Introduction

The term addiction does not only refer to dependence on substances such as heroin or cocaine. An addiction is a psychological and physical inability to stop consuming something, even though it is causing psychological and physical harm.

Digital services are not exempted from falling into this category. We depend on digital services more now than ever for everything, from communicating with loved ones to finding educational content. Hence, enterprises have taken advantage of this codependency for their benefit by exposing us to environments and content that constantly seeks for our attention. It's no surprise why we have become so addicted.

Therefore, our team set out to analyze how addiction is presented across different experiences, and how it affects our behaviors. These are the main services we explored: video streaming platforms, gaming platforms, and online shopping.

Case Studies

Assessing Harm

Generally speaking, we could implement tools that:

1. Allow us to see the relationship between systemic problems, like Transition Design does.
   

2. Provide an internal check before a product or service is released. Harms modeling helps us consider potential harm and find mitigations before they happen.
   

3. Can be used throughout the design process to evaluate ideas when creating AI. This set of Guidelines for Human-AI interaction organized by Microsoft can be a starter.

If we are talking specifically to addiction, we believe these tools could be extremely helpful:

1. Microsoft’s Feelings Toolkit:
   A tool that can be applied to the brand or specific features to understand customers' emotions and feelings.
   

2. Google’s HEART Framework:
   A set of user-centered metrics developed to evaluate the quality of the user experience, and help teams measure the impact of UX changes. It can be applied to a single feature in your app, or to a whole product.
   

3. BJ Foggs Behavior Model:
   A powerful formula to help design intended behavior. This happens with 3 elements: motivation, ability, and prompts.
   

4. BJ Foggs Inverted Behavior Model:
   By inverting the model, it can help analyze and predict any unknown behaviors and consequences.
   

5. Manipulation Matrix:
   A tool to support decision-making and to help you determine whether the product you’re preparing to build, or the functionality you’re planning to use, is ethical. It will help you uncover the answer to the question, “Should I attempt to hook my users on this product?”

Opportunities

At a business level, we need to think about ways to mitigate harm on existing tools, the ethical responsibility behind promoting certain behaviors and its long term impact on people. In order to do that, businesses should research and measure their impact on different stakeholders. Then, find patterns and connections to have a deeper understanding of their behaviors.

On the other hand, legal policies should hold companies accountable for their social and environmental footprint. Perhaps digital addiction treatment programs could be developed. Lastly, there should be a heightened social awareness through education for recognizing symptoms of addiction.