Expectation Conformance in Online Sound Therapy: Designing Tools for Users of Mental Wellbeing Applications

Arjun Arunasalam, Jason Tong, Habiba Farrukh, Muslum Ozgur Ozmen, Koustuv Saha, Z. Berkay Celik

Abstract: Mental wellbeing technologies are prevalent in digital spaces, such as content creation websites (e.g., YouTube) and mobile apps. Many users leverage such technologies and thus develop expectations for what they should provide. However, tools to verify whether these technologies conform to user expectations remain largely unexplored. We investigate this problem in the domain of binaural beats - a popular mental wellbeing technology. Using results from preliminary research, where we establish commonly held user expectations and introduce a method to measure expectation conformance, we explore the design of a tool to be used by binaural beats listeners. Through a pre-design survey with 43 participants and a user study with 28 participants, we demonstrate how tools leveraging commonly held user expectations can help users of mental wellbeing applications make informed decisions.