Open Issues in Persuasive Technologies: Six HCI Challenges for the Design of Behavior Change Systems

Persuasive technologies are increasing in popularity due to the widespread availability of devices that are able to automatically collect and process behavioral data. However, most of these technologies merely focus on the behavior to be changed, overlooking both the user's subjective experience of the behavior change process and the wider life context in which it is situated. In this paper, we identify six challenges that the HCI community should address in the near future to account for the complexity of the lived experience of behavior change, also proposing several technological opportunities for moving the field of persuasive technology forward. First, technology should focus on the subjective meanings that people ascribe to the behavior. Second, technology should support reflection rather than the rational analysis of data. Third, technology should promote the person's agency instead of relying on external motivators. Fourth technology should address the living body, which is essential in driving the change of many behaviors (e.g., in dieting and exercising). Fifth, designers should consider the person's life context, which refers to routines, social relations, and everyday matters that point to the complexity of "life". Sixth, designers should account for the person's life time, as behavior change intertwines with the entire past of the individual and projects into their distant future(s).