How Can the Problem Become Part of the Solution? Designing a Behavior Change Support System for Interruption Management

The proliferation of smartphones has introduced unprecedented connectivity but has concurrently given rise to a societal challenge - excessive smartphone notifications leading to IT-induced interruptions. With individuals receiving about 60 notifications daily, this interruption phenomenon poses detrimental effects on mental health, leading to profound issues, including emotional exhaustion. To counteract this, individuals are encouraged to deal effectively with smartphone notifications, which requires a more sophisticated approach than simply reducing notifications. This paper proposes a health behavior change support system for interruption management, adopting a design science research approach. Within two design cycles, we derived design principles from the literature, refined the design through interviews with users of an alpha prototype, refined our prototypical instantiation of the design, and evaluated it through further interviews with users of a beta prototype. The resulting design knowledge empowers individuals to better take control of smartphone use, promoting the potential for long-lasting health behavior change in interruption management.