Self-Control in Cyberspace: Applying Dual Systems Theory to a Review of Digital Self-Control Tools

Many people struggle to control their use of digital devices. However, our understanding of the design mechanisms that support user self-control remains limited. In this paper, we make two contributions to HCI research in this space: first, we analyse 367 apps and browser extensions from the Google Play, Chrome Web, and Apple App stores to identify common core design features and intervention strategies afforded by current tools for digital self-control. Second, we adapt and apply an integrative dual systems model of self-regulation as a framework for organising and evaluating the design features found. Our analysis aims to help the design of better tools in two ways: (i) by identifying how, through a well-established model of self-regulation, current tools overlap and differ in how they support self-control; and (ii) by using the model to reveal underexplored cognitive mechanisms that could aid the design of new tools.Comment: 11.5 pages (excl. references), 6 figures, 1 tabl

The Digital Lives of Student Mothers: A Consideration of Technologies That Support or Erode the Student/Parent Boundary

A growing body of work explores the well-being of students. However, little work has addressed the experiences of student mothers, who must juggle the demands of study and childcare simultaneously. The rise of the student mother is taking place at a time when student learning and engagement as well as childcare has become highly digitised. Existing literature on work/life balance suggests a key issue for student mothers is management of the work-family border, such that they can choose to segregate or blend roles as appropriate. In this study, we used work-family border theory to examine the role that technology plays in supporting both the segregation and blending of student and parent roles, making recommendations for the ways that boundary maintenance might be more explicitly considered in digital systems design