Persuasive Design: Enable Bystanders to Get Access to the Nearest AED When OHCAs Happen

Abstract: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has become a leading cause of death in Sweden, while the useful tool external defibrillator (AED), which enables the heart to restart to beat, is not fully used. Prior studies have worked out various solutions to promote the use of AEDs. However, those studies only delved into the situation in certain areas but barely fit the conditions in Sweden. In addition, few of the studies explored the cause of low use of AEDs from the perspective of users. This work investigated the drawbacks in the current situation in Sweden and users’ thoughts towards using AEDs. As a result, this thesis presented a persuasive design, a group of embedded functions in Google Maps. The main effects of the design are: 1. Endowing bystanders with knowledge of where AEDs are located and how to manage the device 2. Facilitating the process of seeking and retrieving the devices and creating a channel for bystanders to sought help. The prototype was further evaluated through Heuristic Evaluation. The study results showed the design successfully made a persuasive impact on bystanders to change their attitudes by offering instruction for them to seek and control AEDs. The design also remedied deficiencies in the current situation of using AEDs in Sweden. Lastly, the study concluded persuasive design can play a role to facilitate the use of AEDs, thus improving the survival rate of OHCAs.