Not Now, Ask Later: Users Weaken Their Behavior Change Regimen Over Time, But Expect To Re-Strengthen It Imminently
This addresses the problem of maintaining user engagement in digital behavior change tools, which is incremental as it builds on existing research about intervention adherence.
The study analyzed over 8,000 users on HabitLab to understand adherence to online behavior change interventions, finding that users gradually shift to easier interventions over time but often expect to return to harder ones soon.
How effectively do we adhere to nudges and interventions that help us control our online browsing habits? If we have a temporary lapse and disable the behavior change system, do we later resume our adherence, or has the dam broken? In this paper, we investigate these questions through log analyses of 8,000+ users on HabitLab, a behavior change platform that helps users reduce their time online. We find that, while users typically begin with high-challenge interventions, over time they allow themselves to slip into easier and easier interventions. Despite this, many still expect to return to the harder interventions imminently: they repeatedly choose to be asked to change difficulty again on the next visit, declining to have the system save their preference for easy interventions.