A Notification Based Nudge for Handling Excessive Smartphone Use

TL;DR

This paper introduces a notification-based intervention to reduce excessive smartphone use by increasing user self-awareness through nudges and visualization, avoiding annoyance and restrictions.

Contribution

It presents a novel notification-based approach combining nudges and visualization to decrease smartphone overuse without causing user irritation.

Findings

19.3% of users avoid usage-limiting apps due to annoyance or restrictions

Prototype successfully increased self-awareness and reduced usage in a 3-week study

Nudges and visualization effectively promote mindful smartphone use

Abstract

Excessive use of smartphones is a worldwide known issue. In this study, we proposed a notification-based intervention approach to reduce smartphone overuse without making the user feel any annoyance or irritation. Most of the work in this field tried to reduce smartphone overuse by making smartphone use more difficult for the user. In our user study (n = 109), we found that 19.3% of the participants are unwilling to use any usage-limiting application because a) they do not want their smartphone activities to get restricted or b) those applications are annoying. Following that, we devised a hypothesis to minimize smartphone usage among undergraduates. Finally, we designed a prototype for Android, "App Usage Monitor," and conducted a 3-week experiment through which we found proof of concept for our hypothesis. In our prototype, we combined techniques such as nudge and visualization to increase self-awareness among the user by leveraging notifications.