Dr Conor Linehan - What can psychology tell us about designing technology for fitness and health? #4

eWorkLife: work, life and wellbeing

Prof Anna Cox talks to Dr Conor Linehan, an expert in the design and evaluation of technology to support education and health behaviours. We cover his journey from being a psychologist to a leading HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) specialist, working on the application of behavioural psychology principles to technology design. Conor has a particular interest in gaming and gamification, and reveals how we already know which games are best at encouraging people to exercise over the longer term, so physical activity researchers are on a bit of a wild goose chase trying to improve on those. We also get the low-down on a ground-breaking, multi-disciplinary, behavioural intervention he’s been involved with to reduce harms from recreational drug-taking, that has been years in the making. Conor also lets us in on the secret of his own personal motivation for keeping fit and strong.

Dr Conor Linehan is a senior lecturer in Applied Psychology at University College Cork, Ireland, and an expert in the design and evaluation of technology to support education and health behaviours. He has a strong interest in how games and gamification can be useful in these contexts. He's worked on a wide range of research projects, investigating the design of educational games, vision therapy interventions, dietary interventions, wearable sleep monitors, and online mental health interventions.

Find out more about eWorkLife, including tips for managing your own wellbeing and work-life balance, on our website www.eworklife.co.uk/
Episode transcript and show-notes: www.eworklife.co.uk/podcast/

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Music credit: ScottHolmesMusic.com

Producer: Clare Casson