Focusing on mental health promotion, mood, and stress, we, the interactive systems group at the University of Duisburg-Essen are trying to scientifically look into suitable techniques for health recommender systems. We are trying to build recommender systems that are able to automatically personalize behavioral interventions for each individual and facilitate the promotion of mental well-being.

In this field study, you will work with PAX, an android mood, and stress tracker application that gives you behavioral interventions. The app is provided by us and can be installed on your smartphone. The idea is to use smartphones as a tool for health promotion. To have some level of personalization, PAX will ask you about your mood, stress and will ask some behavioral questionnaires in the form of quizzes. It also asks about what you prefer, like, or dislike from the recommendations.

For successful participation in the study, you will be asked to install and use the app in your daily life, read and try to follow through the recommendations it gives you, and provide ratings for given recommendations. You need to answer the questions that the app asks you truthfully for a minimum of two weeks. You are also asked to give the app the required permission for the duration of at least two weeks. The installation starts with the option to answer a short series of questions to determine your preferences, and then at the end of the study period, you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire.