TY - CONF A1 - Tost, Jordi A1 - Flechtner, Rahel A1 - Maué, Rahel A1 - Heidmann, Frank A2 - Uppsala University, A2 - Umeå University, T1 - Caring for a companion as a form of self-care T2 - Live - Uniting HCI for a Hyperlocal and Global Experience : Proceedings of the 13th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction N2 - This paper presents an approach to designing companion technologies for mental health based on a case study on social anxiety disorder (SAD). We highlight the potential of an irritating dimension of user experience and propose including irritating qualities in companions as a strategy to disrupt patterns of behavior and thought, support perspective change, and expand an individual’s comfort zone. Taking the Tamagotchi as a counterpoint to assisting technologies and combining frameworks and concepts from psychology and HCI, we propose the grounding metaphor of ‘caring for the companion as a form of self-care,’ arguing the potential of building reciprocal care relationships as a means by which to support emotional attachment and establish healthy routines. In this paper, we introduce this grounding metaphor and a set of principles for fostering positive irritations. Our framework provides a basis for exploring and developing novel paradigms and poses future directions for HCI. KW - Angststörung KW - Benutzererlebnis KW - Design fiction KW - Humor KW - Provokation KW - Psychische Gesundheit KW - Reiz Y1 - 2024 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-fhpotsdam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/3519 SN - 979-8-4007-0966-1 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Association for Computing Machinery CY - New York ER -