Wicked persuasion:a designerly approach

Abstract

Persuasive computing has tended to be applied toward the promotion of minor behavior change in the direction of easily understood and uncontroversial goals. The approaches used for achieving success in these cases may not make sense, however, when designing for so called `wicked problems'. We argue that wicked problems can be effectively addressed through persuasive means, but that the development of systems for this purpose is better suited to a `designerly' (as opposed to engineering or experimental psychology) approach. We detail the development of our thought process in designing for our own chosen wicked problem as inspiration for future persuasive computing for various other wicked problems.