Empathic Systems:Designing for Behavior Change and

Autonomy

Niels Boye & Pedja Klasnja

International Workshop on New Computationally-Enabled TheoreticalModels to Support Health Behavior Change and Maintenance

How should we think about behavior changeas a design problem?

One Framing

Build technologies that can persuade people to change behavior

Another Framing

Build technologies that can help the user become the person she/he wants to be

Build technologies that can help the user become the person she/he wants to beIdea-level

Independence, but withinInterdependenceKnowledge in context

AutonomySocial InclusionCompetences

GeneralHeuristic levelDesign properties

Motivation

Personal-level

Why Autonomy?• Is necessary for wellbeing and

optimal functioning (e.g., Ryan & Deci, 2000)

• Represents (to us) a less ethically- problematic design stance

• Supports active engagement in care• Might work better for supporting

long-term change (?)

Why Social Inclusion?

The success of lifestyle change is dependent on social connections, lifestyle and motivation

Why Competence ?

Competence supports coping and resilience

Evidence from Chronic Care

Self-care is especially important for patientswith chronic conditions.

Patients with higher autonomy, social-connectedness, and competence live longer, are more active, and better integrated in society

So, how do we accomplish this?

Coaching

Connecting to Others• User-controlled sharing with

clinicians• Ad-hoc sharing for motivation, social

support, exchange of patient expertise

• Timely (but subtle!) involvement of family and friends

• Connecting to relevant resource in local community

Leveraging Environmentand Everyday Services

Childrens menu

To Get There, We Need…

Imagine a System That…