Persuasive Technology is a vibrant interdisciplinary research field, focusing on the design, development and evaluation of interactive technologies aimed at influencing people’s attitudes and/or behaviors through persuasion, but not through coercion or deception. The research community aims at enriching people’s lives in various domains such as health and sustainability by supporting the setting and achieving of goals they set for themselves and thus change their behaviors.

The 2019 conference will be hosted by the Cyprus University of Technology. The previous successful conferences have been organized in Eindhoven, Stanford, Oulu, Claremont, Copenhagen, Columbus, Linköping, Sydney, Padua, Chicago, Salzburg, Amsterdam, and Waterloo. The conference series seeks to bring together researchers and practitioners from industry and academia working with various topics of persuasive technology.

The authors of full and short papers are encouraged to specify the primary contribution type of the submitted manuscript in terms four different categories:

1. Design science papers, which not only describe an IT artefact but also provide an evaluative
research of the artefact as a seamless part of the contribution
2. Empirical papers in terms of quantitative, qualitative or mixed method contributions, which
seek to provide evidence for persuasive systems design approaches
3. Conceptual-theoretical papers, which primarily seek to contribute to the general understanding of the field’s core themes and specificities
4. Other papers

SCOPE

The scope of the conference includes (but is not limited to) the following topics:

    Persuasive systems design
    Theoretical considerations
    Behavior change support systems
    Persuasive systems, interfaces, visualization
    HCI issues in persuasive technology
    Tailoring and personalization
    Mobile, pervasive and ubiquitous environments
    Gamification
    Social support
    Evaluation and validation of persuasive applications
    Software architectures and technical infrastructures for persuasion
    Smart environments and persuasion
    Nudging vs. persuasion
    Cognition and persuasive technology
    Habit change, social practices and cultural values
    Application domains for persuasive technologies such as safety, healthy living, sustainable behaviors, learning and training, marketing and commerce, work environments, organizations, self-driving vehicles
    Humanizing and/or de-humanizing effects of persuasive technology
    Emerging technologies and persuasive systems design: Big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence etc
    Unintended consequences and ethical considerations

SPECIAL SESSION: PERSONAL INFORMATICS

Self tracking has become a part of daily lives for many people. Smartphones are not just information hubs, but are also full of sensors for tracking behavior and context. Dedicated devices such as activity trackers are capable of tracking ever more information about one’s health. And the traces that we leave behind in the digital world in social networks and online services can provide tremendous insights into our past and current activities and states. But collecting data only makes sense if we utilize this data, e.g. to gain insights about ourselves and ultimately change the life for better. Application domains are not just related to health and wellbeing, but also, e.g., finance, traveling, or learning.

We are seeking contributions investigating the role of persuasive technologies in the context of self-tracking. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

– attitude or behavior change
– long term tracking and interventions
– enhancing compliance
– making sense of data
– supporting reflection and understanding
– concepts and evaluations of new applications

Submissions will have to follow the same format (full or short paper) and they must demonstrate relevance to the conference, i.e. by using persuasive technology to induce a change in the user.

SPECIAL SESSION: GAMIFICATION AND GAMEFUL PERSUASIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Gamification has risen to ubiquitous research significance showing how to apply persuasive techniques and designs over the past couple of years and shows no sign of slowing its growth. Gamification research has provided us with definitions, frameworks, and taxonomies for gamification and game design elements. However, research on gamification provides much more than taxonomical insights, also advancing our understanding of gameful design building blocks leading to research on persuasive and motivating systems, designs, and architectures. Moreover, specifically within human-computer interaction, much research has been produced on effects and user studies of gamified systems. Gamification is much more than motivational design; it permeates many application areas and is often used to improve complex tasks and even human wellbeing.

We are seeking contributions investigating the role of persuasive technologies and systems in the context of gamification. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

– personalization of gameful systems
– extension of theories in gamification
– studies of psychological mediators and behavioural outcomes
– experimental interventions and measures of gamification
– applications of gamification in persuasive technologies

Submissions will have to follow the same format (full or short paper), and they must demonstrate relevance to the conference, meaning they should showcase persuasive technology as a means to induce a change in a person.

SUBMISSION TYPES

PAPERS:

This format is suitable for original research, which is completed work at the time of submission and, regardless of the length of the paper, is a self-sufficient scientific contribution. Papers can be full papers (12 pages) or short papers (6 pages) in Springer LNCS format, and describe work not presented, published or simultaneously submitted elsewhere. Accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings and be devoted a timeslot for oral presentation.

Please pay careful attention to describing the research methodology in your manuscript as well as when categorizing it in the submission process. Submitted papers must be classified by the authors either as design science, empirical, conceptual-theoretical or other contributions when submitted,
and they will be reviewed in the light of this.

POSTER:

This format is suitable for descriptions of smaller studies, project outlines, or work-in-progress.
Authors should submit a 2-page abstract in Springer LNCS format. Accepted posters will be included in the adjunct conference proceedings. Posters will be displayed and presented during a dedicated session of the conference.

DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM PAPERS:

The Doctoral Consortium is a special session of the conference where PhD students in the early phases of their research can receive advice in a constructive atmosphere. Students present and discuss their research with other PhD students and a panel of established researchers in the area of persuasive technology. Students interested in participating in the Doctoral Consortium should submit a 4-page abstract in Springer LNCS format describing their research question, its position with respect to the state of the art, their research plans and methodology, ideas, and results achieved so
far. Accepted abstracts will be included in the adjunct conference proceedings (unless opted out by the student).

TECHNICAL DEMONSTRATIONS:

If you want to demonstrate a piece of persuasive technology during the demo session so that attendees can try and interact with it, please submit a 2-page description in Springer LNCS format, including the description of the system and its purpose, its status of implementation and deployment, contents of the demo to be shown at the conference, and equipment. If you want to show a commercial product then you might be asked to pay an exhibition fee.

Accepted abstracts will be included in the adjunct conference proceedings.

WORKSHOPS PROPOSALS:

Workshops are meant to gather a number of people to work interactively on an emerging topic and exchange ideas. Approved workshops will be announced on the conference website. They will take place during a half- or full-day session before the conference. If you want to organize a workshop, please submit a proposal as a maximum 4-page description in Springer LNCS format, including a description of the topic, motivation, organization, expected outcome, and supporting materials. Workshop descriptions will be included in the adjunct conference proceedings.

PUBLICATIONS

Accepted papers will be published by Springer in a volume of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science series (www.springer.com/lncs). Workshop and demo descriptions, abstracts from posters, and doctoral consortium abstracts will be published as an adjunct proceedings volume with an ISBN.