The current study is a user-centred enquiry into how wellness-related personal informatics (PI) systems can be more effectively designed to better promote lasting behaviour change and sustained wellbeing in the context of the changing health paradigm. Until recently, the Western biomedical model with its disease focus has been effective in delivering health care; however, this paradigm does not efficiently support a system in crises - the contemporary health care system which is confronted with complex challenges of modern lifestyle diseases and behavioural disorders. Enabled by the technological revolution, a Systems Medicine model - a preventative, personalised, predictive and participatory (P4) approach - is emerging and PI systems play a significant role in realising this pre-clinical, patient-centric, behaviour-focussed shift in health care. This viewpoint paper argues that design strategies applied in PI systems to promote behaviour change play a vital role in supporting health outcomes, specifically, persuasive and mindful user experience (UX) strategies. By applying a phenomenographic research methodology, a user-centred approach is taken to understand qualitatively different ways in which PI systems (and their inherent design strategies) are experienced by users, to inform more intuitive design of PI systems that balance behaviour change strategies to support more lasting shifts and sustainable states of wellbeing. Drawing together ideas from systems medicine, complexity theory, persuasive and mindful design approaches in conjunction with phenomenography, this study aims to understand experiential nuances to offer implications for the future design of health care through PI systems. The theory built through the research process is applied in a prototype design, which is presented as an example of a PI system design that balances persuasive and mindful strategies and aims to promote lasting behaviour change and enduring states of wellbeing more effectively.

Meditation is a practice that promotes improvements in physical and mental health, according to previous studies. The proven benefits, such as relaxation and stress reduction, have attracted people's interest in initiating training. However, practice demands discipline, time, and dedication. Despite the diversity of techniques available for training, beginners may find it difficult to concentrate during the learning phase of meditation. Technological advances have enabled the emergence of devices that offer guided meditation for users. In that sense, designers engaged with creating products that become tools to enrich the personal experience of users. Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the tools adopted for this purpose. The use of VR to stimulate meditative practice has been a topic of research in the field of technological media. However, research focuses on the practice known as Mindfulness. Also, researchers focus their attention on 3D graphics design. Therefore, this study explored the possibility of designing immersive technologies for the practice of guided meditation. More specifically, to investigate the effects of using 360-degrees Virtual Reality videos supporting the practice of Relaxation Response meditation exercise, developed by Dr. Herbert Benson, and Contemplative Inquiry presented by Robert Butera. Furthermore, the study aimed to explore if technology improves the meditation experience. Adopting the theoretical approaches of Positive Technology and Research through Design, the Aurora and Pandora prototypes were designed to explore the themes. The results indicate that guided meditation presented through immersive videos can provoke desirable emotional responses in people who practice meditation, such as calm and relaxation. However, undesirable physical effects were observed in the participants. The discomfort of vision, stress, and irritation were examples. Also, the experiments showed that it was possible to improve the experience of meditative practices.

In a technologically overloaded world, is it possible to use technology to support well-being activities and enhance human flourishing? Proponents of positive technology and positive computing are striving to answer yes to that question. However, the impact of technology on well-being remains unresolved. Positive technology combines technology and positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on well-being and the science of human flourishing. Positive computing includes an emphasis on designing with well-being in mind as a way to support human potential. User experience (UX) is critical to positive technology and positive computing. UX researchers and practitioners are advocating for experience-driven design and third wave human-computer interaction (HCI) that focuses on multi-dimensional, interpretive, situated, and phenomenological aspects. Third-wave HCI goes beyond cognition to include emotions, values, culture, and experience. This research investigated technology-supported meditation in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual world from a positive technology perspective to examine how technology can support engagement, self-empowerment, and well-being. Designing and evaluating technology for well-being support is complex and challenging. Further, although virtual worlds have been used in positive technology applications, little research exists that illuminates the experience of user engagement in virtual worlds. In this formative exploratory study, experienced meditators (N = 12) interacted with a virtual meditation world titled Sanctuarium that was developed for this research. Using a third wave HCI approach, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to understand the nature of engagement with a virtual world and the experiential aspects of technology-supported meditation. Results supported using virtual worlds to produce restorative natural environments. Participants overwhelmingly reacted positively to the islandscape including both visual and sound elements. Findings indicated that Sanctuarium facilitated the meditation experience, similar to guided meditation – although participants remarked on the uniqueness of the experience. Aspects of facilitation centered on the concepts of non-distraction, focus, and simplicity of design and instructions. Participants also identified Sanctuarium as a good tool for helping those new to meditation. Meditators described positive effects of their meditation experience during interviews and also rated their experience as positive using the scale titled Effects of Meditation During Meditation. Phenomenological analysis provided a rich description of the nature of engagement while meditating with Sanctuarium. Meditators also rated engagement as high via an adapted User Engagement Scale. This interdisciplinary work drew from multiple fields and contributes to the HCI domain, virtual worlds’ literature, information systems research, and the nascent areas of positive technology and positive computing.