Forecasts of future trends in psychology show that psychology and technology will become ever more intertwined. In this talk I will present 4 developments illustrating how technical people and psychologists working together can have a positive impact on research and design.
The availability of large volumes of data enables psychologists to study detailed aspects of human behavior in a real-life environment rather than in a controlled lab environment only. For this, smart algorithms looking for patterns and exemptions in the data are required, as well as sophisticated visualization methods.
Technological developments are rapidly changing the kinds of products that are designed an made. At the same time, people have different wished and demands concerning the products and services they use. For instance, experience has become far more important than mere functionality. Together, technological people and psychologists can create more intelligent, pleasurable and personalized products and services and understand how these products impact well-being, inclusion, relationships, etc.
Constant checkers of social media may experience stress, absent presence is annoying, and online misuse and abuse happen regularly. Fortunately there are also positive effects of social media; it helps us keep in touch with friends and family far away, for instance. Technologists and psychologists have a shared responsibility in helping people have a good and healthy relationship with technology.
Evidence-based technological applications can support, enhance or sometimes even replace current medical treatments for mental health disorders, for instance Virtual Reality used for the treatment of anxiety, or mobile apps helping people control or treat their addiction to drugs, alcohol etc. Together, psychologists and technologists can design and develop reliable products supporting both the therapist and the client.
For Janienke Sturm (1974), human-computer interaction has been an important theme throughout her career. After studying Linguistics at Utrecht University, she obtained her PhD in 2005 at Radboud University Nijmegen in Language and Speech Technology. She gained experience as project leader in various national and international research projects in the field of human-computer interaction at the Faculty of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology and at Fontys ICT. In 2012 she won the Fontys Knowledge Prize for the PlayFit project, about the design of gaming and play for stimulating the movement of pre-vocational secondary school pupils. Since 2012, Janienke has been associated with the Fontys Hogeschool for HRM and Psychology as professor People and Technology. With this research group she initiates and supervises practice-oriented research at the intersection of psychology and technology. Here, human-centered design, behavior change and embracing technology are important themes. In her research projects, Janienke connects the technical and people-oriented disciplines within Fontys and collaborates with countless organizations in health care, education and manufacturing industries. Since 2018, Janienke is coordinator for the Health theme within the Fontys focus area TEC for Society.