Fit4life: the design of a persuasive technology promoting healthy behavior and ideal weight

This is a critical design paper offering a possible scenario of use intended to provoke reflection about values and politics of design in persuasive computing. We describe the design of a system—Fit4Life—that encourages individuals to address the larger goal of reducing obesity in society by promoting individual healthy behaviors. Using the Persuasive Systems Design Model [26], this paper outlines the Fit4Life persuasion context, the technology, its use of persuasive messages, and an experimental design to test the system’s efficacy. We also contribute a novel discussion of the ethical and sociocultural considerations involved in our design, an issue that has remained largely unaddressed in the existing persuasive technologies literature [29]. Author Keywords Persuasive technology, weight loss, social implications, critical design. ACM Classification Keywords K.4.0 Computers and Society: General. H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation (e.g. HCI)]: User Interfaces – the...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Stephen Purpura, Victoria Schwanda, Kaiton Williams, William Stubler, Phoebe Sengers
• Keywords: CHI 2011, Fit4life, Human Computer Interaction, Persuasive Computing, Persuasive Technologies