Abstract

Even though the definition of persuasive systems rules out using coercion or deception, in practice it is a challenge to design ethically sound information systems, especially when the use context deals with personal matters such as one’s health or lifestyle. The objective of our study was to investigate how to conduct such design through a value sensitive analysis of the persuasion context, in this case for micro-entrepreneurs. The analysis revealed special characters of the persuasion context that are critically important to address early in the development of the application. This study applies a useful method for designers to use in their analysis of the ethical considerations in their persuasive system design efforts.