Directing smartphone use through the self-nudge app one sec

Abstract

Research suggests¹²³⁴⁵⁶ various associations of smartphone use with a range of physical, psychological, and performance dimensions. Here, we test one sec, a self-nudging app that is installed by the user in order to reduce the mindless use of selected target apps on the smartphone. When users attempt to open a target app of their choice, one sec interferes with a pop-up, which combines a deliberation message, friction by a short waiting time, and the option to dismiss opening the target app. In a field-experiment, we collected behavioral user data from 280 participants over 6 wk, and conducted two surveys before and after the intervention span. one sec reduced the usage of target apps in two ways. First, on average 36% of the times participants attempted opening a target app, they closed that app again after one sec interfered. Second, over the course of 6 wk, users attempted to open target apps 37% less than in the first week. In sum, one sec decreased users’ actual opening of target apps by 57% after six consecutive weeks. Afterward, participants also reported spending less time with their apps and indicated increased satisfaction with their consumption. To disentangle one sec’s effects, we tested its three psychological features in a preregistered online experiment (N = 500) that measured the consumption of real and viral social media video clips. We found that providing the additional option to dismiss the consumption attempt had the strongest effect. While the friction by time delay also reduced consumption instances, the deliberation message was not effective.

Significance

Interventions against excessive smartphone use have predominantly focused on browser extensions and nudges within a problematic digital environment. Smartphone apps are applicable to different environments and more transparent than common interventions. one sec is a self-nudging app that helps users to reduce their consumption of selected apps. We show that one sec nudges users in one out of three cases (36%) to dismiss their consumption attempt after having opened a target app. Users also attempt to open their target apps less often (37%) in general. A controlled experiment disentangles one sec’s psychological mechanism. Displaying users with an option to dismiss their consumption attempt is one sec’s most effective feature, while the friction it produces by time delay also plays a role.