Persuasive Technology or Explorative Technology?

Abstract

Persuasive technology is technology that is intended to change attitudes and/or behaviors using persuasion. An issue with such technology is it pre-supposes that individuals must be convinced to change their attitude or behavior. In contrast, explorative technology is technology that is intended to help users explore and understand information about themselves to support self-reflection and to identify opportunities for behavior change. In this talk, I will describe the differences between such technologies, and argue for the need to invest more effort in explorative technologies through the discussion of a series of case studies.