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Exploring Design Opportunities for Reflective Conversational Agents to Reduce Compulsive Smartphone Use

Published: 19 July 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Conversational agents (CAs) have become ubiquitous in our daily lives. Recognizing the potential of CAs being persuasive agents, we are interested in leveraging CAs to reduce compulsive smartphone use, a widespread behavior among young adults that can lead to negative consequences. This work presents the design and development of StayFocused, a mobile app incorporating a chatbot to assist people in setting focus goals and reflecting on their phone-checking behaviors in situ. Particularly, we highlight the iterative process of curating prompts for GPT-3, and the lessons learned from our trials and errors. With StayFocused, we propose a three-week between-subjects study with college students. We envision the design of StayFocused and the proposed study will deepen our understanding of how CAs support immediate actions as well as sustained behavior change, and inform the design of persuasive technologies for reducing unintended behaviors such as compulsive smartphone use.

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  • (2024)MindScape Study: Integrating LLM and Behavioral Sensing for Personalized AI-Driven Journaling ExperiencesProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/36997618:4(1-44)Online publication date: 21-Nov-2024
  • (2024)Guiding Students in Using LLMs in Supported Learning Environments: Effects on Interaction Dynamics, Learner Performance, Confidence, and TrustProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36870388:CSCW2(1-30)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
  • (2024)“Hey Genie, You Got Me Thinking about My Menu Choices!” Impact of Proactive Feedback on User Perception and Reflection in Decision-making TasksACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/368527431:5(1-30)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2024
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  1. Exploring Design Opportunities for Reflective Conversational Agents to Reduce Compulsive Smartphone Use

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    Published In

    cover image ACM Conferences
    CUI '23: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
    July 2023
    504 pages
    ISBN:9798400700149
    DOI:10.1145/3571884
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 19 July 2023

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    Author Tags

    1. Conversational UI
    2. persuasive technology (PT)
    3. reflection
    4. smartphone non-use

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    • Work in progress
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    • Refereed limited

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    CUI '23
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    CUI '23: ACM conference on Conversational User Interfaces
    July 19 - 21, 2023
    Eindhoven, Netherlands

    Acceptance Rates

    Overall Acceptance Rate 34 of 100 submissions, 34%

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    CUI '25
    ACM Conversational User Interfaces 2025
    July 7 - 9, 2025
    Waterloo , ON , Canada

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)MindScape Study: Integrating LLM and Behavioral Sensing for Personalized AI-Driven Journaling ExperiencesProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/36997618:4(1-44)Online publication date: 21-Nov-2024
    • (2024)Guiding Students in Using LLMs in Supported Learning Environments: Effects on Interaction Dynamics, Learner Performance, Confidence, and TrustProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36870388:CSCW2(1-30)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
    • (2024)“Hey Genie, You Got Me Thinking about My Menu Choices!” Impact of Proactive Feedback on User Perception and Reflection in Decision-making TasksACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/368527431:5(1-30)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2024
    • (2024)Prompt Engineering an LLM into Roleplaying a Management Coach: a Short Guide by and for Non-NLP ExpertsProceedings of the 6th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces10.1145/3640794.3665570(1-10)Online publication date: 8-Jul-2024
    • (2024)Coaching Copilot: Blended Form of an LLM-Powered Chatbot and a Human Coach to Effectively Support Self-Reflection for Leadership GrowthProceedings of the 6th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces10.1145/3640794.3665549(1-14)Online publication date: 8-Jul-2024
    • (2024)Exploring VUI-Supported Mindfulness Techniques for Smoking CessationProceedings of the 6th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces10.1145/3640794.3665546(1-11)Online publication date: 8-Jul-2024
    • (2024)Enabling Multi-modal Conversational Interface for Clinical ImagingExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650805(1-13)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2024)Contextual AI Journaling: Integrating LLM and Time Series Behavioral Sensing Technology to Promote Self-Reflection and Well-being using the MindScape AppExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650767(1-8)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2024)Mental Models of Meeting Goals: Supporting Intentionality in Meeting TechnologiesProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642670(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2024)StayFocused: Examining the Effects of Reflective Prompts and Chatbot Support on Compulsive Smartphone UseProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642479(1-19)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • Show More Cited By

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