Publication list:

(2021). Exploring the Darkness of Gamification: You Want It Darker? In: Intelligent Computing: Proceedings of the 2021 Computing Conference, Arai, K. (ed.). Springer, Cham. pp. 491-506.

Both academia and industry have shown an increased interest in gamification. To enhance the design and understanding of gamification there is a need to explore the negative aspects of the concept. Negative sides, “the darkness” of gamification is further explored in this paper. Through a systematic literature review the darkness of gamification is mapped and categorized into seven problem domains. This new information could help both industry and academia to acknowledge problem domains of gamification and develop better frameworks for designing gamification. It will also reignite the call to conduct more research about negative sides of gamification in order to improve the gamification experience.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80129-8_35
Accepted version:
ComputingConference2021_Nystrom.pdf

, and (2020). When Persuasive Technology Gets Dark? In: Information Systems: EMCIS 2020, Themistocleous, M., Papadaki, M., Kamal, M. (eds.). Springer, Cham. pp. 331-345.

Influencing systems and persuasive technology (PT) should give their users a positive experience. While that sounds attractive and many rush implementing novel ideas things such as gamification, a serious professional and scientifically rich discussion is needed to portray a holistic picture on technology influence. Relatively little research has been aimed at exploring the negative aspects, outcomes, and side effects of PT. Therefore, this research aims at addressing this gap by reviewing the existing knowledge on dark patterns, demonstrating how intended Pt designs can be critically examined, introducing the Visibility-Darkness matrix to categorize and locate dark patterns, and proposing a Framework for Evaluating the Darkness of Persuasive Technology (FEDPT). The framework is instrumental for designers and developers of influential technology, as it clarifies an area where their products and services can have a negative impact on well-being, in other words, can become harmful to the users.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63396-7_22
Accepted version:
EMCIS2020_NystromStibe.pdf

, and (2020). An Iterative Information System Design Process Towards Sustainability. In: Information Systems: EMCIS 2020, Themistocleous, M., Papadaki, M., Kamal. M. (eds.). Springer, Cham. pp. 781-795.

While bringing business and computer science into an improved alignment using the theoretical foundations of information and computation is one of the main aims of information science, improved design knowledge from other interdisciplinary research fields like human-computer interaction (HCI) could advance different information system (IS) design thinking and processes. Since structuring the IS design process for a sustainable result is challenging, a HCI viewpoint and focus on IS design could be beneficial due to the multi and interdisciplinary nature of HCI. In this paper an iterative design process for sustainable IS design conceptualized from HCI is proposed. The resulting design process highlighted the role of HCI in building knowledge in information science. This was achieved by showing the influence of different design choices on user behavior and in that way contributing towards generating reusable designs in different phases of the sustainable IS design process.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63396-7_53
Accepted version:
EMCIS2020_NystromMustaquim.pdf

, , , and (2019). Empowering Sustainable Change: Emergence of Transforming Wellbeing Theory. In: Adjunct Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Persuasive Technology (Persuasive 2019), Kyza E.A., Karppinen P., Karapanos E., Win K.T., Oinas-Kukkonen H. (eds.).

Majority of global problems and business challenges are byproducts of poor human attitude and behavior. Communities, societies, businesses, and organizations, basically everyone needs help with transformations. People often tend to perceive changes as something difficult, impossible, and mystical, thus are willing to avoid them. That attitude naturally leads to poorer decisions and consequent behavioral outcomes. This science-driven tutorial demystifies transformation by introducing Transforming Wellbeing Theory that explains the essentials of and inevitable necessity for transformation, Typology of Change that clarifies the variety of different changes, and Transforming Framework that provides 8 (eight) applicable tools for bending technological innovations with human nature to empower sustainable changes at scale. Due to its scientific richness and practical nature, this transforming tutorial is applicable in many essential contexts, including wellbeing, health, innovation, leadership, autonomy, commercialization, education, diversity, culture, sustainability, dwelling, equality, social change, governance, automation, emergency, management, marketing, art, safety, ecology, and economy.

Accepted version:
PT2019.pdf

and (2018). Exploring Sustainable HCI Research Dimensions Through the Inclusive Innovation Framework. In: This Changes Everything – ICT and Climate Change: What Can We Do?, Kreps, D., Ess, C., Leenen, L., Kimppa, K. (eds.). Springer, Cham. pp. 151-165.

When frameworks and design principles for open innovation and open sustainability innovation (OSI) were established in earlier research, their foundations were originated from the expanded concepts of universal design (UD) from human-computer interaction (HCI) in a prescriptive form. This also was the basis of an inclusive innovation framework (IIF) aiming for a sustainable information system design. In this paper the IIF originating from the concept of combining UD and open innovation (OI) in promoting information technology enabling sustainability goals was analyzed together with OI and OSI frameworks. The role of OI in formulating the IIF was thereby strengthened, which in parallel helped recognizing the extended conceptions of sustainable HCI (SHCI) and its future research path through the use of IIF.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99605-9_11
Accepted version:
HCC13_2018.pdf

, , and (2018). Transforming Sociotech Design (TSD). In: Adjunct Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Persuasive Technology (Persuasive 2018), Ham J., Karapanos E., Morita P., Burns C. (eds.).

Transforming Sociotech Design (TSD) uncovers conceptual frameworks for designing and evaluating Persuasive Technology (PT) aimed at achieving sustainable transformations of our lives towards wellbeing. TSD explains ways how PT research can be extended beyond limitations of traditional behavioral change designs. TSD embodies fundamental understanding of the essentials for designing successful transformations, known as Socially Influencing Systems, Computer-Supported Influence, Persuasive Cities, Persuasive Backfiring, and Persuasive Design for Sustainability. TSD empowers researchers and designers to create PT that makes behavioral and attitudinal changes last. Moreover, TSD also shares the knowledge about strategies from rhetoric, psychology, and neuroscience that lead to attitudinal transformations. By definition, TSD expands the way how researchers and professionals see the potential of PT in attaining long-term permanent behavioral changes at all scales, be it an individual, group, or societal levels. Everyone interested in creating innovations that successfully transform human behavior and attitude is welcome to explore more, especially PT researchers and practitioners, including designers, developers, user experience experts, psychologists, gamifyers, and nudging enthusiasts.

Accepted version:
Persuasive2018.pdf


(2017). Gamification of Persuasive Systems for Sustainability. In: Sustainable Internet and ICT for Sustainability (SustainIT) 2017, Pereira, L., Bergés, M., and Nunes, N. (eds.). IEEE.

This work in progress presents some initial findings concerning the use of gamification and persuasive technology in the domain of reaching a set sustainability goal by using persuasive systems. Both gamification and persuasive technology have become more pervasive elements in the research community in the domain of human-computer interaction (HCI) and information systems. This paper argues for research addressing the designing of these systems since we currently have a vague understanding of the important underlying mechanism. Sustainability is genuinely complex and the designer of a persuasive system with a set sustainability goal must consider numerous parameters when designing the artefact.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.23919/SustainIT.2017.8379815
Accepted version:
SustainIT2017.pdf


and (2016). Some Aspects of Using Universal Design as a Redesign Strategy for Sustainability. In: Advances and New Trends in Environmental Informatics, Wohlgemuth, V., Fuchs-Kittowski, F., and Wittmann, J. (eds.). Springer, Cham. pp. 49-60.

Sustainability is something that unites humankind and the important 2015 UN Climate Change Conference manifested this and was described by many as our last chance. A shifting towards sustainability through design is a challenge for managers and policymakers of organizations since the existing system or product could be complex and may have difficulty to adopt such a shift. This paper explores how organizations and their designers and developers could benefit from having a predictable process to follow for conducting such a shift, since numerous challenges are associated with costs and revenues. While universal design (UD) is a design philosophy closely associated with the sustainable design, an advanced perspective of UD could be implied as a redesign strategy for existing design and may be used as a radical design and innovation strategy for sustainability. In this paper, some of the aspects of UD as a redesign strategy for sustainability are addressed. Based on the previous theoretical frameworks, a UD approach for redesigning towards sustainability was formulated and discussed.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44711-7_5
Accepted version:
EnviroInfo2016.pdf

and (2015). Universal Design as a Cause of Triggering Innovation Levels for Sustainability-A Deliberative Concept. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Academic MindTrek Conference (AcademicMindTrek '15), Turunen, M. (ed.). ACM, New York. pp. 114-121.

Sustainability achievement through design could be seen as a connective result of design and innovation. The role of universal design (UD) for sustainability is well known, although how any innovation through this could be produced by the practice of UD is not evident. Different innovation levels could be triggered positively towards sustainability by practicing UD in an advanced way. In this paper, different innovation levels associated with sustainability achievement were scrutinized within the scope of UD. It was presented how the advance perspective of UD could have a direct impact on incrementing innovation levels of organisations, thereby ensuing sustainability. The advance concept of UD was then revisited in a deliberative way to justify the argument of the extensiveness of UD beyond the traditional scope of the accessibility domain only. Finally, the concept of sustainable human-computer interaction (HCI) was also re-explored within the context of UD and its practice.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1145/2818187.2818279
Accepted version:
Mindtrek2015a.pdf

and (2015). Finding Sustainability Indicators for Information System Assessment. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Academic MindTrek Conference (AcademicMindTrek '15), Turunen, M. (ed.). ACM, New York. pp. 106-113.

Nowadays, the importance of sustainability is persuading novel shifts in everyday life. This diversity makes it significant and challenging for sustainability to be quantified and measured. While the existence of perfect sustainability indicators is relatively unreasonable, they have important pragmatic roles in quantification and measurement by bridging sustainability's three pillars. Information system (IS) and sustainability are popular research areas, which clearly reflect the divergent and multidimensional role of sustainability. Despite this importance, defining the right sustainability indicators for IS is imperceptible. In this paper, we have identified sustainability indicators for IS using previous theoretical frameworks where universal design (UD) and its advance concept were used. Followed by this, a framework of IS sustainability indicators were proposed. The indicators were shown in the form of a design space arrangement, which could play significant roles in assessing sustainability for IS.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1145/2818187.2818278
Accepted version:
Mindtrek2015b.pdf

and (2015). Managing Framing Effects in Persuasive Design for Sustainability. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Academic MindTrek Conference (AcademicMindTrek '15). Turunen , M. (ed.). ACM, New York. pp. 122-129.

For decades, the framing effect has been a popular research topic in social psychology. A persuasive system could act in shaping the user behaviour towards sustainability, and thereby play a key role in social change. In this respect, understanding different framing effects in persuasive design is crucial, since individual framing and cognition on sustainability plays a major role in the success of persuasion. For dealing with a complex issue, such as achieving sustainability through behavioural change, persuasive design needs to reflect on the potentials of framing effects. In this paper, we have proposed a model of framing effects from which the principles of managing different framing effects of persuasive sustainability design were formulated. The principles were then shown in relations with different dimensions of sustainability and were also used to generate a design space for persuasive sustainability. The proposed model and principles are significant for realizing the effectiveness of different framing effects for the success of a persuasive sustainability.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1145/2818187.2818277
Accepted version:
Mindtrek2015c.pdf

and (2015). A System Development Life Cycle for Persuasive Design for Sustainability. In: Persuasive Technology, MacTavish, T., and Basapur, S. (eds). Springer, Cham. pp. 217-228.

The impact of a system development lifecycle (SDLC) often determines the success of a project from analysis to evolution. Although SDLC can be universally used design projects, a focused SDLC for a specific complex design issue could be valuable for understanding diverse user needs. The importance of sustainability elevation using a persuasive system is not new. Previous research presented frameworks and design principles for persuasive system design for sustainability, while an SDLC of sustainable system development also exists. However, at present no SDLC for persuasive design aiming for sustainability is evident, which was proposed in this paper. An existing sustainable SDLC established earlier by the authors was taken as the reference framework. A cognitive model with established persuasive design principles was then analyzed and mapped within the context of the reference framework to come up with the resulting life cycle. Finally, extensive discussions and future work possibilities were given.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20306-5_20
Accepted version:
Persuasive2015.pdf


and (2015). Information System Design Space for Sustainability. In: New Horizons in Design Science: Broadening The Research Agenda, Donellan, B., Helfert. M., Kenneally, J., VanderMeer, D., Rothenberger, M., and Winter, R. (eds.). Springer, Cham. pp. 39-54.

The interdisciplinary nature of human-computer interaction (HCI) makes it possible to contribute towards an improved thinking in design and the process of information system designs. It is, however, a challenging aim, because the transformation of different gathered knowledge from HCI to information system designers is not easy, there being multiple design solutions available. In this paper a design space for designing an information system aimed at sustainability is introduced and discussed. The design space could be seen as part of a new design process, or correlating with an existing design setting and consisting of nine different components that are explored elaborately through a design space analysis. Differently selected dimensions of the proposed design space imitate knowledge from HCI and the result thus reflects a support for successfully transferring knowledge from HCI to the information system (IS) designers for improving a design process.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18714-3_3
Accepted version:
DESRIST2015.pdf

and (2015). An Iterative Information System Design Process for Sustainability. Presented at SIGCHI HCI & Sustainability Workshop - CHI’15, April 18-23, 2015, Seoul, South Korea.

Bridging business and computer science into an improved alignment using the theoretical foundations of information and computation is one of the aims of information science (IS). Improved design knowledge from other interdisciplinary research fields, like human-computer interaction (HCI), could advance different design thinking and processes for IS. While structuring an IS design process for a sustainable result is challenging, an HCI-focused viewpoint on IS design could be beneficial in this matter. In this paper, an iterative design process for sustainable information system design conceptualized from HCI is proposed. The resulting design process highlights the different roles of HCI towards building knowledge in IS by influencing different design choices on user behavior and contributing towards generating reusable designs in different phases of the design process.

Accepted version:
CHI_Workshop2015.pdf


and (2014). Video Game Control Dimensionality Analysis. In: Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment (IE2014), Blackmore, K., Nesbitt, K. and Smith, S.P. (eds.). ACM, New York.

In this paper we have studied the video games control dimensionality and its effects on the traditional way of interpreting difficulty and familiarity in games. This paper presents the findings in which we have studied the Xbox 360 console's games control dimensionality. Multivariate statistical operations were performed on the collected data from 83 different games of Xbox 360. It was found that the player's perceived level of familiarity and difficulty can be influenced by the game control dimensionality. We also found that the perceived difficulty varies with control dimensionality and that the familiarity tends to show no relation to the user's perceived difficulty. A way to measure and better understand familiarity and difficulty for games using the control dimensionality can thus give a better interpretation of different genres of games to its players and also to the game designers for further improvements in games' design. Positive transfer of this could bring forward new knowledge for game designers to augment learning of different genres of games.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1145/2677758.2677784
Accepted version:
IE2014.pdf

and (2014). Sustainable Information System Design and the Role of Sustainable HCI. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Academic MindTrek Conference (AcademicMindTrek '14), Lugmayr, A. (ed.). ACM, New York. pp. 66-73.

Sustainable Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is a heterogeneous developing field of research, typically focusing on persuasive system design to influence users to behave and live more sustainably. So far this change of behavior towards sustainability has been limited more or less within the scope of environmental topics. This paper extends the notion of sustainable HCI beyond the ecological sphere of sustainability. This paper has followed a previous research work in which sustainable system design principles were formulated without explanation of how to practice them in a system development process. Design principles originating from HCI design principles are an approach to showing how they could influence the classical system development life cycle to produce a sustainable system. A theoretical framework is proposed to explain this. Then sustainable HCI is redefined from the perspective of different parameters associated within the universal design concept from HCI.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1145/2676467.2676486
Accepted version:
Mindtrek2014.pdf

and (2014). Open Sustainability Innovation—A Pragmatic Standpoint of Sustainable HCI. In: Perspectives in Business Informatics Research, Johansson, B., Andersson, B., and Holmberg, N. (eds.). Springer, Cham. pp. 101-112.

The importance of sustainability in design became a major topic of interest in HCI research. Past research has shown how classical HCI design principles could be used to create values of the design through the open innovation concept. The scope of this paper follows from an earlier work of open innovation design principles that established the basis of open sustainability innovation since contributions from a dissimilar applied form of HCI could be promising. We in this paper have analyzed the concept of open sustainability innovation from the perspective of sustainable HCI. The paper outlines seven design principles for open sustainability innovation and has illustrated them in the form of a framework. The notion of open sustainability innovation and sustainable HCI are then revisited and the role of sustainable HCI for developing sustainable products, services, and initiatives using open innovation are clarified.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11370-8_8
Accepted version:
BIR2014.pdf

and (2014). Designing Persuasive Systems For Sustainability – A Cognitive Dissonance Model. In: Proceedings of the 22nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2014. AIS Electronic Library.

One of the major challenges in changing human behavior is dealing with the large gap between our action and its consequnces. Persuasion for sustainable action is a complex and long procedure since changing the behavior for the benefits of collective society rather than the individual is a challenge. Although several design principles have been derived for the ease of persuasive system design, no specific principles have addressed the goal of persuasion to be sustainable. In this paper we have proposed design principles for persuasive system design for sustainability. We also have proposed a cognitive dissonance model to show how these principles can work from a psychological incentive. Success of sustainability through persuasive system design (PSD) can be triggered by following the model in design procedure that focuses on reducing individual dissonance towards changing a specific target behavior for society.

Published version: https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2014/proceedings/track12/8/
Accepted version:
ECIS2014.pdf

and (2014). Designing Information Systems for Sustainability – The Role of Universal Design and Open Innovation. In: Advancing the Impact of Design Science: Moving from Theory to Practice, Tremblay, M.C., VanderMeer, D., Rothenberg, M., Gupta, A, and Yoon, V. (eds.). Springer, Cham. pp. 1-16.

Although sustainability is a key concern in today’s world, more efforts towards achieving sustainability are needed. User inclusion in the information system design process could enhance the outcome of a system’s action towards sustainability. It is, however, important to understand the design procedure of a system to achieve such goals. A framework denominating as the inclusive innovation framework presented in this paper incorporated analyses from open innovation, universal design, and sustainability to motivate the initiation of internal and external driving factors towards sustainability goals. The derived framework could promote the information system’s enabled sustainable goals by combining the use of universal design principles and the concept of open innovation. A requirement engineering model was also proposed that was interoperable within the three subjects of interest discussed in the paper and was necessary for understanding the application of an inclusive innovation framework. Two use cases were then presented as an illustration for arguing the validation of the proposed inclusive innovation framework. The findings from the use cases indicated that the use of universal design principles along with an open innovation concept could increase information systems’ enabled sustainability goals. This could be done by enhancing a system’s successfulness along with the increased user satisfaction.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06701-8_1
Accepted version:
DESRIST2014.pdf


and (2013). Design Principles of Open Innovation Concept – Universal Design Viewpoint. In: Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design Methods, Tools, and Interaction Techniques for eInclusion, Stephanidis, C. and Antona M. (eds.). Springer, Berlin. pp. 214-223.

The concept of open innovation is becoming an increasingly popular topic of interest and seems to promise a lot in organizational development. However, to date there are no certain design principles that can be followed by organizations on how to use open innovation successfully. In this paper seven design principles of open innovation concept have been proposed. The derived principles are the outcome which is based on the principles of universal design. The open innovation design, based on these principles could create better business values and new business strategies. Finally a theoretical framework is also proposed that shows how to use these principles for successful open innovation design.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39188-0_23
Accepted version:
HCII2013a.pdf


and (2013). Designing Sustainable IT System – From the Perspective of Universal Design Principles. In: Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design Methods, Tools, and Interaction Techniques for eInclusion, Stephanidis, C. and Antona M. (eds.). Springer, Berlin. pp. 77-86.

Since the concept of universal design is already extending the boundary of disabilities, it is significant to include different aspects of information technology where universal design enabled efforts can contribute towards better designed systems, products and services. Sustainability is an important and growing public concern in today’s world. Nevertheless, attempts of designing IT system that can be called sustainable in nature are not so evident at present. In this paper we propose a framework originating from sustainable IT system design principles (also described in the paper). The universal design principles are used as a foundation upon which the resultant sustainable IT system design principles were derived. The concept of ‘sustainable IT system’ addressed in this research paper is beyond the common phenomenon of sustainability like green IT, CO2 emission etc. Rather, the framework proposed in this paper incorporates more user inclusion and increased user satisfaction together towards higher usability. And an IT system designed in this manner is a sustainable IT system according to the argument of this paper which can therefore be designed by following the proposed design principles and framework.

Published version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39188-0_9
Accepted version:
HCII2013b.pdf

and (2012). An Inclusive Framework for Developing Video Games for Learning. In: Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL 2012), Felicia, P. (ed.). Academic Publishing International Limited, Reading, UK. pp. 348-355.

Games are a type of vehicle with which society is changing at present-day. But how the games themselves will be changed by society, is an interesting question to ask for enhancing and initiating better design of games. As participation in gaming upsurges around the world and across a larger part of the population, it is obvious that games are not only an entertainment medium for children or young people anymore. Games can be used to accomplish different purposes for different groups of people in the society. Design and use of games for learning and/or educational purpose has been an important research field for several years. However, this research field is yet to deliver expected achievement and result, despite many efforts and resources put into it. Factors that are important to consider for designing a game that will motivate users to active involvement in playing a game for active learning, are crucial for the successfulness of the design of such a game. The design goal for educational games would be to produce games that motivate users and thereby achieve effective learning. This paper proposes a framework in which the parameters of what users want from a game are considered for the development of games for learning. The framework is based on the previous research and theory of Richard Rouse (2001), who defined different dimensions of game design in terms of learning. The proposed framework is important in order to investigate and assess the success of existing games used for learning. Also the framework can provide better understanding as a requirement engineering tool for game designers, who are to design games for learning and educational purposes in the future. The proposed framework was verified using a small quantitative analysis. It was found that, while some parameters of the framework indeed have significance for designing games for learning, there are additional factors that need to be discovered by further analysis and research to enhance the usability of the framework.

Accepted version:
ECGBL2012.pdf



Reviewing:
I have done academic peer reviewing for:
Academic Mindtrek, Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), International Conference on Perspectives in Business Informatics Research (BIR), European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technologies (DESRIST), NordiCHI and international journal Universal Access in the Information Society (UAIS).