Health Behavior Change Support Systems
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/112478
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item type: Item , Recovering from Digital Addiction with the Support of a Persuasive Mobile Application: A Design Science Research Study(2026-01-06) Poikonen, Fedja; Taskan, Hasan; Oinas-Kukkonen, HarriDigital addiction has emerged as a global concern, encompassing unhealthy patterns of technology use that disrupt daily functioning and well-being. We present a Design Science Research study to understand the requirements of the digital addiction domain. We use the Persuasive Systems Design as a design framework, examining features like self-monitoring, simulation, rehearsal, and social learning. The study explores persuasive design in the development of applications for learning healthier digital habits and addresses the gaps in the current solutions.Item type: Item , Designing a Cross-Domain Digital Health Platform: A Feasibility Study to Support Dietary Awareness in Corporate Canteens(2026-01-06) Röhl, Kevin; Alt, Rainer; Wirsam, JanThe cross-domain nature is a key issue of digitalization and digital platforms are valuable in bringing data from these domains together. This research reports how digital devices connected to a health platform and enterprise systems support dietary awareness. In linking the medical, fitness and nutrition domains, the feasibility pilot explored user engagement, data integration, and early effects on dietary knowledge and well-being. The primary objective was to assess acceptability and implementation practicality through participants’ logging behavior and interaction with feedback features. A secondary aim was to explore enhanced support in self-awareness and knowledge of dietary choices. Over a 14-day period, participants logged over 1,800 meals and reported significant gains in dietary knowledge and WHO-5 scores. Technical challenges in recipe parsing revealed the need for standardized nutrition formats. Findings suggest the platform's feasibility and may support feedback-informed behavior change in workplace health contexts, offering a foundation for scalable digital nutrition interventions.Item type: Item , Does Framing a Health App as Tailored Impact Choice?(2026-01-06) Sleboda, Patrycja; Sobolev, MichaelSmartphone apps offer a valuable tool for supporting health goals, including weight management. Building on Self-Determination Theory, we examined whether gender-tailored app names—with or without visual presentation—affect user preferences, willingness to pay (WTP), and perceived necessity, and whether these effects vary by gender. Two online experiments with U.S. adults seeking to lose weight tested three naming conditions: a control (“Weight Loss App”), a gender-tailored (“Weight Loss App for (Wo)Men”), and an inclusive (“Weight Loss App for Men and Women”). Study 1 included only names; Study 2 added visual stimuli depicting no person, a man, a woman, or both. Name framing had no significant effect on preference, WTP, or perceived necessity. However, women showed stronger overall preferences, and visuals significantly increased WTP. Prior experience with weight loss apps was also linked to higher WTP. These findings highlight the importance of visual content and prior experience in early user engagement.Item type: Item , Co-Designing a Virtual Reality System to Support Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Social Anxiety(2026-01-06) Schmitz, Lisa; Eyþórsson, Árni Gunnar; Hjartardóttir, Katrín Viktoría; Eyjólfsson, Logi; Sigurðsson, Magnús Konráð; Guðmundsson, Marteinn; Ásgeirsdóttir, Valgerður; Olafsson, Stefan; Vilhjálmsson, Hannes; Halldórsson, Brynjar; Islind, Anna SigridurSocial anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health disorders and is characterized by a fear of or avoidance of social situations. Standard treatment recommendations for this disorder include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Virtual reality (VR) shows promise in improving CBT treatment, but it is necessary to understand how to design VR systems that can identify specific fears and effectively address safety seeking behaviours which play a critical role in maintaining the problem. This paper presents a co-design process and design evaluation of a VR system for this purpose, along with an evaluation of its treatment efficacy. Collaborative co-design sessions with experts in social anxiety, digital health, and game development were conducted and the design of the subsequently developed VR system was evaluated with ten participants. Based on the findings from the co-design activities and the design evaluation, this paper contributes system requirements for the development of a VR system to support CBT treatment for individuals with social anxiety disorder. The following therapeutic evaluation of the system with seven participants with reported levels of clinically relevant social anxiety symptoms showed promise that treatment in VR can potentially be used effectively to treat safety-seeking behaviors.Item type: Item , Introduction to the Minitrack on Health Behavior Change Support Systems(2026-01-06) Vlahu-Gjorgievska, Elena; Iyengar, Sriram; Win, Khin Than; Oinas-Kukkonen, Harri