Abstract In human–computer interaction, self-determination theory (SDT) is best known for its concepts of intrinsic motivation and need fulfillment. In the field of behavior change technologies (BCTs), the need for autonomy, i.e. to act according to one’s own goals and values, has become increasingly important due to its strong positive impact on maintaining behavior change. Still, designers struggle with taking autonomy into account. We believe that organismic integration theory (OIT), an underutilized sub-theory of SDT, is a valuable addition as it allows for a process-oriented view on autonomy. OIT introduces different types of extrinsic motivation (external, introjected, identified and integrated) along a continuum of autonomy. It offers new ways to talk about people's experiences of using BCTs and calls for individualized design strategies. We propose a design approach based on OIT, which understands BCTs as active facilitators to progressively move people along the continuum from external to integrated motivation.

The threatening environmental problems of our time challenge the notion that humans are separate from and dominant over nature. As a result, many studies in Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) address alternatives to human-centered design and explore post-anthropocentric approaches that decenter humans and consider nature in technology design. The question, however, is how to design post-anthropocentric technology that engages humans and nature. Based on the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a scoping review and analyzed 53 papers, from which we extracted 114 post-anthropocentric artifacts that enable human–nature engagement. We identified seven design strategies, such as recognizing, exploring, and empowering that can guide the future design of post-anthropocentric artifacts. Most of the artifacts included support human agency, fewer support nature’s agency, or advocate for nature to achieve an equitable human–nature relation. We identified opportunities for the field, such as empowering nature and further exploring the implications of post-anthropocentric design for addressing environmental problems.

Dying is a universal experience that entails uncertainty, loss, and termination. Often, people face death unprepared and miss out on opportunities to shape their final stage of life as well as their afterlife. To better understand how thanato-technology can support the dying and the bereaved, we performed a scoping review on the current state-of-art in Human Computer Interaction. Following the PRISMA-ScR procedure, we gathered and analyzed 107 relevant papers. We categorized theoretical and conceptual contributions into three overarching themes: digital remains, remembrance, and coping. We further highlight 18 practices, such as curation, honoring and letting go. We show that technology can help to capture the identity of the deceased, to validate the life lived, and to come to terms with death. However, available approaches focus more on the bereaved than on the dying. In addition, potentially important aspects of dying (e.g., balancing involvement and autonomy, spiritual meaning-making) remain largely unexplored.

One way to counteract anthropogenic climate change, is to reduce individual energy consumption. An especially energy-intensive everyday practice is doing the laundry. In Germany, laundry accounts for about 5% of domestic electricity consumption. In part, this is because users do not make use of the energy-saving programs offered by modern washing machines. Based on different principles of behavior change, we created four concepts for washing machine interfaces to encourage users to choose energy-saving programs and settings. These concepts were implemented as functional prototypes. An online experiment (N=400) showed that all concepts increased the choice of energy-saving programs compared to a standard machine. Especially effective was to interrupt impulsive actions and suggest alternative choices (concept B) and to restructure the entry of settings (concept E). This demonstrates how small changes in a standard interfaces can significantly increase the probability of energy conservation in a private setting.

Soon, voice assistants might be able to engage in fully-fledged social conversations with people, rather than merely providing a voice-operated interface to functionality and data. So far, not much is known about designing such "social" voice assistants and the potential social experiences, which could and should emerge in everyday situations. In the present paper, we created a design fiction to explore a sophisticated social voice assistant in the context of the car. Based on models from psychology and psychotherapy, we designed the fictional "virtual passenger" Kiro. We created a website for Kiro (http://www.heykiro.com/), distributed it, and collected responses in various ways (e.g., comments). We further ran a market research-type focus group. In general, we found people to accept Kiro as a conversation partner but not as a replacement for human-human conversations. We suggest designing social voice assistants in a way to enable novel types of socially fulfilling, yet distinct human-machine conversations.

Shift scheduling impacts healthcare workers' well-being because it sets the frame for their social life and recreational activities. Since it is complex and time-consuming, it has become a target for automation. However, existing systems mostly focus on improving efficiency. The workers' needs and their active participation do not play a pronounced role. Contrasting this trend, we designed a social practice-based, worker-centered, and well-being-oriented self-scheduling system which gives healthcare workers more control during shift planning. In a following nine month appropriation study, we found that workers who were cautious about their social standing in the group or who had a more spontaneous personal lifestyle used our system less often than others. Moreover, we revealed several conflict prevention practices and suggest to shift the focus away from a competitive shift distribution paradigm towards supporting these pro-social practices. We conclude with guidelines to support individual planning practices, self-leadership, and for dealing with conflicts.

In radiology, medical technology providers (MTP) focus mainly on technology-related issues, such as image quality or efficiency of reporting. Broader notions of radiology as "meaningful work" are largely seen as out of scope for an MTP. The present paper challenges this. In a real-world case with a large MTP, we showed that medical technology could be designed more holistically to explicitly improve radiologists' wellbeing. We first gathered work practices experienced as especially conducive to wellbeing. From there, we distilled ideal practices to increase wellbeing and turned them into two software applications. The MTP's initial skepticism dissolved, while radiologists unanimously emphasized wellbeing and demonstrated how they work towards improving it. Based on our insights, the applications resonated well among the radiologists involved, the healthcare provider, and other customers of the MTP. We close with a critical reflection of the challenges and opportunities of designing wellbeing-driven technology in the work domain.

Lack of self-control is at the heart of many undesirable behaviors, such as overeating, overspending, and even overworking. While the field of Persuasive Technologies searches for ways to change attitudes and behaviors, it often neglects the science of self-control. We present the Chocolate Machine, an exploratory interactive product to train self-control strength based upon Ego Depletion theory. A field study showed the machine to increase perceived self-control over time, while providing a sustained positive experience. This makes the machine transformational, aiming at facilitating behaviors people find worthwhile, but hard to implement.