Digital Behavior Change Intervention Designs for Habit Formation: Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Digital behavior change interventions (DBCIs) are increasingly used to promote sustained physical activity.
• Emerging technologies facilitate the integration of DBCIs into daily life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review habit formation techniques in DBCIs for physical activity.
• To investigate behavior change techniques, habit formation types, and design strategies in DBCIs.
• To understand the implementation of design strategies for habit formation in digital interventions.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines.
• Searched 4 databases (Web of Science, Scopus, ACM Digital Library, PubMed) from 2012-2022.
• Included studies on digital tools for physical activity, behavior change techniques, and in English.

Main Results:

• 41 articles were reviewed, identifying self-monitoring, goal setting, and prompts/cues as prevalent behavior change techniques.
• Habit formation techniques were based on intentions, cues, and reinforcement, utilizing methods like automatic monitoring, feedback, and virtual rewards.
• 32 design strategies for habit formation were mapped to a conceptual framework, with explicit interactions being more common than implicit ones.

Conclusions:

• A conceptual framework for habit formation in DBCIs was developed, categorizing strategies into target-mediated and technology-mediated interactions.
• Most DBCIs employ explicit interaction design, supporting personalized habit formation.
• There is a need to explore and integrate implicit interaction design strategies to enhance DBCIs for habit formation.