The Institute - June 2018 - 7

is three months away, which could
remind you that you have a suit or
dress you need to fit into. Or, syncing
the app with social media or an online
forum can be a great way to encourage
an individual by finding a community
that shares the same goals.
The app QuitNow, designed for
people who want to stop smoking, for
example, offers an online community
where smokers share their progress
and check up on one another. More
than 2 million people using QuitNow
have successfully stopped smoking,
according to its developer, Fewlaps, a
software company in Girona, Spain.
The app incorporates a financial trigger as well, tracking daily cigarette
usage and the money saved by reducing the number smoked.
Making an announcement through
an app or social media helps keep
people accountable to others, Chatterjee says. Informing friends and
family on Facebook that you plan to
run a marathon or write a book will
hold your feet to the fire, as opposed
to keeping your goal a secret, he says.
"It's harder to change behavior of those
who feel alone in their goal."
REACH I N G THE G OAL

HOW PERSUASIVE
TECHNOLOGY CAN
CHANGE YOUR HABITS
Principles from psychology alter behaviors and beliefs
B Y M O N I CA R O Z E N F E L D

EDMON DE HARO

I

F Y O U ' R E L O O K I N G to break
a habit such as smoking or start
a new one such as saving more
money, you might need a nudge
from your digital device.
Persuasive technology-a term
coined by Stanford researcher
B.J. Fogg-involves incorporating
insights from psychology into the
design of mobile apps, wearables,
and other products. The goal is to
modify people's habits and beliefs.
Behavioral science-the study
of human (and animal) actions-is
playing an increasing role in software design, whether to keep users
coming back to the same website or
encouraging them to play the next
level of a video game when they're
ready to quit. The same techniques
also can be applied to help people
improve their lives.

THEINSTITUTE.IEEE.ORG

"The Holy Grail of behavioral
change is helping someone take small
steps to accomplish a goal until it
becomes a permanent habit," says
IEEE Senior Member Samir Chatterjee,
a persuasive-technology pioneer. But
designing technology to help people
form or break a habit-also known
as behavioral engineering-is not easy.
H ACKI N G MOT I VATION

If people want to change a behavior or
belief on their own, they first need motivation. If they're not motivated, though,
persuasive technologies might be able
to alter their attitude or behavior without coercion or deception, Chatterjee
says. He founded the Innovation Design
and Empowerment Applications (IDEA)
Lab at Claremont Graduate University,
in California, where his students
develop persuasive tech applications.

One way to get people to alter
their behavior is to simply remind
them with a mobile app that, for
example, dings when it's time to drink
a glass of water or to get up and walk.
But for someone with little desire to
change a habit, alarms alone likely
won't do the trick. Therefore, persuasive technology designers consider
the interaction of three factors: motivation, ability, and triggers.
If, for example, people are physically
able to exercise but lack motivation, triggers can help. Triggers come in many
forms. They can include upcoming
events-like a wedding or an annual
health checkup-as well as close friends
who have achieved a similar goal. Such
triggers can be built into systems to
motivate people, Chatterjee says.
An app can send you an alert that,
for example, your sister's wedding

If triggers are not working, another
option is to focus on a person's ability to accomplish a goal. That might
involve setting more attainable
milestones, such as saving 2 percent
of each paycheck instead of 5 percent. Another aid is simplifying the
process of logging information into
the app by offering voice activation.
Designers also consider offering
a reward system for good behavior. It
might include earning a badge when
a milestone is reached, or "gamifying"
the experience by collecting points
that can be applied toward unlocking,
say, a new feature of the app.
Such rewards are even more
important when users are about to
quit on their goal. To guard against
that, developers can build their
software to sense inactivity and then
contrive to inspire users to continue.
The field of persuasive technology
requires input from many disciplines-
including data analysis, behavioral
science, and game theory-to better
understand users and keep them
coming back. Or, Chatterjee says, to get
them to use the app in the first place.
Data can help inform how people
are using an app and when they are
most and least active with it. Behavioral
scientists can provide insights into
why people quit when they do, and
suggest how to motivate them to stay
on track. And game theorists can build
in rewards or gaming experiences to
encourage people to keep going. ◆
JUN E 2018 TH E IN STITUTE

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http://www.quitnowapp.com/en http://theinstitute.ieee.org/members/profiles/senior-member-brings-the-maker-philosophy-to-two-universities https://www.cgu.edu/center/innovations-design-empowerment-applications-lab-idea/ https://www.cgu.edu/center/innovations-design-empowerment-applications-lab-idea/ https://www.cgu.edu/center/innovations-design-empowerment-applications-lab-idea/ http://theinstitute.ieee.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Institute - June 2018
