Designing for Behavior Change - 6 Dimensions of Social Comparison Features

Abstract

Social comparison as an aspect of social influence has an effect on health behavior, and technology can be used to support desired behavior change. However, no concrete guidelines exist on how to design social comparison features. This paper examines how designers have actually designed social comparison in IT artifacts supporting individuals in a behavior change process. We apply qualitative evidence synthesis review method and analyze twelve studies reporting experiences of designing social comparison features. As a result, we present six design dimensions for social comparison features emerging from the literature, and several alternative design options for each dimension. The dimensions can be used as a guide for designers and as a repository for researchers to design and evaluate social comparison features for technologies targeting behavior change in different contexts. Shows the current relation between the users (suggested for ad-hoc feedback). Shows the relation between the users in time/the users' progress. Use visual cues (i.e. color, size) to show different comparison types. Combination of visual cues' to represent many user's relations. Attitudes promoted-What design attitudes will be promoted? Competition Cooperation Usually, used together with gamified or metaphorical representations. Rewarding users based on their individual progress. Motivating them to be the best. May demotivate users who dislike competition. Promote team-spirit. Can be combined with coopetition. May promote accountability to the team-members.

Rationale Behind Socially Influencing Design Choices for Health Behavior Change

“…Second, we contribute to research by showing that the medical condition plays a significant role on the design of social features together with the scientific theories, designer's interpretation, and external factors [13]. Our results can be used to underline the importance of medical condition and its sub factors in the design practice in the field of health behavior change, and give a better understanding of the current practice for creating relevant frameworks and guidelines for better supporting the practitioners in the design of the social features [3,4,5,10].…”

“…Fogg [23] describes this technology as persuasive, because through means of persuasion and social influence the behavior change is supported. However, social influence in the design of persuasive technology oftentimes is described as a black box that needs to be opened [3][4][5]. Designers understand the importance to implement social influence features in behavior change technologies , but they often do not discriminate between the different social influence aspects.…”

“…However, it is unclear how designers take these theories into account and how they actually decide about the inclusion and design of social influence features. In previous research, social influence features have often been viewed as a black box [3][4][5], and their designs seem to be popped out without any particular explanation of why this particular feature was chosen and why it was designed in a specific way. In this paper, we address this gap through the research question: "What are the designers' rationales for the inclusion and design of social influence features in health behavior change applications?"…”

Introduction to the Minitrack on Health Behavior Change Support Systems

“…Mylonopoulou et al [7] presented different social comparison features that can be applied for health behavior change. By reviewing and analyzing twelve difference studies, the authors presented how social comparison feature is designed in IT artefacts.…”

“…By reviewing and analyzing twelve difference studies, the authors presented how social comparison feature is designed in IT artefacts. Based on the literature, six design dimensions of social comparison feature is presented in the paper [7].…”