Persuasive strategies for motivating elders to exercise

Several strategies have been identified for designing effective persuasive technologies that encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyle habits. However, there are no general guidelines for implementing these strategies to motivate elders to exercise, neither they have been evaluated to determine how effective they are for the elderly. To design appropriate persuasive technology prone to be adopted by elders, we are following a user-centered approach. In this paper, we report the design and evaluation of an ambient information system for mobile phones, which supports the following strategies for persuasion: abstraction, historical information and reflection, triggers for exercising, and positive and playful reinforcement.