An eye-opening example of scientific responsibility

“Open the pod bay doors, HAL.”
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Dave Bowman and HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey

I’m currently learning about persuasive technology, something that fits very well with prior ideas on a task manager and my research interest in mobile media. Although I am a psychologist, I am reading research in the area of HCI, at the moment, which is interesting — and encouraging to add a more psychological, process-oriented, theory-adaptive, empirical and accurate assessment perspective.

So far, one paper stood out regarding responsibility when it comes to persuasive technology. The tool that is described to change behavior is … interesting to say the least, as is the way the authors argue.

The paper is by Purpura, S., Schwanda, V., Williams, K., Stubler, W., & Sengers, P. (2011). Fit4Life: The Design of a Persuasive Technology. Promoting Healthy Behavior and Ideal Weight and very well worth reading.

cut_purpura_schwanda_williams_stubler_sengers_2011Link to PDF
Link to ACM Page
(not sure whether the PDF can be accessed on this page outside of an academic institution, this is why the link directly to the PDF is also given)

Very interesting way to address scientific responsibility. If you know of similar papers — either regarding the approach or in trying to achieve the same goal — I’d love to hear about them.