Designing Technology to Foster Wellbeing - CHI2016 Course

1

How to design for wellbeingA practical introduction to positive computing

Rafael A. Calvo & Dorian PetersFaculty of Engineering and ITThe University of Sydney

PositiveComputing.org

Tweeting?#PositiveComputing@Rafael_A_Calvo

@Dorian_Peters

Uninvited guests

See Video Uninvited Guests at:http://www.superflux.in/work/uninvited-

guests

Were the devices good for his wellbeing?What happens when technologies (even those intended to improve physical wellbeing) don’t take into account psychological wellbeing?

Rafael Calvo & Dorian Peters, PositiveComputing.org

Today…• Positive computing: what, why and how? • Activity 1: Analyse technology scenarios for impact on

wellbeing• Designing for Wellbeing – frameworks & approaches

Break

• Activity 2: Brainstorm design solutions for wellbeing problems• Discussion: Share strategies• Measuring Wellbeing – Tools and methods • Wrap-up: The future of wellbeing technology

Positive ComputingWhat, why and how?

Technology should be designed to support psychological wellbeing

POSITIVE COMPUTING The research and development

of technology to support wellbeing and human potential


• HCI & UX• Human-Centered

Design• Values-Sensitive Design• Emotional design• Architecture

• HCI• Affective computing• Personal informatics• Persuasive

technologies• Attentive technologies

COMPUTINGPSYCHOLOGY & BRAIN SCIENCE

DESIGN

• Positive psychology

• Subjective Wellbeing

• Psychiatry• Neuroscience

• Behavioral Economics• Personal development• Learning technologies• Media Studies• Social Work

EDUCATION & SOCIAL SCIENCES

Research FoundationsMany areas can contribute to our understanding of wellbeing and how to apply it to technology.



Speed-dating with key psychological theories

MODELS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING1. Clinical DSM Global Assessment of Functioning (e.g. CES-D < 16) 2. Positive Psychology (e.g. Fredrickson, Seligman, Lyubimorski,

Huppert, etc. )3. Socio-emotional intelligence (e.g. Salovey, Mayer & Caruso)4. Self-determination Theory (Ryan & Deci)5. Subjective well-being (e.g. Diener, Kahneman) 6. Neuroscience and Physiology (e.g., Panksepp, Davidson)


Theories frequently identify determinant factorsDeterminant factors of WellbeingAutonomy, connectedness, competence (Deci) Autonomy, Personal Growth, Environmental Mastery, Positive Relations, Purpose in life, Self-acceptance (Ryff)Mindfulness (Davidson), Flow (Cziksentmihaly), Compassion (Gilbert)

AutonomyCompetenceRelatednessPositive EmotionsGritGratitudeSelf-awarenessKindnessEngagement

FlowMeaningMindfulnessEmpathyCompassionSelf-compassionAltruism

Designing to Support Determinant factors


Integrating Wellbeing into Software Design

• Word redesigned to support flow• Social media redesigned to support

social intelligence

• Positive psychology interventions • Game for developing empathy

Examples

• Redesign to prevent trolling or cyberbullying


Superman Experiment

Rosenberg, R. S., Baughman, S. L., & Bailenson, J. N. (2013). Virtual Superheroes: Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior. PloS one, 8(1).

Altruism | Dedicated

Conclusions:• Superpowers lead to helping behaviors! • Helping in virtual worlds promotes helping in

the real one.

Implications:• Give superpowers to the people• Promote kindness

New Design tradeoffs

• LinkedIn vs. Yammer: Speed vs Psychological benefits? • Expressing praise or gratitude benefits both parties.• Rushing endorsements reduces meaning and reflection time.

Kindness, Praise, Gratitude

LinkedIn endorsements Microsoft Yammer praise

| Active


Payroll as a celebrationBy tapping into the meaning behind payroll activity, ZenPayroll taps into intrinsic motivation thus Improving user satisfaction.

Meaning | Active


Facebook Reporting

PRACTICAL: Support conflict resolution among members.Reduce number of reports on images that don’t violate policy.

WELLBEING: Support empathy and socio-emotional intelligence skills as a preventative measure against conflict.

Socio-Emotional skills, Empathy | Preventative


Wellbeing Determinant Cards

RA Calvo, D. Peters. Introduction to Positive Computing – Technology that Fosters Wellbeing. In Extended abstracts of the ACM conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2015), Courses. Seoul, Korea. April, 2015


Benefits of thinking in determinants

You can use determinants to… Brainstorm ideas

how could we support autonomy? Understand problems

Why is user satisfaction post-upgrade so low? Detect compromises to wellbeing

how might we be hindering a sense of competence? Identify opportunities and successes


Feeling that one has the power to influence the outcome of an experience.


Feeling that one has sufficient ability or expertise relevant to an experience.


Belongingness and connectedness with others; good relationships; secure relational base.


Feeling that arises in witnessing another’s suffering that motivates a subsequent desire to help.


Find a deep sense of fulfillment by employing our unique strengths for a purpose greater than ourselves.


Taking part in activities that absorb one completely; state of concentrated attention with loss of self-consciousness.


Activity 1 – Considering wellbeing impact

For each scenario write down ways it may support or hinder wellbeing.

1 2 Rate against different wellbeing factors.

Designing for wellbeingFrameworks, tools and ways of thinking about the space.

Framework & Tools – Turning research into practice

RA Calvo, D. Peters. Introduction to Positive Computing – Technology that Fosters Wellbeing. In Extended abstracts of the ACM conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2015), Courses. Seoul, Korea. April, 2015

Positive Computing Framework

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Measuring Wellbeing• Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). (20 items)

• Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) (Tennant et. Al 2007)

• Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) (5 items)

• UN’s first World Happiness Report (Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs, 2012)

• Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index live daily assessment of health and wellbeing measures across the U.S.

Multicultural needs:Need Satisfaction and Subjective Well-being

Country (n)

US(n = 195)

Russia(n = 159)

Korea(n = 111)

Turkey(n = 94)

Basic NeedSatisfaction

.72 .60 .62 .71

From Chirkov, Ryan, Kim and Kaplan, 2003


Spheres of Influence

Adapted from Spheres of Autonomy in: RA Calvo, D. Peters, D. Johnson, Y. Rogers “Autonomy in Technology Design” CHI ’14

TECHNOLOGYENVIRONMENT ACTIVITYPERSONAL

DEVELOPMENT

A technology can foster a wellbeing factor at at least three different levels and its important to tease these apart.




TECHNOLOGYENVIRONMENT

A software environment can support a sense of autonomy or competence when the user feels in control and capable operating the software.




ACTIVITY TECHNOLOGYENVIRONMENT

A technology can support a sense of autonomy or competence in relation to the activity it supports – for example, cycling, managing finances, socializing, etc.




TECHNOLOGYENVIRONMENT ACTIVITYPERSONAL

DEVELOPMENT

Technology can support the development of autonomy or competence in relation to one’s life and personal development (eg. an app designed to help adolescents with

chronic illness gain independence.)


Motivation & wellbeing in gamesA self-determination theory approach

4 observational studies on different existing games…

PENS Competence (5 items) “I felt very capable and effective” “The game kept me on my toes but did not overwhelm me.”PENS Autonomy (5 items) “I did things in the game because they interested me” “I felt controlled and pressured to be a certain way” PENS Intuitive Controls or presence (3 items)Subjective Vitality (energy and aliveness)Self-steem (10 items)Mood rating (9 items) pre and post playGame enjoyment (4 items) ‘I enjoyed playing the game very much” and “I thought the game was boring (reversed)”

TECHNOLOGYENVIRONMENT

ACTIVITY

Ryan, Richard M., C. Scott Rigby, and Andrew Przybylski. "The motivational pull of video games: A self-determination theory approach." Motivation and emotion 30.4 (2006)




Conclusions and implications1. Perceived in-game autonomy and competence are associated

with game enjoyment, preferences, and changes in well-being pre- to post-play.

2. Competence and autonomy related to intuitiveness of game controls, and the sense of presence or immersion.

3. SDT’s theorized needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness independently predict enjoyment and future game play

4. Pre- and post- play scores showed that on an absolute level, mood, vitality and state self-esteem dropped for non-continuers, whereas both mood and self-esteem rose for those who continued.

Implications: Design to support competence and autonomy (through intuitiveness and immersion)



Variable Helping in generala Autonomous motive for helpingb

Subjective well-being .05* .33**

Vitality .09** .25**

Self-esteem .05 .36**

Need satisfaction .09** .44**an = 1,724 in analyses using the daily help/no-help variable. bn = 747 in analyses including daily motivation for help. Help coded 1 for yes, 0 for no. * p <.05. **p<.01.

Eg. helping in general vs. autonomous helping, as relates to Need Satisfaction and Well-Being.

Motivation matters

Weinstein & Ryan. (2010). When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. JPSP.


N=1193 Bonding scale (5 items) UCLA loneliness scale (8 items) Facebook Intensity Scale (8

items) Self-esteem scale Satisfaction with life scale

Conclusions• Direct communication increases

bonding• Consumption is correlated with

loneliness and reduced social capital

Implications• Design to promote directed communication rather than just consumption

Facebook activities and wellbeingDirected communication vs. consumption

Burke, Moira, Cameron Marlow, and Thomas Lento. "Social network activity and social well-being.“Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems. ACM, 2010.


Methods in Positive ComputingExamples of Observational, experimental

and quasi-experimental designs

Observational Studies

Facebook data over 2 years.

People happier on holidays and sunny days.

Happiness spreads:

• 1 positive post decreases 1.80 negative posts in friends

• 1 negative post decreases 1.26 positive

Implication: Australia should export sunshine, frequent holidays and general positivity via Facebook.

Observing how an activity (writing) influences the wellbeing of others.

Detecting Emotional Contagion in Massive Social Networks. Coviello, Lorenzo, et al. PloS one 9.3 (2014)


Experimental studies

N = 689,003

“Emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same

emotions without their awareness.”

2 conditions:

Positivity reduced => fewer positive posts and more negative posts;

Negativity reduced => Fewer Negative and more positive

Evaluation of Facebook newsfeed filters

Kramer, A, J.E. Guillory, and J.T. Hancock. "Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014)


Quasi-experimental studiesWellbeing scales Subjective Happiness Scale: 4 item survey that assesses happiness of self, and self relative to others.

Satisfaction with Life Scale: 5 item survey that assesses overall life satisfaction.

Psychological General Well-Being Index: 22 item survey that measures self-representations of affective and emotional states.

Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale: 15 item survey that measures attentiveness to what is occurring in the present

Linguistic Analysis Used LIWC to examine how the language used in posts correlated with responses to specific well-being

scales.

Hand-coded selected posts to rate emotional depth to better understand results.

Echo – Technology mediated reflection

Isaacs, E., Konrad, A., Walendowski, A., Lennig, T., Hollis, V., & Whittaker, S. (2013, April). Echoes from the past: how technology mediated reflection improves well-being. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1071-1080). ACM. Chicago

N=44


Coffee break

Activity 2 – Design Strategies

Find 4 other people with the same sheets as you.

1 2 Combine all the ways your scenarios could hinder wellbeing. Devise a design solution for each.

Group discussion

Combine all the ways your scenarios could hinder wellbeing. Devise a design solution for each.

Part 3: In practice

Project Goal Layers

Wellbeing goals & challenges eg. support autonomy

Practical goals & challengeseg. allow user to connect with friends online, reduce help

center inquiries

Technical goals & challengeseg. manage a large database, privacy, security,

scalability


AsthmaZenGoal-setting for Adolescents with AsthmaIn Partnership with: Charles Perkins Centre | Asthma Australia



Asthma Zen+Autonomy, +competence

Determinants helped us interpret and structure user research outcomes.Keys issues: anxiety caused by feeling out of control of ones health and not competent to deal with emergencies; a sense of being disconnected socially.


Asthma Zen Supporting behavior change+ Provide opportunity to reflect on and record their intrinsic motivations for self-care+ Support asthma-related goal setting.

Supporting relatedness+ Make salient belongingness to larger community+ Provide place to upload images of those who support them

Supporting Autonomy + competence+ Provide easy access to emergency help and guidance.+ Provide information, strategies and tips for better asthma control+ Support goal-setting to increase chances of success

L. Smith, J. Foster, D. Peters, S. Sawyer, RA Calvo, S Davis. Development of a tailored goal-setting self-management app for young people with asthma. TSANZSRS Annual Scientific Meeting 2016 Perth, 1 – 6 April 2016.

Moderator Assistant + CybermateHelping those who help others onlineIn Partnership with: ReachOut.com



Helping those who help others Competence, Resilience

Moderator Assistant Triage & support system for mental health forum moderators.

In Partnership with:

CyberMateMental health support chat environment

Supporting resilience + compassion+ Provide feedback demonstrating number of young people they have helped.Supporting relatedness + competence+ Provide ability to consult with each other and more experienced moderators live online to share experience and responsibility.

Supporting competence+ Provide way to call in more experienced moderator for difficult cases.+ Provide easy access to resources relevant to their task

Moderator Assistant

Liu, Calvo, Davenport, Hickie “Moderator Assistant: helping those who help via online mental health support groups”. Social Technologies for Health and Wellbeing’ workshop at OzChi 2013.


Moderator Assistant - Measures

1 I get to make my own plan. 2 I can vary how I do my work.3 I don't have to check with anyone else when I think I've properly resolved a post 4 I'm free to decide which posts to resolve when (Hilol and Venkatesh, 2013)

Self-reports

Behavioral• Changes in use patterns?• Variation in use patterns according to time, etc?

Assigning a task

Measures of Autonomy



Gagné, Marylene. "The role of autonomy support and autonomy orientation in prosocial behavior engagement." Motivation and Emotion 27.3 (2003): 199-223.

Behavioral measures

• Number of conversations/threads per end-user?• Time spent in socializing?

Questionnaire

Measures of Relatedness



Adapted from Perceived Competence Scale Williams and Deci (1996)

Behavioral measures

• Inter-rater agreement? (changes in labeling)• Time spent in responding/editing?

Questionnaire

Measures of Competence


Well@WorkWellbeing in male dominated workplacesWith funding from: beyondblue, Movember Foundation

+



Well@Work - Wellbeing in male dominated workplaces

+Resilience, +Self-awareness, +competence,

Psychologists want.. Risk assessment toolWhat would audience be willing to engage with/find useful?We suspected solution would include…Self-awarenessand possibly…Compassion (based on motivation for emergency work)

Funded by:

User Workshops with 60 Firefighters,

urban, suburban and rural.

MOOD FIX

Mood boost

Helps to reset your mindHelping put your mind in a better place for your familyTrying to get yourself back into a happy place A visual light-hearted scenario to quickly shift focus of mind into higher states of consciousness

change of focus

You could have an alarm feature that notifies your crew: “Steve’s having a bad day” so they know to bring you coffee.

Stress button

In their words…

Immediate options to “reset your mind”.


MOOD TRACKERA way to track moods, and their causes, over time.

How you’re feeling, what your sleep’s like and you can track that.

I’m having a great day cause this happened or, I’m having a shit day cause this happened.

How you feel… I wouldn’t do it once a day, I’d probably only do it if I felt shit.

“”

Mood tracker

Learn

Track Mood

Take 5

Assess + Train

From needs to tech functionalities


Mood tracker

Learn

Track Mood

Take 5

Assess + Train

From needs to tech functionalities

Self-awarenessBetter recognize their emotions, spot

patterns, causes

CompetenceMore confidence in handling

psychological situations that arise in themselves and others (friends, family,

members of public)

Autonomy + Resilience

Ability to take control of one’s mental fitness in the way one can take control

of physical fitness. (Promotion / Prevention)

Ability to take action and influence the situation when problems arise.


First product: MindgaugeTesting Mood & activity tracking IXD + various forms of feedback


Download at: MindGauge.org.

au

Takeaways1. There are psychological factors known to increase

wellbeing.

2. We can use these factors to inform and enhance the design of technologies.

3. There are research-based methods, measures, frameworks, and tools to support work in this area.

4. This is a multidisciplinary effort – psychologists, social scientists and technologists need to work together in order to be successful.


Thank you. PositiveComputing.org

@Rafael_A_Calvo @Dorian_Peters