Nudging vs. Reflection in Fitness Wearables: Evaluating the Benefits and Drawbacks of Design Strategies for Wellbeing TechnologiesWhile technology is widely recognised as a tool to enhance wellbeing, there is no clear consensus on the best practices for design. Persuasive strategies, such as nudging, are often seen as effective but raise ethical concerns. Reflection-based approaches offer a potential alternative. However, a clear understanding of the balance between these strategies is crucial for designing effective and ethically sound wellbeing technologies. We conducted two studies with a total of n=163 participants comparing nudging and reflection techniques using contrasting prototypes of fitness wearables. We verified that the prototypes represented key nudging and reflection strategies through expert feedback. Our mixed-methods inquiry shows that certain nudging strategies are perceived as more malicious and more likely to provoke rumination, i.e., negative thought cycles, compared to other wellbeing strategies. We contribute insights to inform design decisions for wellbeing technologies, balancing effectiveness with ethical considerations.2026AWAnna Walczak et al.Lodz University of TechnologyFitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringBehavior Change & Reflection TechnologyCHI
The Nuances of Creepiness: A Systematic Literature Review of Creepy TechnologyThe ambiguity surrounding `creepy technology' in HCI poses significant challenges, as its interpretation varies considerably based on research focus. While it is often linked to the aesthetics of robots and concerns about personal data privacy and security, it is increasingly associated with functionality, unpredictability, and appropriateness. Clarifying this ambiguity is vital for designers, as design choices impact user experience and trust in technology. To address this, we undertook a systematic review of 115 papers based on content, identifying key themes related to design choices and contextual elements of creepiness. Through this review, we developed the \emph{Creepiness Framework}, which comprises two main components: the \emph{Structure of Creepiness} and \emph{Felt Creepiness}. The framework offers better understanding of the dynamics in creepy technology. Additionally, we provide insights into creepiness features that can assist in developing technologies that are more predictable and less likely to evoke unintended feelings of creepiness.2026TJTora Jarsve et al.University of OsloTechnology Ethics & Critical HCIPrivacy by Design & User ControlPrivacy Perception & Decision-MakingCHI
Supporting Communication and Well-being with a Multi-Stakeholder Mobile App: Lessons Learned from A Field Study with ADHD Children and their CaregiversChildren with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their caregivers face daily challenges which can adversely affect their well-being, especially regarding communication within their care ecosystems, comprising family, friends, educators, and therapists. To foster communication among children and their care ecosystem and support their well-being, we created REMEMO, a mobile app that was iteratively designed and evaluated by actively involving ADHD children and their caregivers. It supports both individual and collaborative use, offering tailored features for different user groups: children, parents, or therapists and educators. Its primary function is to enable users to record their experiences and emotions and choose whether to share these with other members of the care ecosystem. We deployed REMEMO in a multi-week field study with five groups encompassing ADHD children (total participants n=18). Our analysis showed that REMEMO can support emotional expression, regulation, reflection, and transparent and affectionate communication, addressing needs of both ADHD children and their caregivers. Our findings also highlight the critical role of mutual understanding regarding technology use and contextual challenges in shaping usage patterns. We discuss opportunities and challenges in designing technologies that cater to the varying needs of different stakeholders of ADHD children’s care ecosystems and engage in critical reflection regarding evaluating technologies with vulnerable populations, such as families of ADHD children.2025ESEvropi Stefanidi et al.Caregiving & CaregiversCSCW
Communication Matters: Technology for Information Exchange Needs in the Context of Prostate Cancer DiagnosisEffective communication is vital in healthcare, especially in complex areas like prostate cancer diagnosis. Although there has been much research on communication among different stakeholders in healthcare, there is still a visible gap in addressing the different information exchange needs of doctors and patients, and how these can impact their communication during prostate cancer diagnosis. This paper explores these challenges from both patients' and doctors' -- more specifically, radiologists' -- perspectives. Through contextual inquiries and interviews with experienced radiologists, who play a key role in diagnosis, and patients with prostate cancer, we have gained valuable insights into current communication practices associated with the context and explored the potential of technology to support them. Our findings highlight the challenges faced by both stakeholders during diagnosis and their needs and preferences for improved communication. Based on those findings, we propose design implications for computer technologies to enhance communication among involved stakeholders, ultimately improving collaboration, efficiency, and patient outcomes in prostate cancer care.2025NONazmun Nisat Ontika et al.Beyond AI: Additional Considerations for Enhancing HealthcareCSCW
Blended Workshops: A Flexible Approach for Practice-centred Design in German Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesWithin practice-centred computing, working with people to understand and come up with solutions that can support them with their practices is core. This involves using a range of empirical and design methods for understanding the context, elaborating design implications, and devising and evaluating artefacts, both in terms of their usability and the appropriation opportunities that they can offer. When evaluating prototypes in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) we, as researchers, have more than once over a long period of time seen that participants have little time to engage in systematic approaches to co-design. Our experience shows that very often users cannot take part in activities that take longer than two hours, despite their willingness to do so. This suggests that we are in urgent need of more flexible approaches. In this paper we propose the concept of blended workshops as an approach to work with SME workers for the design of digital technologies to support their practices. This approach entails both synchronous and asynchronous activities, focusing on the elaboration of both physical and digital artefacts, which evolves over a longer period of time towards useful socio-technical solutions which can be easily appropriated at the workplace. The asynchronous elements are designed to allow participants to investigate and reflect in their own time and can can be key for stronger and flexible user participation in practice-centred design.2025PRPhilipp Rutz et al.Doing CSCW ResearchCSCW
Give and Take: Perceptions of a Conversational Coach Agent in Fitness TrackersWhile Personal Informatics (PI) tools utilise data visualisations to communicate behaviour, users often struggle to make sense of their data and translate it to actionable insights. Conversational Agents (CAs) offer potential for improved access to PI data, yet their role in PI tools remains under-explored. We conducted a two-week user study with journals, interviews and logging with n=36 participants using a novel commercial fitness tracker with an embedded CA. We identified the give and take principle as essential for meaningful sensemaking with a CA—a dynamic resulting in more effective interactions given users' inputs (give) are met with prompts that are sufficiently specific and built upon prior data engagement (take). A critical point was how users perceived the CA during their initial interactions, with first impressions often determining further engagement. We contribute insights into how CAs can support or hinder the PI experience, offering implications for future PI system designs.2025MLMeagan B. Loerakker et al.Conversational ChatbotsFitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringMobileHCI
The Self-Care Technology Process Model (SCTpm): A Framework for Designing VR-Based Self-Care TechnologyDesigning for ongoing engagement in Virtual Reality (VR) self-care and well-being interventions presents several challenges. Current frameworks supporting designers in this task primarily focus on specific well-being objectives, such as goal-setting or self-reflection, but often lack implementable design recommendations to enhance engagement and prevent lapsing. To address this gap, we propose the Self-Care Technology Process Model (SCTpm), which builds on six prior studies on VR self-care applications. The SCTpm is a framework for an intervention-centred self-care journey, providing targeted design recommendations tailored to evolving user needs and supporting sustained interaction. Evaluated by n=10 experts, the SCTpm demonstrates its potential to enhance the iterative design and evaluation cycles of VR-based self-care technologies, sensitising designers to create effective and more engaging systems. Findings further indicate that the SCTpm can provide valuable guidance for designers and researchers at different levels of expertise in developing innovative VR applications for self-care.2025NWNadine Wagener et al.Immersion & Presence ResearchVR Medical Training & RehabilitationMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesDIS
TogetherReflect: Supporting Emotional Expression in Couples Through a Collaborative Virtual Reality ExperienceNavigating emotional conflicts within relationships can be challenging. People often struggle to express their emotions during a conflict, which can lead to misunderstandings and unresolved feelings. To facilitate deeper emotional expression, we developed TogetherReflect, a multi-user Virtual Reality (VR) experience designed for couples. Partners first draw their emotions related to a shared conflict in VR, allowing for individual expression and self-reflection. They then invite each other into their drawings to discuss their feelings, before drawing together on a shared canvas to reaffirm their love and commitment. Throughout this process, TogetherReflect provides prompts and guidance, aiming to foster self-reflection and communication skills. We exploratory evaluated the experience with 10 couples (n=20). Our findings indicate that TogetherReflect deepens personal emotional insights, fosters mutual understanding, and strengthens relational bonds. We highlight the potential of guided VR experiences to transform conflict resolution in intimate relationships and offer design considerations for future development.2025NWNadine Wagener et al.University of Bremen, HCISocial & Collaborative VRImmersion & Presence ResearchInteractive Narrative & Immersive StorytellingCHI
Describing Explored Places through OpenStreetMap DataMobile navigation applications are good at providing efficient navigation instructions. However, they currently lack the capability to facilitate free exploration. Therefore, users are limited to encountering only places close to the shortest paths, neglecting places that could diversify navigation and foster spatial learning. To better understand what characteristics places have that users like to explore we collected a dataset with a mobile application that encourages free exploration using gamification (n = 39, t = 455 days, 106.50 km2). Using OpenStreetMap data, we found highly frequented freely explored places comprising office, educational, retail, touristic and commercial places. When comparing the characteristics of the freely explored places to those along the shortest path, those categories were different. Based on our findings, we propose that implementing more diverse routing algorithms can enhance navigation diversity, improve spatial learning, and optimise the utilisation of urban spaces for travel.2025ESEve Schade et al.University of St. GallenGeospatial & Map VisualizationPublic Transit & Trip PlanningCHI
A Comparative Study of How People With and Without ADHD Recognise and Avoid Dark Patterns on Social MediaDark patterns are deceptive strategies that recent work in human-computer interaction (HCI) has captured throughout digital domains, including social networking sites (SNSs). While research has identified difficulties among people to recognise dark patterns effectively, few studies consider vulnerable populations and their experience in this regard, including people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who may be especially susceptible to attention-grabbing tricks. Based on an interactive web study with 135 participants, we investigate SNS users' ability to recognise and avoid dark patterns by comparing results from participants with and without ADHD. In line with prior work, we noticed overall low recognition of dark patterns with no significant differences between the two groups. Yet, ADHD individuals were able to avoid specific dark patterns more often. Our results advance previous work by understanding dark patterns in a realistic environment and offer insights into their effect on vulnerable populations.2025TMThomas Mildner et al.University of BremenCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Dark Patterns RecognitionCHI
The Dual Model for Everyday Stress Technology: Understanding the Lived Experience of Data-Driven StressTechnology plays a dual role in our daily lives, both contributing to heightened stress levels and offering potential solutions for stress management. However, the lived experience of stress in everyday contexts remains underexplored, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of how stress manifests and how technology can effectively support stress management. To address this, we conducted user interviews and expert interviews with specialists in psychology, health, and stress research, complemented by an autoethnographic study. Our findings show the complexity of stress as both a subjective experience and a response shaped by socio-technical environments, leading to the construction of the Dual Model for Everyday Stress Technology. This model highlights the paradoxical nature of stress and its management in technology-mediated settings. We identify key directions for future stress-management technology design and research, with implications for creating meaningful, human-centred technologies for managing stress in everyday life.2025SBSigrid Hoddø Bakås et al.University of OsloMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesSleep & Stress MonitoringCHI
The Framework of the Lived Experience of Metrics: Understanding the Purposes and Activities of Self-Tracking MetricsMost studies of Personal Informatics (PI) focus on the holistic experience of self-tracking or how users relate to self-tracking goals. Recently, new tracker metrics became available in commercial systems, e.g. stress scores or body battery. Hence, more attention should be devoted to what users track and how they understand metrics produced by their trackers. Charting the evolution of metrics in PI can enable building systems that better support well-being. To this end, we interviewed n=25 fitness tracker users to discover what metrics are most important to them, how they understand the metrics, and how they formulate their goals with respect to the metrics. We found that users created a metric ecology which they adjusted to their life circumstances, reformulating their goals. We identified key issues in understanding metrics which bear the risk of misuse. We contribute recommendations for future PI systems as self-tracking metrics increase in complexity.2025MLMeagan B. Loerakker et al.TU WienFitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringSleep & Stress MonitoringSmartwatches & Fitness BandsCHI
MoodShaper: A Virtual Reality Experience to Support Managing Negative EmotionsNegative emotions such as sadness or anger are often seen as something to be avoided. However, recognising, processing and regulating challenging emotional experiences can facilitate personal growth and is essential for long-term well-being. To support people in regulating and reflecting on negative emotions, we designed MoodShaper — a VR experience where participants autonomously create a virtual environment combined with emotion regulation (ER) interventions. Our system included three different interventions designed based on interviews with psychotherapists. We evaluated MoodShaper in a mixed-method between-subject study with $n=60$ participants. Participants experienced one of the three ER interventions, allowing them to manipulate visual representations of negative emotions through either externalisation, seclusion, or appreciation. We found that MoodShaper significantly increased positive affect while decreasing difficulties in ER and negative affect. Our work demonstrates how VR can provide technology-mediated support to reflect on, engage with and manage negative emotions. We contribute insights for future VR systems which support ER for challenging situations.2024NWNadine Wagener et al.Immersion & Presence ResearchVR Medical Training & RehabilitationMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesDIS
ProtoBricks: A Research Toolkit for Tangible Prototyping & Data PhysicalizationBuilding tangible interfaces or data physicalizations is a resource-intensive endeavour. There is a need for rapid means to prototype tangibles in order to facilitate research and design. To this end, we designed ProtoBricks: a research toolkit that uses capacitive bricks to facilitate rapid prototyping for tangible interfaces. Utilizing toy bricks that do not contain electronics, ProtoBricks can record brick position and color. Specialized knowledge is not required to build our system as it uses widely available components and 3D printing. We contribute the full software and hardware specification of the toolkit. We evaluate the utility of the toolkit by reporting on past use cases and prototyping workshops. We show that the toolkit facilitates creativity and effectively supports prototyping. ProtoBricks lowers the entry threshold for experimenting with tangible interfaces and enables researchers and designers to focus on the interaction with their prototype, delegating implementation to the toolkit.2024JDJulia Dominiak et al.Data PhysicalizationCircuit Making & Hardware PrototypingDIS
Narrating Fitness: Leveraging Large Language Models for Reflective Fitness Tracker Data InterpretationWhile fitness trackers generate and present quantitative data, past research suggests that users often conceptualise their wellbeing in qualitative terms. This discrepancy between numeric data and personal wellbeing perception may limit the effectiveness of personal informatics tools in encouraging meaningful engagement with one’s wellbeing. In this work, we aim to bridge the gap between raw numeric metrics and users’ qualitative perceptions of wellbeing. In an online survey with $n=273$ participants, we used step data from fitness trackers and compared three presentation formats: standard charts, qualitative descriptions generated by an LLM (Large Language Model), and a combination of both. Our findings reveal that users experienced more reflection, focused attention and reward when presented with the generated qualitative data compared to the standard charts alone. Our work demonstrates how automatically generated data descriptions can effectively complement numeric fitness data, fostering a richer, more reflective engagement with personal wellbeing information.2024KSKonstantin R. Strömel et al.Osnabrück UniversityHuman-LLM CollaborationExplainable AI (XAI)Sleep & Stress MonitoringCHI
Amplifying Human Capabilities in Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: An Empirical Study of Current Practices and AI Potentials in RadiologyThis paper examines the potential of Human-Centered AI (HCAI) solutions to support radiologists in diagnosing prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent and increasing cancers among men. The scarcity of radiologists raises concerns about their ability to address the growing demand for prostate cancer diagnosis, leading to a significant surge in the workload of radiologists. Drawing on an HCAI approach, we sought to understand the current practices concerning radiologists' work on detecting and diagnosing prostate cancer, as well as the challenges they face. The findings from our empirical studies point toward the potential that AI has to expedite informed decision-making and enhance accuracy, efficiency, and consistency. This is particularly beneficial for collaborative prostate cancer diagnosis processes. We discuss these results and introduce design recommendations and HCAI concepts for the domain of prostate cancer diagnosis, with the aim of amplifying the professional capabilities of radiologists.2024SSSheree May Saßmannshausen et al.University of SiegenExplainable AI (XAI)AI-Assisted Decision-Making & AutomationCHI
Society’s Attitudes Towards Human Augmentation and Performance Enhancement Technologies (SHAPE) Scale"Human augmentation technologies (ATs) are a subset of ubiquitous on-body devices designed to improve cognitive, sensory, and motor capacities. Although there is a large corpus of knowledge concerning ATs, less is known about societal attitudes towards them and how they shift over time. To that end, we developed The Society's Attitudes Towards Human Augmentation and Performance Enhancement Technologies (SHAPE) Scale, which measures how users of ATs are perceived. To develop the scale, we first created a list of possible scale items based on past work on how people respond to new technologies. The items were then reviewed by experts. Next, we performed exploratory factor analysis to reduce the scale to its final length of thirteen items. Subsequently, we confirmed test-retest validity of our instrument, as well as its construct validity. The SHAPE scale enables researchers and practitioners to understand elements contributing to attitudes toward augmentation technology users. The SHAPE scale assists designers of ATs in designing artifacts that will be more universally accepted." https://doi.org/10.1145/36109152023SVSteeven Villa et al.Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) & NeurofeedbackMotor Impairment Assistive Input TechnologiesUbiComp
The Relevance of KES-Oriented Processes for the Implementation of ERP Systems: Findings From an Empirical Study in German SMEsPast and current research has shown that Knowledge and Expertise Sharing (KES) is central to the appropriation of enterprise software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. ERP implementation projects in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are often driven by research and practice. However, they tend to focus on the ‘go live’ moment rather than on the subsequent, much longer post-implementation phase. This, we argue, results in decreased utilisation over time and an increased need for workarounds. In this paper, we draw on an empirical study within four organisations which exposes the limitations of KES in ERP implementation projects in SMEs, especially in regard to the preparation of key-users. Our findings suggest that, despite key-users' essential role in these projects, they are often chosen haphazardly and are ill-prepared. As a result, they cannot fulfil their role of facilitating KES with end-users, who end up appropriating ERP systems mostly through ‘learning by doing’. This stems directly from complex and largely unrecognised processes involving consultants, hotlines, management, key-users and end-users. In this paper, we introduce and discuss specific socio-technical, KES-oriented measures which can potentially lead to sustainable KES throughout the ERP life-cycle for longer-term success.2023PRPhilipp Rutz et al.Workplace IICSCW
Towards a Haptic Taxonomy of Emotions: Exploring Vibrotactile Stimulation in the Dorsal RegionThe implicit communication of emotional states between persons is a key use case for novel assistive and augmentation technologies. It can serve to expand individuals' perceptual capabilities and assist neurodivergent individuals. Notably, vibrotactile rendering is a promising method for delivering emotional information with minimal interference with visual or auditory perception. To date, the subjective individual association between vibrotactile properties and emotional states remains unclear. Previous approaches relied on analogies or arbitrary variations, limiting generalization. To address this, we conducted a study with 40 participants, analyzing associations between attributes of self-generated vibrotactile patterns (\textsc{amplitude}, \textsc{frequency}, \textsc{spatial location} of stimulation) and four emotional states (\textsc{Anger}, \textsc{Happiness}, \textsc{Neutral}, \textsc{Sadness}). We fin a preference for symmetrically arranged patterns, as well as distinct amplitude and frequency profiles for different emotions. These insights can aid in creating standardized vibrotactile patterns for universal emotional communication.2023SVSteeven Villa et al.Vibrotactile Feedback & Skin StimulationUbiComp
The User Experience of ChatGPT: Findings From a Questionnaire Study of Early Users The launch of ChatGPT has attracted significant attention and showcased the potentially game-changing capabilities of conversational AI. These capabilities, and lack of user research, highlight the need to investigate how users experience interactions with conversational AIs like ChatGPT. Therefore, we conducted a questionnaire study with ChatGPT users (N=194), inquiring about their good and poor experiences with ChatGPT. The user reports were analyzed by a thematic analysis and systematized through a pragmatic-hedonic framework. Our results demonstrate how user experience is influenced by pragmatic attributes such as ChatGPT providing useful and detailed information and easing work- or school-related tasks. Additionally, user experience is impacted by hedonic attributes, such as entertainment and creative interactions, and interactions leaving the user impressed or surprised. Our study underscores that user experience concerning conversational AI like ChatGPT is assessed by useful and productive interactions even in early phase of uptake, suggesting the importance of pragmatic attributes.2023MSMarita Skjuve et al.Conversational ChatbotsHuman-LLM CollaborationCUI