Digital Nudges : Bringing Awareness of Excessive Consumption of Digital Content in Smartphone Users

Abstract: The way we use interactive mobile technology everyday is changing the human cognitive landscape and how we are dealing with reality. In our daily life, SnT (Social-networking technology) has become something we cannot avoid using, as the need of being constantly updated and virtually connected to our social and working circle has prominently emerged. In this Interaction design thesis, I intend to explore the possible ways in which digital users, physical people in the first place, can prevent addictive loops of being constantly connected to such services and smartphones. Ethnographic research methods were performed along with iterative prototyping phases, leading to the development of speculative design interventions. Altering different responsiveness rates of a mobile user experience led me to design six bodystorming concepts and enact relative roleplay activities supposed to prevent SnT addiction and eventually help people being in control again of their spent digital time.