In mobile technologies for health and well-being (mHealth), push notifications are a widely used tool to implement persuasive strategies. However, little research has been carried out to investigate the impact of notifications in such technologies and users' attitudes towards them. In this study, we address this gap by exploring the role of notifications and their customisation in the context of mobile applications that promote social, mental, or physical well-being. Based on observational data collected from 152 participants, we investigate users' attitudes and preferences towards notifications and explore how they differ along demographic dimensions. In addition, we then verified these results with behavioural measures and attitude ratings through a user study (N = 31), which saw participants interacting with a prototype of a mHealth application. Our findings show that customisation of notifications is a desired feature that can be used to improve the persuasive aspect of mHealth applications. Implications derived from our study can provide guidance for researchers and practitioners alike when designing app notifications to create better motivating, meaningful, and persuasive experiences.

In mixed traffic environments, highly automated vehicles (HAV) can potentially be disruptive and a source of hazards due to their non-human driving behavior and a lack of “traditional” communication means (gestures, eye contact, and similar) to resolve issues or otherwise unclear situations. As a result, additional external human-machine interfaces (eHMI) for automated vehicles that replace the now absent human element in communication have been proposed. In this paper, we present the results from a study, in which two versions of a light band eHMI to communicate driving intend of an automated shuttle were evaluated in a real driving environment. We found that the green-red traffic light metaphor and simple animations could improve interaction success in certain aspects. We also found and discuss that the effect of using vs. not using the visual eHMIs was overall lower than expected and that the shuttle’s position and observable driving behavior seemed to play a larger role than anticipated.