Implementing positive reinforcement.

Designers should provide immediate positive feedback in various formats to reinforce sustainable energy actions and boost intrinsic motivation.

About this paper

The author argues that existing energy feedback technologies are ineffective because they use a universal approach, failing to account for individual differences in attitudes and motivational stages.

They propose leveraging motivational psychology, specifically the Transtheoretical Model, to develop more personalized and effective strategies for promoting sustainable energy behaviors.

Here are some methods used in this study:

Transtheoretical Model Motivational Interviewing

Which part of the paper did the design guideline come from?

“‘Ubigreen’[24] (Figure 3, top right) employs these techniques. It is a mobile phone visualization that uses semi-automatic sensing technologies to provide feedback of transportation behaviors. It uses a series of emotionally persuasive icons [24] (i.e. a polar bear standing on an iceberg) as positive reinforcement. The more “green” one’s transportation behaviors, the further in the progression of icons one gets (i.e. the iceberg grows and the ecosystem improves) until one reaches the final stage (...)” (‘Positive Reinforcement, Emotional Persuasion (through the ELM) & Values’ section)

He, H. A., Greenberg, S., & Huang, E. M. (2010). One size does not fit all. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Inspiration and scope

This paper discusses the characteristics of energy users in promoting sustainable energy behaviors via immediate positive reinforcement.

You aim to design for student writers to support productive writing and promote creativity. Your context and the paper's context differ: the paper is for energy users promoting sustainable energy behaviors, while you focus on student writers aiming for productive, creative outcomes. At the same time, they are both aimed at influencing behavior—whether encouraging sustainable energy use or promoting productive writing habits. Strategies like feedback loops, goal-setting, and incentives could be effectively employed.

Also, they differ as energy users engage with environments through actions impacting energy use, whereas student writers engage through cognitive processes like generating ideas. At the same time, they are similar in requiring prolonged user engagement and motivation. Techniques like gamification, rewards, and personalized experiences can be used to promote sustainable energy behaviors and foster a productive, creative writing environment.

Leveraging these similarities, consider real-time positive feedback for writing milestones. Helping students see immediate impacts and celebrating small wins can boost motivation and competence, enhancing intrinsic motivation and fostering a productive writing environment.

Your input

  • What: supporting productive writing and promoting creativity
  • Who: student writers
  • Design stage: Ideation

Design ideas

Consider the following components for your design:

1

Integrate a progress bar that visually tracks word count and writing time.

2

Incorporate pop-up messages that congratulate students when they reach predefined word count goals.

3

Design celebratory animations that trigger when students complete a writing session.

Methods for you

Consider the following method(s) used in this paper for your design work:

Motivational Interviewing (MI)

This method can help designers by guiding the development of client-centered tools that elicit users' motivations for change, promoting sustained usage and creativity in writing. Keep in mind the principles of building self-efficacy, intrinsic attributions, and addressing value-behavior discrepancies to engage students effectively.

Personal Values Assessment

Using this method allows designers to frame creative writing tools around the individual values of student writers, potentially fostering deeper engagement and creativity. Designers should consider how the values of target users influence their motivation and behavior during the ideation process.

[Table 2] From this figure, you can draw inspiration on setting motivational goals to support student writers through various stages of their writing process.