Facilitating the process of change : exploring alternate approaches to behavioural design

Summary: The adoption of healthy lifestyle habits can have a profound impact on individual health and wellbeing on a global scale. This research investigates the use of behavioural insights in interactive digital health technologies, and the potential for these tools to motivate personal behaviour change for improved health and wellness. Explorations into this space have revealed the controversial nature of behaviour change which has motivated a search for alternative methods of facilitating the habit formation process. This shift away from the traditional approach of behavioural design has resulted in one that educates and encourages users to use these behavioural techniques on themselves instead in order to allow human agency to flourish. Design-based explorations that lead to the design of an educational wellness tool and investigates the applications of behavioural insights, using methods borrowed from interaction design, are the focus of this work.