Paper Number
ECIS2026-2072
Paper Type
CRP
Abstract
Despite the proliferation of habit formation apps, it remains unclear which design principles are perceived as most important by stakeholders. This study investigates the perceived importance of 18 design principles for digital habit formation and their implementation in commercial apps. We collected data from two stakeholder groups (22 habit-formation researchers and 108 app users) and combined the data with related research that analyzed feature implementation across 57 commercial habit apps. Our findings reveal strong consensus on pragmatic design, while theoretically critical mechanisms showed significant divergence: scientists valued Contextual Cues (p = 0.016), Social features (p = 0.019), and Fading Reminders (p = 0.048) more highly than users did. Key automaticity-related features were nearly absent in commercial apps, suggesting that while these apps support initial action, they fail to foster lasting habits. These findings underscore the need for evidence-based design that facilitates a transition from external regulation to automatic execution of behaviors.
Recommended Citation
Reinsch, Felix; Sitzberger, Michaela Loredana; Kählig, Maren; and Stark, Jeannette, "Built For Sprints, Needed For Marathons: Mapping The Gap Between Science, Users, And Implementation In Digital Habit Formation Apps" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 14.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/hit/hit/14
Built For Sprints, Needed For Marathons: Mapping The Gap Between Science, Users, And Implementation In Digital Habit Formation Apps
Despite the proliferation of habit formation apps, it remains unclear which design principles are perceived as most important by stakeholders. This study investigates the perceived importance of 18 design principles for digital habit formation and their implementation in commercial apps. We collected data from two stakeholder groups (22 habit-formation researchers and 108 app users) and combined the data with related research that analyzed feature implementation across 57 commercial habit apps. Our findings reveal strong consensus on pragmatic design, while theoretically critical mechanisms showed significant divergence: scientists valued Contextual Cues (p = 0.016), Social features (p = 0.019), and Fading Reminders (p = 0.048) more highly than users did. Key automaticity-related features were nearly absent in commercial apps, suggesting that while these apps support initial action, they fail to foster lasting habits. These findings underscore the need for evidence-based design that facilitates a transition from external regulation to automatic execution of behaviors.