Participation at GoodIT 2023
On September 6-8, 2023, the e-Lite group will attend (in person) the 3rd International Conference on Information Technology for Social Good (GoodIT 2023) in Lisbon, Portugal. Alberto Monge Roffarello will present the regular paper "Nudging Users or Redesigning Interfaces? Evaluating Novel Strategies for Digital Wellbeing Through inControl" on Wednesday, 6 September at 13:30 (Session 2).
The paper explores and compares two different strategies for digital self-control targeting the Facebook and YouTube websites:
- highlighting when the user is scrolling infinitely by progressively darkening the background (nudging strategy), and,
- redesigning the homepages isolating guilty pleasure recommendations and proposing a minimalistic interface (redesign strategy).
Contrary to existing interventions for digital self-control, these strategies do not restrict usage, e.g., through self-imposed timers and blockers, and thus, they do not limit interaction possibilities. They counter the adoption of design patterns in user interfaces that hook users' attention, aiming to support users in self-regulating their technology use – especially social networks and video streaming platforms – and achieve digital wellbeing. Besides describing the design and development of the two strategies, the paper also reports on the results of a three-week field study with 14 participants, during which we compared them. Findings show 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.
Read the paper by following the links below!
Additional information: