I utilized a design science approach to create an automated kiosk that uses embodied intelligent agents to interview individuals and detect changes in arousal, behavior, and cognitive effort by using psychophysiological information systems. This dissertation achieves three primary purposes.First, I describe the creation of this new Information Technology artifact, discuss design choices, and show the completed prototype.Second, related to this new system, I propose a unique class of intelligent agents, which are described as Special Purpose Embodied Conversational Intelligence with Environmental Sensors (SPECIES). I outline a system model that frames the conceptual components of SPECIES agents, provide design principles for developing SPECIES agents, and discuss some of the research implications of the various components in the model.Third, based on the SPECIES paradigm, I present five studies that evaluate different parts of the model. These studies form the foundational research for the development of the automated kiosk. In the first study, participants interacted with an automated interviewing agent via a chat-based modality (108 participants). The study clearly demonstrates the strong, positive correlation of both response time and the number of times a message is edited to deceitful responses. The software developed became the heart of the kiosk. The second study evaluated changing human decision-making by including influence tactics in decision aids (41 participants). This paper-based decision experiment showed that framing decision aids as appeals to individuals' values possibly change individuals' decisions and was the basis for study 4. The third study examined human-computer interaction and how SPECIES agents can change perceptions of information systems by varying appearance and demeanor (88 participants). Instantiations that had the agents embodied as males were perceived as more powerful, while female embodied agents were perceived as more likeable. Similarly, smiling agents were perceived as more likable than neutral demeanor agents. The fourth study assessed how incorporating impression management techniques into embodied conversational agents can influence human perceptions of the system (88 participants). The impression management techniques proved to be very successful in changing user perceptions. Specifically, agents that performed self-promotion were perceived as more powerful, trustworthy and expert. Agents that performed ingratiation were perceived as more attractive. In the fifth study, I used an embodied agent to interview people who had either constructed a fake bomb and packed it into a bag or had only packed clothes into a bag (60 participants). The agent used eye-tracking technology to capture pupil dilation and gaze behavior. When combined with vocal measurements, the kiosk technology was able to achieve over 93% accuracy in one trial.

This thesis describes a systematic research enquiry into influencing more sustainable behaviour through design, which has produced communicable new knowledge in the form of a design pattern toolkit, called Design with Intent, developed and evaluated through an action research process. The toolkit aims to help designers create products, services and environments which in_uence the way people use them, primarily for environmental and social bene_t; it brings together techniques for understanding and changing human behaviour from a range of psychological and technical disciplines, illustrated with examples, with the aim of enabling designers to explore and apply relevant strategies to problems. `Design for behaviour change' has grown signi_cantly as a _eld in the past few years, to a large extent due to recognition of the contributions that user behaviour makes to the environmental and social impact of technology_and designed systems in general. People's behaviour is inevitably in_uenced by the design of the systems which they use, and it is not a great leap to consider that design could be used intentionally to in_uence behaviour where some benet would result. This thesis starts by identifying the need for a guide for designers working on behaviour change. It extracts insights from reviews of perspectives on in_uencing behaviour from di_erent disciplines, inside and outside of `design', which could be usefully applied in a design context. Through an action research process of iterative development and workshops with design practitioners and students, these insights are incorporated into a toolkit for designers, which is applied mainly to environmental and social behaviour change briefs. Versions of the toolkit are made publicly available, and feedback from early users in different contexts is analysed and implications for continuing development discussed.

This thesis explores the relationship between usability and persuasion in the design of the interface for a smart-phone application. Using a usability study of an I-phone app combined with interviews with users and the designers, the roles of usability and persuasion in the design of the app and their influence on each other as design goals is discussed from both the users’ and designers’ perspectives. The application’s purpose is to support behavior change in users by giving them feedback on their electricity use in order to encourage them to switch their pattern of usage to reduce CO² emissions. This thesis should be of interest to interaction designers faced with the challenge of designing interfaces that are simultaneously both user-friendly and persuasive. While it is generally accepted that usability has a positive effect on the potential of a design to be persuasive little is known about the effects, if any, of persuasion on usability. This thesis proposes that the relationship between these two design principles is more complex than is generally assumed and that in certain situations they may even be traded off against one another.  This trade-off could be useful for designers framing design challenges involving usability and persuasion.

Today, web, Internet, mobile and other ambient technologies engage in persuasive interaction with people. The technology designed to reinforce and change user’s attitude or behaviors or both through persuasion and social influence are persuasive technologies. Recently, persuasive systems and services are becoming increasingly abundant and ubiquitous. Evaluation of these systems is a challenging endeavor and typically requires a simple and efficient method. Nielsen suggests heuristic evaluation as a method for intuitive, inexpensive and easy evaluation of a user interface design. The purpose of this thesis is to examine heuristic evaluation as a method to evaluate the persuasive potential of software programs. The Heuristics used were operationalized version of Fogg’s persuasive design principles. Software programs MS Word, MS PowerPoint, Counter-Strike, The Sims, Stone and Plan Eat Smile were chosen with the goal of measuring their ability to change behavior or attitude of users. The Evaluation was performed on the software programs using three evaluators and the test results indicated that they possess significant persuasive potential. It was concluded that the set of heuristics which were developed can be used to perform summative heuristic evaluation and the method used was helpful in evaluating the persuasive potential of software programs.

Since the emergence of Recommender Systems (RS), most of the research has focused on improving the capability of a recommender system to predict and provide an accurate recommendation. However, the literature has demonstrated increasing evidence that providing accurate recommendations is not sufficient to increase users’ acceptance of the provided recommendations. Hence, it is vital for a recommender system to focus not only on the accuracy of the provided recommendations but also on other factors that influence the acceptance of recommendations and the extent to which these recommendations are convincing or persuasive. Consequently, there becomes a need for new research paradigms to help improve the capabilities of recommender systems, which goes beyond the recommendation accuracy. One of the recently emerged research directions that consider this need fosters the idea of adopting human-related theories from the social sciences domain, such as persuasiveness of social communication. In this context, however, a challenging, non-trivial, and not fully explored issue that arises is: how to integrate human-related theories into a recommender system to be one of its intrinsic characteristics in order to improve its performance beyond its accuracy? This thesis aims to address the above issue from two angles: first, it investigates improving recommender systems by increasing users’ acceptance of the recommendations. To achieve this, the influence of persuasion principles on users of recommender systems is investigated. Then a reference architecture framework to adapt and integrate persuasion features as a substantial characteristic of recommender systems is proposed. The proposed framework, named Personalized Persuasive RS (PerPer), adopts concepts from the social sciences literature, namely personality traits and persuasion principles. In addition, PerPer adapts machine learning concepts, in particular, the Learning Automata, to support its learning capabilities. Second, the thesis discusses evaluating recommender systems beyond their accuracy. Particularly, it proposes two evaluation approaches that aim to evaluate recommender systems in a comprehensive way that goes beyond evaluating accuracy only. The first evaluation approach is called the Comprehensive Performance evaluation (ComPer). It adopts concepts from the human learning domain and provides a simple, thorough, and setting-independent evaluation approach for recommenders. The essence of ComPer is to consider a recommender system as a human being, and hence the former’s outcomes (i.e., recommendations) can be evaluated and validated in a way similar to how humans’ learning outcomes are evaluated. The second evaluation approach adopts goal-oriented modeling to provide an evaluation that does not only assess recommenders beyond their accuracy but also considers the multi-stakeholders of RSs. We demonstrate, empirically, and by user studies, the feasibility and usefulness of the proposed approaches. The contributions of the thesis are: (1) A characterization of recommender systems as systems supported with human traits and features, which goes beyond the conventional recommender systems known in the literature. (2) A user study that examines the impact of persuasive principles on users of recommender systems. (3) A Personalized Persuasive RS (PerPer) reference architecture framework to enrich recommender systems with persuasion capabilities that are personalized and adaptive for different users. (4) A mapping between human’s cognitive skills and the recommendation process. (5) The Comprehensive Performance evaluation (ComPer) framework to provide a comprehensive assessment of recommender systems considering multiple evaluation dimensions other than accuracy. And (6) a goal-oriented evaluation approach to assess the impact of multiple alternatives for recommendation approaches on the satisfaction of RSs stakeholders’ goals.

Detta arbete har som syfte i att undersöka hur teknik kan motivera människor till fysisk aktivitet. Vi har valt att utgå från begreppet “persuasive technology” som är en typ av teknik som har i uppgift att övertyga användaren, främst till en beteendeförändring. Metoden som användes för att samla in vår data var en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer som utfördes på totalt tio deltagare på arbetsplatsen NetPort Science Park. Resultaten visade att det skiljer sig i påverkan av tekniken beroende på kön och ålder, nämligen att äldre kvinnor (45-60 år) känner sig mer stressade och pressade än resterande deltagare, i synnerlighet effekten av att mäta sina egna resultat, med andra ord självmätning. Men även att deltagarna hade större chans att utöva både vardagsmotion och träning om de använde någon sorts av “persuasive technology”. Samtidigt menar forskare att både vardagsmotion och träning är extremt viktigt för livslängden och för att undvika sjukdomar såsom hjärtkärlsjukdomar. / This study aims at investigating how technology can motivate people into physical activity. We have chosen to assume the concept of "persuasive technology" which is a type of technology that is intended to convince the user, primarily to a behavioral change. The method used to collect our data was a qualitative method in form of semistructured interviews conducted on a total of ten participants at the NetPort Science Park workplace. The results showed that it differs from the influence of technology depending on gender and age, namely that older women (45-60 years old) feel more stressed and pressured than the remaining participants, especially the effect of measuring their own results (self-tracking). But also that the participants had a greater chance of exercising both everyday and exercise, for example at the gym, if they used some kind of "persuasive technology". Furthermore, researchers argue that both everyday exercise and exercise are extremely important for longevity and to avoid diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

The fast technical development enables new application areas within health care, and theimportance of eHealth increases. Meanwhile, conscious behavioral change throughpersuasive technology has shown to be a functional and effective method. This studyaimed at producing a design model, customized for persuasive design within eHealth. Themodel took the shape of a toolbox, containing tools which aim to respond to key aspectsassociated with the field, and was qualitatively evaluated through interviews with expertswho assessed the quality. The interview recordings were abductively analyzed, and themodel revised by the analysis’ results. The findings contributed to a widenedcomprehension of the area and resulted in a new version of the model, and other valuableinsights about the aspect of context within persuasive design and eHealth. / Den snabba tekniska utvecklingen möjliggör nya användningsområden inom hälsoområdet,och vikten av eHälsa ökar. Samtidigt har medveten beteendeförändring genom persuasivedesign visat sig vara en funktionell och effektiv metod. I den här studien var målet attproducera en modell, anpassad för design inom eHälsa. Modellen tog formen av enverktygslåda, innehållande verktyg avsedda att besvara nyckelfaktorer inom fältet, ochevaluerades kvalitativt genom intervjuer med experter för att öka dess kvalité.Intervjuinspelningarna analyserades abduktivt, och modellen reviderades efter analysensresultat. Resultaten bidrar till en utvidgad förståelse inom fältet, en ny version av modellenoch andra värdefulla insikter angående kontext som en aspekt inom persuasive design ocheHälsa.

Övergången till det digitala samhället har väckt frågor kring digital integritet och säkerhet. Flera studier visar på användares oro över insamling av personlig data. Samtidigt uppmärksammas hur användare gör mycket lite för att skydda de egna personuppgifterna, en paradox där användarens beskrivna oro inte stämmer överens med individens beteende. Med denna utgångspunkt genomfördes en kvalitativ studie med syfte att undersöka hur Persuasive Technology påverkar 90-talisters upplevelse av trygghet, trovärdighet och digital integritet vid användning av sociala medier.  Studien genomfördes utifrån en litteraturöversikt baserad på Theory of Planned Behavior och ämnesområdena upplevelsecentrerad design samt Persuasive Technology. Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer söktes djupare förståelse för hur Persuasive Technology påverkar upplevelsen av trygghet, trovärdighet och digital integritet vid användning av sociala medier inom urvalsgruppen 90-talister. Genom bearbetning av data identifierades sex områden inom vilka studiens resultat presenterades. Data analyserades utifrån studiens litteraturöversikt med avsikt att relatera empiriska upptäckter med litteraturöversiktens ämnesområden, för att skapa djupare förståelse för upplevelsen av digital integritet på sociala medier.  Studiens resultat baserades på tidigare forskning, studiens litteraturöversikt och empiri från semistrukturerade intervjuer med utvald målgrupp. Resultatet indikerade att Persuasive Technology påverkar upplevelsen av trygghet, trovärdighet och digital integritet på sociala medier. Utformningen av plattformarna upplevdes som uppmuntrande eller tvingande till att genomföra handlingar som inte följde användarnas mål. Till följd av en bristande känsla av kontroll över digital integritet, genererades negativa känslor kopplat till upplevelsen. Upplevd trygghet ansågs pendla mellan olika reflekterande stadium, där upplevd trovärdighet blev påverkad av företagets ansedda position på marknaden. De negativa känslornas intensitet och konsekvenser av att dela persondata ansågs dock vara begränsade, där sociala fördelar värderades högre än eventuella nackdelar sett till delning av persondata. / The transition into a digital society has raised questions about digital integrity and security. Several studies show users' concerns about the collection of personal data. Meanwhile studies also show that users do very little to protect their personal data, a paradox where the user's described concerns do not correspond to their behavior. With this paradox as a starting point, a qualitative study was conducted with the aim of examining how Persuasive Technology affects people born in the 90s experience of safety, credibility and digital integrity when using social media. The study was conducted with a literature review based on Theory of Planned Behavior and the subject areas Experience-centered design and Persuasive Technology. Through semi-structured interviews, a deeper understanding was sought for how Persuasive Technology affects the experience of safety, credibility and digital integrity when using social media. By processing data, six areas were identified within which the results of the study were presented. Data were analyzed based on the study's literature review with the intention of relating empirical discoveries with the literature review's subject areas, with the aim of creating a deeper understanding of the experience of digital integrity on social media. The results were based on previous research, the study's literature review and empirical data from semi-structured interviews with a selected target group. The empirical evidence indicates that Persuasive Technology influences the experience of safety, credibility and digital integrity on social media. The design was perceived as encouraging or compelling to carry out actions that did not follow the user’s goals. A lack of control over digital integrity, resulted in negative emotions linked to the experience. Perceived security was considered to fluctuate between different reflective stages, where perceived credibility was affected depending on the company's reputable position on the market. However, the intensity of the negative emotions and consequences of sharing personal data were considered to be limited, where social benefits were valued higher than any disadvantages in terms of sharing personal data.

Much of the developed world is experiencing an aging population. This requires society to adapt to take care of a growing elderly population and improve their quality of life. Today, mobile systems are available that makes it possible to monitor and improve health (m-health). Even though these systems could be immensely helpful for the elderly population, this has not been the primary demographic for the current m-health systems. This case study aimed at examining how persuasive technology (technology for changing behavior and/or attitude) can be used to promote usage of m-health applications by the elderly. For this purpose, a theoretical framework for supporting m-health systems is proposed. This framework consist of persuasive technology (for motivation and support for fulfillment of human needs), knowledge of elderly issues in interacting with mobile interfaces, smartphone usability heuristics and the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle (to support goalsetting and incremental progress). To determine how persuasive technology can be used to motivate elderly and find effective strategies for this purpose, the case study examined health behavior, motivations for healthy behavior, attitude to health, general goal setting behavior, needs, preferences, technological experience and self-efficacy, as well as usage of m-health systems using qualitative and participatory methods. Methods used included semi-structured interviews, future workshop, revolutionary rapid prototyping and usability evaluation. The findings of the interviews and the future workshop suggested the primary motivation for healthy behavior was derived from social aspects. Thus, the most effective persuasive strategies for the elderly likely target their need for social belonging and socialization. Based on the findings, an interactive prototype was developed. The prototype proposed an m-health application with self-monitoring that implemented an elderly community around healthy behavior, with opportunities to earn digital rewards and challenge other users to competition. The interactive prototype was then used in a usability evaluation to gauge its usability by the elderly and revised in higher fidelity according to their feedback.

Online User Experiences (UXs) act as persuasive technology that can nudge users toward making behaviour change. This makes online UX integral to marketing. The tourism industry relies on UX to attract potential customers. Made up of 80% SMEs, the competition is high, hence the SMEs must deliver robust UXs that capture, persuade and convert users into customers. Tourism, despite being an early adopter of technology lags behind in terms of delivering UXs that meet users’ expectations. Furthermore, scholarly works exploring online UX as a persuasive technology within the tourism SMEs, specifically the day-attraction SMEs segment, are lacking. Using the theoretical framework of the Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model, this research evaluates day attraction SMEs’ online UXs as persuasive technology. The research uses three mixed-methods to present the service providers’ and the users’ perspectives. The first method is a website content analysis that reviews the persuasive architecture of 102-day attraction websites. The second method uses questionnaires to get insights on tourists’ online usage, motivations, opinions and perceptions of online UX delivered by a single day attraction SME (case study). The third method, an eye tracking experiment is an extension to the questionnaires. The outcomes show that the SMEs’ incorporate persuasive UX elements corresponding to usability, visual aesthetics and credibility, but fail at incorporating strategies to support dialogue. The tourists’ suggest that usability, visual aesthetics and credibility UX elements affect their decision to buy, however, certain strategies that enhance dialogue, such as ability to win rewards, are likely to nudge them toward behaviour change. Furthermore, there appears to be a link between visual aesthetics and perceived usability, and their combined effect on persuasiveness. A final outcome establishes tourist’s website reading patterns, emphasising the placement of call-to-actions within an F-shape region. This research contributes through a customised version of the PSD model applicable for tourism SMEs, delivers empirical evidence suggesting additions to the model and, adds to the overall body of knowledge on tourism online UXs and persuasive technology.