Ethical Support for the Design Process of Persuasive Technology: A Second Order Responsibility for Designers of Mediating Persuasive Technology

Abstract

Not all designers take ethical considerations into account during the design process. Especially for persuasive technology this could be important because these are products that actively persuade their users to change their attitudes or behaviour. To help designers take ethical considerations in the design process of persuasive technology, a framework is developed based on the work of Berdichevsky & Neuenschwander. Built on that framework, an exploratory integration of two theories, based on the work of Verbeek and Illies & Meijers, that explain the influence on users of persuasive technology are combined. Although a theoretical difference between the theory of Verbeek and Illies & Meijers could not be solved, the examination of designer’s responsibility in this combined framework resulted in three guidelines that could be integrated into a design process. The first one is concerned with the designer’s intention to create persuasive technology. The second guideline is to incorporate a second order persuasion in the product to steer the user towards the intended use of that product. The third guideline is to change the scope of usability research to anticipate on different contexts in which persuasive technology will be used.