Push or Light: Nudging Standing to Break Prolonged Sitting

TL;DR

This study compares light dimming and push notifications as nudging strategies to encourage standing during prolonged sitting, highlighting their effectiveness and user discomfort across different tasks.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of explicit nudging methods, emphasizing the importance of context and user preferences for designing adaptive interventions.

Findings

Dimming increased standing frequency slightly more than notifications.

Dimming caused discomfort in two-thirds of participants.

Effectiveness of nudges varied with task context.

Abstract

Prolonged sitting is a health risk leading to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. To combat this, various "nudging" strategies encourage stand-ups. Behavior change triggers use explicit prompts such as smartphone push notifications or light controls. However, comparisons of the effects of such interactions, discomfort, and user context have not yet been performed. The present study evaluated these methods in a mixed design experiment with 15 college students. Three intervention methods (none, push notifications, and light dimming) and three user task contexts (computer work, video calls, and reading) were tested. The frequency of standing up and comfort were assessed after each ten-minute session. Results showed that dimming resulted in slightly more breaks (1.4 \pm 1.55) than push notification (1.2 \pm 1.08), but caused discomfort for 66.7% of participants, compared to 20% for notification. The results were influenced by task context. Dimming was most effective during video calls and reading, while push notifications were more effective during computer work. These findings suggest adaptive nudging systems should tailor interventions based on context and individual preferences.