Strategies and Design Principles to Minimize Negative Side-effects of Digital Motivation on Teamwork

Digital Motivation in business refers to the use of technology in order to facilitate a change of attitude, perception and behaviour with regards to adopting policies, achieving goals and executing tasks. It is a broad term to indicate existing and emerging paradigms such as Gamification, Persuasive Technology, Serious Games and Entertainment Computing. Our previous research indicated risks when applying Digital Motivation. One of these main risks is the impact it can have on the interpersonal relationships between colleagues and their individual and collective performance. It may lead to a feeling of unfairness and trigger negative group processes (such as social loafing and unofficial clustering) and adverse wo rk ethics. In this paper, we propose a set of strategies to minimize such risks and then consolidate these strategies through an empirical study involving managers,practitioners and users.The strategies are then analysed for their goal, stage and purpose of use to add further guidance. The strategies and their classification are meant to inform developers and management on how to design,set-up and introduce Digital Motivation to a business environment, maximize its efficiency and minimize its side-effects on teamwork

Chapter 3 Persuasive technologies and the right to mental liberty

The outline of this chapter is as follows. In section 2 we provide a further definition of PTs, and present some possibilities that PTs offer for the smart correctional rehabilitation of criminal offenders. Next, in section 3, we briefly discuss the right to mental liberty and the extent to which this right is guaranteed by existing European human rights. In section 4, we discuss three considerations that should be relevant in specifying human rights protection against smart rehabilitation. Subsequently, in section 5 we explore whether the use of PTs in the context of smart rehabilitation would infringe an appropriately specified legal right to mental liberty. We suggest that, in this context, it might be difficult to identify compelling distinctions between novel forms of smart rehabilitation and more traditional criminal legal interventions, such as the imposition of a prison sentence or a psychological treatment program

Explainable Persuasion in Interactive Design

Persuasive technology refers to the use of digital means to influence attitude, behaviour, and decisions. While a professional design of persuasive interfaces shall consider user interests and freedom of choice as a primary requirement, principles, and methods to achieve it are yet to be introduced. In the design of persuasive interfaces, fulfilling conditions of informed consent can help establish transparency and resolve such ethical issues. This paper introduces the concept of explainable persuasion as a way to address informed consent within persuasive interfaces. We provide a definition for explainable persuasion, highlight the need for it, discuss the design approach and underline the challenges to be addressed when designing explainable persuasive interfaces

Persuasive Technologies and the Right to Mental Liberty: The ‘Smart’ Rehabilitation of Criminal Offenders

Every day, millions of people use mobile phones, play video games and surf the Internet. It is thus important to determine how technologies like these change what people think and how they behave. This is a central issue in the study of persuasive technologies. ‘Persuasive technologies’—henceforth ‘PTs’—are digital technologies, such as mobile apps, video games and virtual reality systems, that are deployed for the explicit purpose of changing attitudes and/or behaviours, without using coercion, deception or extreme forms of psychological manipulation (such as hypnosis or indoctrination), and without exerting a direct (not psychologically mediated) physical effect on the brain. Typically PTs employ strategies such as prompting, information provision and encouragement..

Perceptions of the Ethics of Persuasive Technology

This thesis explores the perceptions of the ethics of persuasive technology as applied to the design of user interfaces. The intentions are to learn whether consumers of software see persuasion through technology as ethical, whether producers of software view the development of persuasive technology as ethical, and whether these opinions can be reconciled. This research consists of a review of relevant literature on the topic, a survey of software consumers, interviews with software producers, and an analysis of the data, resulting in conclusions intended to influence the responsible design of user interfaces in the future. The results suggest a number of findings, including that persuasive technology is effective, that software consumers do not necessarily recognize persuasion when it is applied to them, and that they do not generally wish to be persuaded, unless they view the motivation of the persuader as being morally admirable. Software producers, on the other hand, do not intentionally behave unethically, but they are open to the development of persuasive technology, and even deceptive technology under some conditions. Persuasive technology has been described and analyzed to some extent in the academic literature, but often the ethical considerations have been given only secondary importance, although in a few cases, authors have expressed strong opinions that ethics can and should be considered when designing and developing software. Recent discussions among software design professionals online have demonstrated that there are growing concerns about the use of persuasive technology, even if these concerns have not yet been extensively explored in academic study

Do persuasive designs make smartphones more addictive? -A mixed-methods study on Chinese university students

Persuasive designs have become prevalent for smartphones, and an increasing number of users report problematic smartphone use behaviours. Persuasive designs in smartphones might be accountable for the development and reinforcement of such problematic use. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach to study the relationship between persuasive designs and problematic smartphone use: (1) questionnaires (N=183) to investigate the proportion of participants with multiple problematic smartphone use behaviours and smartphone designs and applications (apps) that they perceived affecting their attitudes and behaviours, and (2) interviews (N=10) to deepen our understanding of users’ observations and evaluations of persuasive designs. 25% of the participants self-reported having multiple problematic smartphone use behaviours, with short video, social networking, game and learning apps perceived as the most attitude- and behaviour-affecting. Interviewees identified multiple persuasive designs in most of these apps and stated that persuasive designs prolonged their screen time, reinforced phone-checking habits, and caused distractions. Overall, this study provides evidence to argue that persuasive designs contribute to problematic smartphone use, potentially making smartphones more addictive. We end our study by discussing the ethical implications of persuasive designs that became salient in our study

Développer des habitudes en milieu de travail – une approche par la conception

RÉSUMÉ : Pour limiter les infections nosocomiales (les infections acquises à l’hôpital) il est recommandé aux professionnels de la santé de se laver les mains à certains moments clés. Or on constate que le taux de conformité à ces pratiques au Québec est en deçà des attentes ministérielles. Des interventions comportementales ont été développées face à ce problème, mais le peu de travaux faisant état de leur durabilité montre que les effets de l’intervention ont tendance à se dissiper au bout de six mois. Or la problé-matique de l’adoption de bonnes pratiques de prévention des infections est celle de l’adoption d’un comportement durable dans le temps. Il s’agit donc de changer une pratique de travail quotidienne, problématique que l’on retrouve lors de l’implantation d’un changement en organisation. Plus précisément, nous nous intéressons à concevoir une méthode pour accompagner le personnel de terrain afin qu’il conçoive des solutions lui permettant de développer des comportements pérennes en organisation. S’agissant de proposer un artéfact à utiliser en organisation, la méthodologie de recherche utilisée est celle des sciences de la conception. La solution proposée est la méthode FOCALE, acronyme pour Focaliser, Observer au travers de CREATE (acronyme de Cue – Reaction – Evaluation – Ability – Timing – Exécution, processus modélisant les étapes cognitives menant à la réalisation d’une action), Analyser, Libérer les idées, Expérimenter. Cette méthode fonctionne comme une méthode de résolution de problèmes, mais intègre des éléments liés au fonctionnement et au changement de comportement humain. La méthode FOCALE a été testée au sein du CIMAR-Lab de Polytechnique Montréal avec un total de huit participants. Pour cela, les participants ont effectué la méthode FOCALE puis ont répondu à un questionnaire. Ainsi, la méthode semble bien remplir ses fonctionnalités, mais les participants l’ont trouvée un peu complexe et ont suggéré de nombreuses voies d’amélioration, principalement en ce qui concerne la mise en œuvre de la méthode pour la rendre plus fonctionnelle. Cela ouvre la voie à de nouveaux travaux pour améliorer la méthode FOCALE, continuer à la tester dans différents environnements pour valider son efficience, et travailler à la prise en compte des éléments de fonctionnement et de changement du comportement humain dans la résolution de problèmes.----------ABSTRACT : In order to reduce hospital-acquired infections, the World Health Organization recommends that healthcare professionals wash their hands at some key moments. However the compliance rate of hand hygiene in Québec sets below the state’s expectations. To address this problem, behavioral interventions were developed by researchers. But few papers look into the sustainability (in time) of the outcome of the interventions. And some papers report that the effects of the intervention tend to disappear after six months. The issue of adopting good practices of infection prevention is indeed tied to the issue of adopting a long-lasting behavior. To improve hand hygiene rates, a work practice thus needs to be changed. Such an issue is also encountered when looking at implementing change in any organization. More precisely we got interested in designing a methodology to help workers design solutions themselves to enable them to develop sustainable behaviors in organization. To do that a design science research approach is used as the aim is to design an artefact (the method) that will be used in organizations. Thus the proposed solution is the FOCALE method. It’s an acronym that stands for Focus, Observe through CREATE (acronym for Cue – Reaction – Evaluation – Ability – Timing – Execution, it’s a process that shows the cognitive steps leading to taking action), Analyze, Let ideas flow, Experiment. This method embeds problem solving steps and principles linked to human behavior functioning and change. The FOCALE method was tested in the CIMAR-Lab at Polytechnique Montréal with eight participants. They used the method and answered a questionnaire. The results show that the method meets its desired functionalities but is a bit complex. Thus participants offered ways to improve it, especially regarding the implementation of the method. Therefore, further research could look into improving the FOCALE method or testing it in different environment settings to assess its efficiency. It could also be interesting to look into taking human behavior functioning and change principles more into consideration when looking at solving problems

Beiträge zur IT-gestützten Verhaltensänderung

Mitarbeiter in Unternehmen, deren Tätigkeit mit Freiheiten und somit einem hohen Maß an Eigenverantwortung einhergeht, sind auf gutes Selbstmanagement angewiesen. Insbesondere gewohntes Verhalten aufzugeben fällt Menschen schwer und erfordert strikte und dauerhafte Umsetzung. Persuasive Technology (PT) ist eine Klasse von Informationstechnologie (IT), deren Ziel es ist, Verhalten zu verändern und könnte somit das Selbstmanagement von Mitarbeitern unterstützen. Diese Art von IT-Unterstützung bringt Vorteile mit sich, da sie skalierbar sowie orts- und zeitunabhängig verfügbar ist. Der Stand der Forschung hierzu gilt jedoch als lückenhaft. Deshalb bestehen Zweifel, ob die Technologie tatsächlich die Wirksamkeit entwickeln kann, die man ihr zuschreibt. Diese Arbeit untersucht anhand einer systematischen Literaturstudie, inwieweit PT derzeit das Potenzial hat, die Wirksamkeit von Selbstmanagement zu erhöhen, um eine aktive Veränderung des eigenen gewohnten Verhaltens zu erreichen. Der identifizierte Bedarf nach Personalisierung zur Steigerung der Wirksamkeit von Artefakten und einer ethischen Betrachtung wird diskutiert, um daraus konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen abzuleiten

Explainable Persuasion for Persuasive Interfaces: The Case of Online Gambling

As human attention is a scarce resource, interactive online platforms such as social networks, gaming and online gambling platforms utilise persuasive interfaces to maximise user engagement. However, ethical concerns may arise since persuasive systems influence user behaviours. While interacting with persuasive systems, users may be unaware of being persuaded or unaware of the negative consequences that may result from interacting with persuasive systems. This can hinder users’ ability to evaluate the persuasion attempt and regulate their behaviour. Moreover, persuasive systems designed to maximise user engagement may, in some cases, trigger or reinforce addictive usage. There is evidence in the literature that online persuasive interfaces may influence psychological and cognitive mechanisms related to addictive behaviour. Transparency and user voluntariness are proposed to be the building blocks of ethical persuasive systems. However, to date, the concept of transparent persuasive technology mainly remained philosophical in academia. One approach to designing persuasive systems that adhere to the transparency and user voluntariness requirements could be fulfilling conditions for informed consent. When interacting with persuasive systems, users could be informed about the persuasive design techniques used by the system, and such information may help users build resilience against persuasion attempts made by the system. Such an approach aligns with the principles outlined in the software engineering code of ethics of avoiding harm and maintaining honesty and trustworthiness. This thesis aims to introduce and evaluate the concept of explainable persuasion in the context of designing ethical digital persuasive interfaces with an analogy to explainable artificial intelligence. A mixed methods approach was conducted to achieve this goal. The thesis focused on a distinct domain, online gambling, as gambling disorder is recognised as a mental disorder by health organisations. Accordingly, a scoping review was conducted first to identify the main persuasive design techniques utilised in online gambling platforms. Identified persuasive design techniques were analysed for their potential to facilitate gambling disorder through the addiction literature. An online survey was then conducted to examine users’ awareness of persuasive design techniques used in online gambling platforms and users’ attitudes towards the concept of explainable persuasion. Finally, an online experiment was conducted to determine the effectiveness of explainable persuasion as an inoculation intervention in building resilience against persuasive design techniques used in online gambling platforms. The findings of the user studies showed that explainable persuasion was accepted and that it could be a promising solution for designing persuasive interfaces that promote informed choice and strengthen resilience against persuasion if it is not compatible with users’ personal goals. This thesis contributes to transparency and explainability literature as it is one of the first attempts to examine the role of explainability in the domain of persuasive technology which may also have addictive potential. Identifying acceptance and rejection factors of explainable persuasion can help design persuasive interfaces that promote informed usage and meet ethical requirements. This implication does not only apply to persuasive technology but can also be generalised to research areas such as combatting fake news and social engineering. The findings are expected to have important implications for gambling operators and regulators in expanding the scope of responsible gambling practices to ensure explainability and transparency. The results are expected to also benefit wider application areas such as explainability in other contents and interfaces related to marketing, news and recommendations made by or facilitated by intelligent systems

Gamification risks in collaborative information systems: identification and management method.

In recent years, technology has been increasingly harnessed to play a role in encouraging and persuading people towards a better achievement of their individual and collective goals. Gamification solutions are popular approaches in this field. Gamification in business refers to the use of game elements in order to facilitate a change of behaviours, encourage engagement and increase motivation toward executing tasks and attaining goals. Despite the increasing recognition, previous research has revealed risks when applying gamification to teamwork within a business environment, such as negatively affect group coherence and creating adverse work ethics. For example, applying competitive elements such as leaderboards may lead to clustering amongst team members and encourage adverse work ethics such as intimidation and pressure. Although the problem is already recognised in principle, there is still a need to clarify and concretise those risks, their factors and their relation to the gamification dynamics and mechanics. Moreover, developing an integrated method to systematically identify those risks and provide a way to mitigate and prevent them for healthier and successful implementation of the system in teamwork places is needed. To achieve this goal, this thesis conducted a set of empirical studies involving managers, practitioners, psychologists and gamification users. This includes three-stage empirical research in two large-scale businesses using gamification in their workplace, including two months’ observation and interview study. This resulted in identifying a set of risk factors, a taxonomy of risks and set of management strategies. A follow-up focus groups research study also identified the modalities of application of these strategies, including who should be involved and how in their implementations. These studies first resulted in the development of a checklist tool to help identify gamification risks. The findings were finally used to develop a method to systematically identify gamification risks and recommend design practices and strategies to tackle them. By accomplishing that, this thesis recommends that gamification in enterprises shall undertake a risk assessment and management process to cater for its potential side effects on teamwork. A notable recommendation is to use participatory decision style for the method that enables for the analysis of gamification risks and their resolution. Moreover, this thesis recommends studying how to integrate the risk identification processes, which should take an iterative participatory style with the systems’ development life cycle activities