Captology Notebook

This is an intriguing idea. It uses simulation to ostensibly change attitudes and behaviors for a very positive outcome. I had a few thoughts: Simulations are extremely effective persuasion tools because they persuade in context--we're not getting an advertisement at the grocery store or on the subway. We're alone, secure in our homes, when this persuasion would take place. When our cognitive safeguards are down, we're more easily persuaded. Also, it's important that the users are correctly informed about the function and purpose of the persuasive mirror. If they see it as credible and useful, they're more likely to be persuaded.

(Ordinarily a statement like that would make people uncomfortable--the idea that people are "more likely to be persuaded" and that it's a good thing. In this case (and many other recent examples), the goal is not to encourage people to buy yet another gadget or change their attitudes about a political issue. Here, the goal is to shift attitudes toward a healthy lifestyle and that's almost always a universally good thing.)

The mirror has a few advantages by virtue of its design. It's actually a very clever idea: It persuades at the right time and place, just as users are intentionally looking in the mirror. It's a novel technology, which can hide the persuasive intent. Our user, John, might think "This is fun!" without realizing the subtle influences it has on his attitudes and behaviors. This is, of course, a double-edged ethical sword. And the mirror is unobtrusive, responding only when users request information.

There are a few clear concerns, of course. Technology embodies our human biases. This mirror is no different. Users will experience the designers' view of how certain behaviors result in physiological change. Because this is a simulation, users will probably suspend disbelief, raising the potential for any biases in the technology to be more easily accepted. In other words, John might trust his mirror more because it is a novel technology, not realizing that human designers' biases are behind it.

Could the mirror be used in different ways? Of course. We can imagine it being used nefariously, for a certain potato-chip manufacturer to simulate a "better" look on the mirror when someone eats its chips. As is common in technologies, we might see feature creep, in which tons of unexpected features come to be found in the mirror. For example, a creative (but misguided) designer might say, "What if we allowed the mirror to track the amount of time you spent with your kids, the speed you drove on the highway, and the number of emails you responded to today? We could show how all those things affect you every day!" Perhaps, but that's not the point of the mirror. On the other hand, if this mirror is successful, we might see more sophisticated versions of it in the future.

Above all, testing is key. Is the mirror simply a cool device, or is it actually causing changes in attitudes and behaviors? How long do the effects last? The researchers will probably measure these things before and after the mirror is placed in a home in order to understand the influences it has on users. Can they be augmented with complementary technologies? If there were a "Persuasive Home Suite" of other technologies that worked together, attitude/behavior change might be more persistent over the long term. For example, as part of this Home Suite, there might be an opt-in feature on your microwave that would note what you eat every day and present you a list at the end of the week to track your calories. Your scale might praise you when you reach your sensible weight goals. And your Persuasive Mirror might one day be linked with your friends' mirrors--if you allowed it, of course--so you could see how the others were doing and work towards your goals together.

There will be more technologies like this, absolutely. We've just recently seen persuasive technologies being intentionally developed to persuade online and in public spaces. One of the next frontiers is to change private attitudes and behaviors and, naturally, the home is a logical setting. What's fascinating will be the ways in which people evaluate, accept, and reject persuasive technologies in their private spaces. Designers have a huge opportunity ahead of them but will have to be careful to carefully test and validate their assumptions before launching any persuasive technologies. They'll have to keep the ethical considerations of persuasion in mind, too.

NewScientist article: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18524856.200