Human well-being is inseparable from environmental context, with nature long recognized for its restorative potential. As everyday life becomes increasingly mediated by technology, access to nature is reconfigured through digital media. Virtual nature is often proposed as a tool for supporting well-being, yet the assumptions guiding its design and evaluation remain under-examined. This paper presents a systematic review of 124 empirical studies on virtual nature and well-being. Results generally trend toward clear positive effects on well-being; however, the current state-of-the-art remains considerably limited. Research is dominated by short-term, passive interventions grounded in stress reduction and attention restoration theories, prioritizing affective and physiological outcomes over cognitive or relational dimensions. We conclude by outlining four design inspirations that reposition virtual nature within HCI, shifting attention from short-term relief toward more diverse forms of human–nature interaction including cultural, participatory, and more-than-human perspectives.

Context: Protection motivation theory (PMT) is the most frequently used theory in understanding cyber security behaviors. However, most studies have used a cross-sectional design with symmetrical analysis techniques such as structure equation modeling (SEM) and regression. A data-driven approach, such as predictive modeling, is lacking and can potentially evaluate and validate the predictive power of PMT for cybersecurity behaviors. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the explanatory and predictive power of PMT for cyber security behaviors related to computers and smartphone. Method: An online survey was employed to collect data from 1027 participants. The relationship of security behaviors with threat appraisal (severity and vulnerability) and coping appraisal (response efficacy, self-efficacy and response cost) components were tested via explanatory and predictive modeling. Explanatory modeling was employed via SEM, whereas three machine learning algorithms, namely Decision Tree (DT), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and K Nearest Neighbor (KNN) were used for predictive modeling. Wrapper feature selection was employed to understand the most important factors of PMT in predictive modeling. Results: The results revealed that the threat severity from the threat appraisal component of PMT significantly influenced computer security and smartphone security behaviors. From the coping appraisal, response efficacy and self-efficacy significantly influenced computer and smartphone security behaviors. The ML analysis showed that the highest predictive power of PMT for computer security was 76 % and for smartphone security 68 % by KNN algorithm. The wrapper feature selection approach revealed that the most important features in predicting security behaviors are self-efficacy, response efficacy and intention to secure devices. Thus, the findings indicate the complementarity of the cross-sectional and data driven methods.

Background Software industry employees are subject to the harmful effects of technostress, which is caused by information technology use. Aim The aim of the current study is to understand how software industry employees cope with technostress and how their employers can best support these coping efforts. Method We employed the critical incident technique using a qualitative approach and collected our data through a questionnaire. In total, we collected and analyzed 715 real-life accounts of coping with critical technostress incidents from employees working in the industry. Results We identified 27 strategies for coping with technostress and provided a comprehensive categorization of them. Additionally, we uncovered novel coping strategies and highlighted the contextual (organizational and personal) factors that influence the selection of coping strategies. Conclusions Our findings help in explaining the reasons and motives for up-taking specific coping strategies in the software industry. Based on our findings, employees invest considerable effort into coping with technostress, but do not receive enough support for their coping efforts. We offer insightful suggestions for support mechanisms that could be used by software organizations to enhance employees’ coping efforts and well-being.

Software engineering (SE) requires high analytical skills and creativity, which makes it an excellent context for experiencing flow. Although previous work in the SE context has identified how positive affect and development tools can support the flow experience, there is still much to uncover about the characteristics of software developers’ flow experiences. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a qualitative critical incident technique (CIT) questionnaire (n = 401) on the flow-facilitating factors and characteristics of flow in the SE context. The most important flow-facilitating factors in developers’ work included optimal challenge, high motivation, positive developer experience (DX), and no distractions or interruptions. The flow experiences were characterized by absorption, effortless control, intrinsic reward, and high performance. Our study identifies the features of flow commonly addressed in flow research; however, it also highlights how IT use, especially development tools that provide positive DX, as well as being able to work without excessive distractions and interruptions are important facilitators of developers’ flow.

Early adolescents are accustomed to using information technology (IT) for different purposes as a part of their everyday life. While IT use can provide many benefits, it can also include negative experiences, such as feelings of stress (i.e. technostress). Considering that young IT users’ technostress perspectives have remained limited in the literature, this paper attempts to contrast their experiences with aspects from earlier research. A qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews with 31 primary and secondary school students reveals that early adolescents have encountered stressful IT use experiences that vary based on the degree of stress. The experiences relate to different dimensions of IT use, namely 1) online social (media) behaviour, 2) notification-driven behaviour, 3) social distancing and online education behaviour, and 4) gameplay and other aspects of IT use behaviour. Common denominators for these experiences include the attention or time required by IT use and coming across unwanted content or communications. In addition to reporting negative feelings and emotions, the participants mentioned physical strains, including headache and exhaustion. Although early adolescents can face experiences that can be contrasted with similar stressors and strains as adults, the distinct characteristics of their IT use should be considered in future research.

Interest in and demand for micro-credentials in higher education institutions is on the rise. Although the concept of micro-credentials is still evolving, they can be seen as short learning opportunities that are accompanied by digital credentials that capture the proofs of the learning. These digital proofs of learning range from skills and competences acquired to information whether such skills were acquired via formal or non-formal learning activities. Micro-credential platforms are used for multiple purposes including issuing, viewing, and storing the digital credentials. Despite the growth in the number of micro-credential platforms in the recent years, literature is limited on the features offered by the platforms and how they are helpful for higher education institutions and learners. To address this gap in research, we employed a qualitative approach by semi-structured interviews and group discussions with platform providers and education experts. Our findings resulted in 38 features that can help higher education institutions, learners, and providers understand what kind of features are emphasized in micro-credential platforms and how they can be helpful for different use purposes. As practical implications, the findings of this study can help higher education institutions in considering adoption and usage of micro-credential platform.

Contemporary digital technologies have facilitated practices related to games whereby users often produce and consume content for free. To date, research into consumer interactions has largely focused on in-game factors, however, the intention to both play the game and to make in-game purchases are influenced by outside factors, including game streams and game-centred communities. In particular, the growth of competitive gaming, known as esports, offers a new channel for consumer engagement. This research explores the potential for esports to be a significant factor in understanding both intentions to play and spend money on games. Our study draws from Motivations Scale of Sports Consumption to empirically investigate the relationship between esports spectating motivations and game consumption: Watching Intention, Gaming Intention, and Purchasing Intention. This survey uses structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse data collected from a sample of video game players (n = 194). This research contributes empirical evidence of the relationship between esports spectating and game consumption, with the relationship between Watching Intention and Gaming Intention found to be particularly strong. Finally, while the MSSC is an adequate measure for esports spectating, additional aspects specific to esports require further investigation, consequently, there may be more optimal measures which can be developed.

Increasing the current low uptake of Open Education Resources (OER) is a key challenge for researchers and practitioners in the field. User studies have shown that collaboration is a main success factor for successful open educational activities. However, effective collaboration in open educational contexts requires well planned processes and platforms supporting collaboration, in particular in physically distributed settings. We have been investigating the value of such platforms, their main features and user requirements to enable collaboration from immature ideas to completed resources. We used quantitative and qualitative research methods to collect insights from potential users of such collaboration platforms to validate our approach. Based on these insights, we developed a collaboration platform for open education. We validated our platform using observation groups and focus groups to identify the key design principles of powerful collaboration platforms for Open Education. Examples are the need for a simple tool, use of a common terminology, and considering Intellectual Property Rights. In this paper, we present our findings from an initial validation of our collaboration platform and give recommendations towards powerful collaboration platforms for open educational contexts.

Open educational resources (OERs) provide opportunities as enablers of societal development, but they also create new challenges. From the perspective of content providers and educational institutions, particularly, cultural and context-related challenges emerge. Even though barriers regarding large-scale adoption of OERs are widely discussed, empirical evidence for determining challenges in relation to particular contexts is still rare. Such context-specific barriers generally can jeopardize the acceptance of OERs and, in particular, social OER environments. We conducted a large-scale (N = 855) cross-European investigation in the school context to determine how teachers and learners perceive cultural distance as a barrier against the use of social OER environments. The findings indicate how nationality and age of the respondents are strong predictors of cultural distance barrier. The study concludes with identification of context-sensitive interventions for overcoming the related barriers. These consequences are vital for OER initiatives and educational institutions for aligning their efforts on OER.