CHI Workshop
Self-Determination Theory in HCI:
Shaping a Research Agenda
The workshop was held in two sessions - virtually in April
and in-person in May in New Orleans during the CHI 2022 main conference.
Self-determination theory (SDT)—a multifaceted theory stating that people are motivated by innate and universal psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness—has become one of the most frequently used and well-validated theories used in HCI research, but its use often remains superficial and disjointed. This workshop therefore convenes researchers across application domains (games, health and wellbeing, learning, etc.) to co-create a research agenda on how SDT-informed HCI research can maximise its progress in the coming years.
Workshop detials
Keynotes
Richard Ryan - "The next 10 years of SDT research"
Marc Hassenzahl - "Contextualising SDT in wider user experience and wellbeing-driven design'
Yvonne Rogers - "The role and value of theory-related work in HCI"
> Download keynote recordings
Chairs
Nick Ballou, Queen Mary University
Rafael Calvo, Imperial College London
Sebastian Deterding, University of York
Elisa Mekler, Aalto University
Dorian Peters, University of Cambridge
Selen Turkay, Queensland University of Technology
April Tyack, Aalto University
Gabriela Villalobos-Zúñiga, University of Lausanne
Workshop Outputs
Workshop outcomes paper:
Ballou, N., Peters, D., Villalobos-Zúñiga, G., Mekler, E. D., Calvo, R. A., & Deterding, S. (2026). Self-determination theory in HCI: Advancing the field. Interacting with Computers, 38(3), 331–341. https://doi.org/10.1093/iwc/iwag019
Workshop description paper:
Ballou, N., Deterding, S., Tyack, A., Mekler, E. D., Calvo, R. A., Peters, D., Villalobos-Zúñiga, G., & Turkay, S. (2022). Self-Determination Theory in HCI: Shaping a Research Agenda. CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts, CHI EA ’22, 1–6.
Position Papers
1. Beyond Intrinsic: Using the Quality of Extrinsic Motivation to Understand Effort in Virtual Rehabilitation and Exergames
Emil Rosenlund Høeg, Aalborg University, Denmark
Jolene Van Der Kaap-Deeder, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
2. Applying SDT to HCI - A personal journey from word processing to community informatics
John M. Carroll, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
3. Using Self-Determination Theory to Design to Support Young People’s Online Help-Seeking
Claudette Pretorius, School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, Ireland
David Coyle, School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, Ireland
4. Need Frustration in Video Games
Nick Ballou, Queen Mary University of London, UK
5. Embracing creativity: Designing Digital Health Behavior Change Interventions informed by Self-Determination Theory
Kathleen Ryan, S3 Connected Health; University College Cork, Ireland
Eva Cooney, S3 Connected Health; National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
6. Self-determination theory and competition in digital games-for-health: Need satisfaction, need frustration, and intrinsic motivation
Arlen C. Moller, Department of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
Rachel Kornfield. Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University, USA
Amy S. Lu, College of Arts, Media and Design, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, USA
7. Narrative in game research - Elaborating the role of narrative and Self Determination Theory (SDT) in game design research
Amy S. Lu, Health Technology Lab, College of Arts, Media and Design, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, USA
Arlen C. Moller, Department of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
8. Motivation through gamification: a Self-Determination Theory perspective for the design of an adaptive reward system
Brunella Botte, Department of Health and Life Sciences, Link Campus University;
Utrecht Center for Game Research, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Henk Aarts, Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Sander Bakkes, Utrecht Center for Game Research, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Remco Veltkamp, Utrecht Center for Game Research, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
9. Activated Motivation: An Opportunity for HCI Research?
James R. Wallace, University of Waterloo, Canada
10. Paintings, not Noise - The Role of Variety and Self-Determination in Labeling Work and its Effects on Psychological and Performance Outcomes
Merlin Knaeble, Mario Nadj, and Alexander Maedche,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
11. Designing for Internalization: A Process-Oriented Approach Based on Organismic Integration Theory
Rebecca Eilert, University of Siegen, Germany
Marc Hassenzahl, University of Siegen, Germany
12. Social Media Affordances and Well-Being: An Integration with HCI-Research
Felix Dietrich, Department of Communication, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Leonard Reinecke, Department of Communication, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
13. Novelty from the Self-Determination Theory Perspective in HCI and Games Research
Mehmet Kosa, Arizona State University, Department of Psychology, USA
14. Considering Fundamental Psychological Needs in Virtual Reality Experiences
Nadine Wagner, University of Bremen, Germany
Jasmin Niess, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
Yvonne Rogers, UCL Interaction Centre, UK
15. “Know Thyself”: SDT, self-relatedness, and the single player gaming experience
Tom Cole, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
16. Self-Determination Theory & Onboarding Interactive Augmented Social Play Spaces
Danića Mast, Research Group Healthy Lifestyle in a Supporting Environment, The Hague University of Applied Science; Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University, the Netherlands
Sanne I. de Vries, Research Group Healthy Lifestyle in a Supporting Environment, The Hague University of Applied Science, the Netherlands
17. New Measures for Game Motivation - Potential scales for gamer identity, game amotivation, in-game advancement motivation, and solo relaxation-gameplay.
Ian S. Sturrock, Teesside University, UK
18. Designing to Support Autonomy and Reduce Psychological Reactance in Digital Self-Control Tools
Kai Lukoff, Dub, University of Washington, USA
Ulrik Lyngs, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, UK
Lize Alberts, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, UK
19. Reevaluating the Role of Relatedness in Single-Player Roleplaying Games
Katelyn M. Grasse, University of California, Santa Cruz
Max Kreminski, University of California, Santa Cruz
Noah Wardrip-Fruin, University of California, Santa Cruz
Michael Mateas, University of California, Santa Cruz
Edward F. Merlcer, University of California, Santa Cruz
20. Self-Determination Theory Applied to Long-Term Engagement With Technology
Bruna Oewel, University of California, Irvine, USA
Elena Agapie, University of California, Irvine, USA
Madhu Reddy, University of California, Irvine, USA
21. Interacting with Network Representations of the Self and Needs
Michael Hoeffer, Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
Stephen Voida, Department of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder, USA