With the proliferation of technologies aimed at personal goal achievement and wellbeing, the question arises: how do we ensure sustained behavior change? The paper, Designing for Sustained Motivation: A Review of Self-Determination Theory in Behaviour Change Technologies, tackles this by examining the role of self-determination theory (SDT) in encouraging long-term change.

• Selected papers from the ACM Digital Library provide 50 design feature recommendations rooted in SDT.
• The efficacy of behavior change technologies (BCTs) is often tied to user engagement with the technology, potentially undermining long-term goals.
• SDT suggests a focus on internalizing the value behind behavior changes to foster sustained motivation.
• The review observes a gap in leveraging SDT to nurture motivation beyond the enjoyment of the technology itself.

This research underscores the potential for designers to apply SDT principles more effectively to BCTs, highlighting the importance of tapping into users’ intrinsic motivations for a lasting impact. It serves as a call to action for developers and researchers to prioritize enduring behavior change over short-term tech engagement.