Nudging Users or Redesigning Interfaces? Evaluating Novel Strategies for Digital Wellbeing Through inControl

As web designers may deliberately adopt design patterns to hook users' attention, researchers and practitioners have innovated several tools for supporting users' digital self-control, hoping to help users self-regulate technology use - especially social networks and video streaming platforms - and achieve digital wellbeing. Unfortunately, these tools often restrict usage, e.g., through self-imposed timers and blockers, limiting interaction possibilities. This paper describes the design, development, and evaluation of two alternative strategies for digital self-control targeting the Facebook and YouTube websites. Specifically, we implemented a Chrome extension that a) highlights when the user is scrolling infinitely by progressively darkening the background (nudging strategy), and b) redesigns the homepages isolating guilty pleasure recommendations and proposing a minimalistic interface (redesign strategy). We compared the two strategies in a three-week field study with 14 participants, finding that both strategies promoted intentional use and allowed participants to decrease time spent and passive scrolling. In particular, participants liked the nudging strategy more as it supported conscious use without changing the overall user experience. We conclude with design implications for moving from traditional digital self-control tools to diverse approaches that may better support digital wellbeing in the long term

Designing for Meaningful Interactions and Digital Wellbeing

In the contemporary attention economy, tech companies design the interfaces of their digital platforms by adopting attention-capture dark patterns to drive their behavior and maximize time spent and daily visits. Two popular examples are viral recommendations and content autoplay on social networks. As these patterns exploit people’s psychological vulnerabilities and may contribute to technology overuse and problematic behaviors, there is the need of promoting the design of technology that better align with people’s digital wellbeing. This workshop seeks to advance this timely and urgent need, by inviting researchers and practitioners in interdisciplinary domains to engage in conversation around the design of interfaces that allow people to take advantage of digital platforms in a meaningful and conscious way

Redesigning Experience Consumption in Social VR Worlds : Decentralised Value Creation, Mobilisation, and Exchanges

Virtual reality technology based corporates have been developing user-driven open markets for over a decade. The most noticeable initial player was Linden Lab, the service provider of Second Life that launched its metaverse world in 2003. The main features of the service were collaborative VR creation interfaces, individual asset management systems, and the virtual currency named Linden dollar. By the main interaction/interface structure, the residents of Second Life could create a pixel world of their own imagination, reserve the value of digital experiences, and exchange the value of imagination, and experience individually or collectively. A decade of life experience of the virtual world gave us lessons of how people interact, communicate, and evaluate virtual goods and experiences. The recent HMD technology emerged the second round of consumer-based Social VR platform race that has become more immersive, realistic, and user- centred. Relating to the technological leap, recent appeals of Social VR platforms have drawn a great attention from public: Project Sansar of Linden Lab, High Fidelity, and AltSpaceVR to name but a few. The social VR platforms commonly installed co-presence, avatar embodiments, real-time collaborations, and communications over virtual spaces. Project Sansar has conceptually inherited the idea of “the world by residents” from Second Life, its virtual monetisation pilot system. Project Sansar launched creators preview in late 2016, and recruited 3D builders among Second Life business owners, who have potentiality of opening a new business in the Project Sansar platform. After over a year of creators preview operation, it tackled major technical issues of building worlds over a HMD enabled VR system, and key storefront features of a consumer based creation system. Apart from their day-to-day trouble shootings, it raised a couple of questions on critical facets of consumer based creation systems. First, the crowdsourced world building needs a common ground of the planning body. How do they build the common ground to give a form of imagination? Even though they run an extremely peripheral structure, ultimately they need an organizational steering that maintains rules, and actions. In short, how can residents share common architecture in a speculative nature? Eventually how does it transit to a planning, designing, building and consuming cycle? To address these research questions, we conducted a design game research that gathered data from design game participants who were second and third year students (N = 7) in an interaction design course. The participatory design methodology installed a group simulation for creativity that appeared the influences of immersion, and collaboration to a collective design quality. The research results highlighted the key elements of user-driven innovation in the virtual world and consumer based platforms. It gives insightful design guidelines for consumer based virtual reality services those are targeting decentralised monetary system developments in a practical perspective. Theoretically, it has a potential contribution to the complexity area that assimilates innovation models for multi-agents in technical sectors

Designing for Usability in 3D Virtual Environments

This paper is about designing 3D applications and the software design process in desktop virtual environments. Here, we introduce parts of our work on a design-focused approach to usability engineering and software development for 3D desktop virtual environments. We begin by discussing some of the current limitations in virtual environment research. We then introduce alternate perspectives for improving the usability of virtual environment applications. We highlight the need for a software development approach to designing virtual environment applications and provide some arguments for this. Finally, we conclude by providing a summary of our work-in-progress solution

A manifesto for cognitive ergonomics: re-evaluating technology usability for the 21st century

Computer infiltration into the workplace and society has been extensive, yet the ideals of efficacy, efficiency and satisfaction have not been wholly met. We propose an ambitious framework to take forward Cognitive Ergonomics. We define Cognitive Ergonomics as an interdisciplinary field of research and practice dedicated towards: • Improving human wellbeing, mankind and our environment • By understanding and supporting human cognition • When at work or performing goal-directed tasks • With computers and other engineered artefacts. This revitalizing framework will be based on: • Interdisciplinary Research • Research-based Policy • Education The proposed interdisciplinary framework will refocus on the classical facets of usability and include work-relevant emotions as well as understanding the minimal requirements for successful interactions (including understanding agency). The research-based policy will focus on efficacy in terms of human cognitive ergonomics in a holistic perspective (i.e. producing the effects we want without adverse effects). This will include complex questions about interface design in the context of the organisational and business models that influence its development (e.g. monetization). The educational concerns will focus on efficiency and include minimal programmes for all computer scientists and all end-users, as well as the consequences of digital mediation in learning generally. This framework will differentiate cognitive ergonomics from its cognate fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology, and address a gap between the social sciences and engineering that has become more urgent in the past 5-10 years. It is ideally suited to be carried forward by the European Association of Cognitive Ergonomics, as this framework is specifically a collaborative effort grounded in European intellectual and scientific tradition; a perspective that offers a much-needed contrast and complement to Anglosphere research and development agendas in interactive technologies

A manifesto for cognitive ergonomics: Re-evaluating Technology Usability for the 21st Century

Copyright © 2019 for this paper by its authors. Computer infiltration into the workplace and society has been extensive, yet the ideals of efficacy, efficiency and satisfaction remain unattained. We propose an ambitious framework to take forward Cognitive Ergonomics and Human Factors. Increasing the visibility of the field while linking and nurturing the practitioners is essential. We define Cognitive Ergonomics as an interdisciplinary field of research and practice dedicated towards: – Understanding and supporting human cognition and performance – At work or when performing other goal-directed tasks – With computers and other engineered artefacts – To improve human well-being and our relationship with our environment. This revitalising programme will be based on: – Interdisciplinary Research – Research-based Policy – Education The proposed interdisciplinary framework will refocus on the classical facets of usability and include work-relevant emotions as well as understanding the minimal requirements for successful interactions (including understanding agency). The research-based policy will focus on efficacy in terms of human cognitive ergonomics in a holistic perspective (i.e. producing the effects we want without adverse effects). This will include complex questions about interface design in the context of the organisational and business models that influence its development (e.g. monetization). The educational courses will spotlight how end-users should not have their time wasted, as well as the consequences of digital mediation in learning generally. This framework will differentiate cognitive ergonomics from its affiliated fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology, and address a gap between the social sciences and engineering that has become more urgent in the past 5-10 years. It is ideally suited to be carried forward by the European Association of Cognitive Ergonomics. This framework is specifically a collaborative effort grounded in European intellectual and scientific tradition — a perspective that offers a much-needed contrast and complement to Anglosphere research and development agendas in interactive technologies