Frameworks and Methods to Design for Positive User Experience and Wellbeing

Dear Colleagues,

During the last ten to twenty years great progress has been made in understanding the scientific foundations of positive user experience and the possible contributions of digital technology to wellbeing.

Very often new digital technology or digital transformation in general is discussed in a rather dystopic manner. It is argued, that real relationships between people are eroded, that it destroys jobs or changes jobs between excessive demands or unchallenged work, that it virtualizes life…

With approaches like experience design, positive design, positive technology, or positive computing we have very good starting points to design digital technology for positive user experiences and wellbeing. All these approaches have their theoretical roots in Positive Psychology. They open up new design perspectives and can contribute to design for a positive future. Work can be designed for better self-efficacy or perception of work as a meaningful activity. In leisure contexts technology can contribute to support feelings of relatedness in families or between friends, even when they live temporarily separated from each other. And there are many more examples and possibilities for design enabling positive experiences and wellbeing.

Since design for positive user experience and wellbeing has different theoretical foundations than technology designed for pragmatic purposes, design frameworks and methods are different as well. Research on design frameworks and methods is important, because it supports designers in the develop of new ideas for positive digital technologies.

I hope that you feel inspired to contribute to this special issue. In the following I propose possible research directions, but please feel free to decide on your own contribution:

• Design frameworks or methods could be context specific. Concerning design for positive user experience and wellbeing, research showed that experiences in work contexts and leisure contexts are different.
• When designing for positive experiences time perspective will have an impact. E.g. design could be focused on short-term positive experience or long-term wellbeing.
• Social networks or collaborative work applications require design for multiple users or groups of users which will be different from design focusing on single users.
• Design could address hedonic or eudemonic experiences, which will have an impact on frameworks and methods as well.
• Significant progress in technology research and development (e.g. artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, robots) provide new opportunities for creating interaction and the design for positive experiences. For example, artificial intelligence changes the interaction paradigm from the command-response paradigm to cooperation and integration of computers in everyday life.
• Technologies serve a specific purpose, but can offer possibilities for positive experiences as well. However, it is also possible, that technologies are just being designed for positive experiences and wellbeing. Both directions will have an impact on design practice.
• Which requirements must be met to implement design frameworks and methods for positive user experience and wellbeing in companies?
• Research showed that in many cases designers have a rather pragmatic perspective on design of technology. In order to design for positive user experience and wellbeing a sound knowledge of the theoretical background and a certain attitude or mindset is required. How can design methods or frameworks contribute to support that?

Frameworks and methods could cover the basic phases of a generic and iterative design process, consisting of analysis of contexts and users, development of design solutions, and evaluation of the designs. Research could be validation studies, case studies, method developments, reflections, overviews or reviews etc.

Prof. Dr. Michael Burmester
Guest Editor

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