A Systematic Framework for Designing and Evaluating Persuasive Systems

A growing number of information technology systems and services are being developed to change users’ attitudes or behavior or both. Despite the fact that attitudinal theories from social psychology have been quite extensively applied to the study of user intentions and behavior, these theories have basically provided checklists or rules of thumb rather than systematic design methods or methodologies to develop software solutions. This article is conceptual-theoretical by its nature. It discusses the process of designing and evaluating persuasive systems and describes what kind of content and software functionality may be found at the final product. Seven underlying postulates behind persuasive systems, ways to analyze the user and the use context, and persuasive design strategies and guidelines are highlighted. Based on the works of Fogg, the article also lists techniques for persuasive system content and functionality, describing example software requirements and implementations. Some new techniques are suggested. Moreover, a new categorization of these techniques is proposed, composing of the primary task, dialogue, system credibility, and social support categories.