuasive technologies targeting health behavior modification

Persuasive system design does matter: a systematic review of adherence to web-based interventions

Background: Although web-based interventions for promoting health and health-related behavior can be effective, poor adherence is a common issue that needs to be addressed. Technology as a means to communicate the content in web-based interventions has been neglected in research. Indeed, technology is often seen as a black-box, a mere tool that has no effect or value and serves only as a vehicle to deliver intervention content. In this paper we examine technology from a holistic perspective. We see it as a vital and inseparable aspect of web-based interventions to help explain and understand adherence. Objective: This study aims to review the literature on web-based health interventions to investigate whether intervention characteristics and persuasive design affect adherence to a web-based intervention. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies into web-based health interventions. Per intervention, intervention characteristics, persuasive technology elements and adherence were coded. We performed a multiple regression analysis to investigate whether these variables could predict adherence. Results: We included 101 articles on 83 interventions. The typical web-based intervention is meant to be used once a week, is modular in set-up, is updated once a week, lasts for 10 weeks, includes interaction with the system and a counselor and peers on the web, includes some persuasive technology elements, and about 50% of the participants adhere to the intervention. Regarding persuasive technology, we see that primary task support elements are most commonly employed (mean 2.9 out of a possible 7.0). Dialogue support and social support are less commonly employed (mean 1.5 and 1.2 out of a possible 7.0, respectively). When comparing the interventions of the different health care areas, we find significant differences in intended usage (p = .004), setup (p < .001), updates (p < .001), frequency of interaction with a counselor (p < .001), the system (p = .003) and peers (p = .017), duration (F = 6.068, p = .004), adherence (F = 4.833, p = .010) and the number of primary task support elements (F = 5.631, p = .005). Our final regression model explained 55% of the variance in adherence. In this model, a RCT study as opposed to an observational study, increased interaction with a counselor, more frequent intended usage, more frequent updates and more extensive employment of dialogue support significantly predicted better adherence. Conclusions: Using intervention characteristics and persuasive technology elements, a substantial amount of variance in adherence can be explained. Although there are differences between health care areas on intervention characteristics, health care area per se does not predict adherence. Rather, the differences in technology and interaction predict adherence. The results of this study can be used to make an informed decision about how to design a web-based intervention to which patients are more likely to adher

Proposed Conceptual Design Model of Persuasive Game for Upper limb for Stroke Rehabilitation

The gamification of stroke rehabilitation may increase patient's motivation and engagement towards their rehabilitation activity and hence contributes to faster recovery. Apart from the interactive experience that games offer, it also may be used as a persuasive tool. In this view, games may be used to persuade stroke patients in shaping a good behavior towards their rehabilitation activity. This paper reports our proposed conceptual design model of building persuasive game for stroke patients that follows the Persuasive System Design Model. We incorporate the persuasive software features that includes reduction, tailoring, self-monitoring, and rewards. The proposed game architecture is also discussed in this paper

EVALUATION OF THE PERSUASIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN A WEB-BASED PRAYER APP

Persuasive technology is an approach to designing persuasive systems. The ultimate goal of PT is to enable users of persuasive systems to achieve their desired behavior change without any form of coercion. Based on the persuasive system model, persuasive technology has found application in several domains like Health and Wellness, Education, E-commerce, etc with varying degrees of results, etc. but has found a paucity of studies in the domain of religion and religious application. The rate of engagement with some prayer apps in comparison to other religious-based apps like bible study and worship apps is low. Such apps include daily prayer, pray as you go, and prayer mate. The above findings birthed the need for a design that would be persuasive and goal driven. The goals set to be achieved in this study are to identify the most effective persuasive strategies within its principles for the design of a progressive web app to influence strong adherence to prayer behavior, to evaluate the most persuasive strategy through the system use, and the strategy that encourages more engagement. Using Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, works of literature were situated in 54 papers to find dominant strategies incorporated in different domains to select the most relevant ones in building a persuasive system. The selected strategies were used to design a model which was then converted into a functional and credible system. The Persuasive Potential Questionnaire was adopted to evaluate the user’s susceptibility to the system. The result shows nine strategies are dominant in the PT domains and that personalization is the most persuasive strategy and that social comparison is the least persuasive. This will help researchers to broaden their scope in this domain to investigate some other strategies that will be relevant in such systems as these which will also help the designer to easily select some strategies already investigated to be persuasive in this context. Lastly, this study will help users in engaging continuously with the system for the desired behavior which will eventually lead to continuity in the desired behavior even without the persuasive system