Making change stick: Facilitating habit change using a smartphone app

Abstract

Achieving sustainable behaviour change ideally requires new positive habits to be developed. A key feature of successful habit change seems to be repeated practice (preferably daily). Research on using smartphone apps to facilitate habit change and encourage repeated practice shows promise but needs to be explored further in workplace context.This article explores the design and evaluation of a digital habit change exercise, delivered through a smartphone app, to help employees develop their Emotional Intelligence (EI). We share data about levels of user engagement in the exercise and the relationship between frequency of habit change practice and perceived improvement in the desired behaviour. The results from this initial evaluation suggest this is a promising approach which should be explored and enhanced further.