The Emerging Requirement for Digital Addiction Labels.

Abstract

[Context & motivation] Digital Addiction, e.g. to social networks sites and games, is becoming a public interest issue which has a variety of so- cio-economic effects. Recent studies have shown correlation between Digital Addiction and certain negative consequences such as depression, reduced crea- tivity and productivity, lack of sleep and disconnection from reality. Other re- search showed that Digital Addiction has withdrawal symptoms similar to those found in drug, tobacco, and alcohol addiction. [Question/problem] While in- dustries like tobacco and alcohol are required by certain laws to have a label to raise awareness of the potential consequences of the use, we still do not have the same for addictive software. [Principal ideas/results] In this study, we ad- vocate the need for Digital Addiction labels as an emerging ethical and profes- sional requirement. We investigate the design of such labels from a user’s per- spective through an empirical study, following a mixed-methods approach, and report on the results. [Contribution] Our ultimate goal is to introduce the need for labelling to both researchers and developers and provide a checklist of ques- tions to consider when handling this non-functional requirement.