Thank you for your interest in the Reduce Digital Distraction workshop! The workshop is a research-based and effective way to take control over your digital device use.

If you are curious about the research behind the ReDD workshop, check out our paper from the 2024 ACM CHI conference.

On this page you can read what happens in a workshop, what data we collect, and how we use anonymised data contribute to digital wellbeing research (if you opt-in to this).

Who we are

What does the ReDD workshop involve?

1. The workshop! It takes about 90 minutes.
   You (i) identify changes you want to make, (ii) explore effective strategies to help (from tools that remove distracting elements on websites, to ones that remind of your intention when you open specific apps), (iii) apply the things most likely to help you.
2. A ‘Note to Future Me’ where you write down what you want to change and what strategies you want to try. This includes a brief ‘Digital Wellbeing Check’, asking how you’ve been feeling about your use up until the workshop.
3. One month later, a second Digital Wellbeing Check helps you reflect on what you tried and what worked.

Are there any potential risks in taking part?

A workshop normally has 6-20 participants. Participants usually find the group setting motivating and useful. However, if you are uncomfortable with reflecting on your experiences with digital distraction in a group setting, this context might not be ideal for you.

What information do you collect?

1. Workshop: text written on virtual post-its about digital challenges and goals.
2. Digital Wellbeing Checks: basic device use information and demographics, notes on what strategies to try (and how useful it was), and scores on the Brief Digital Self-Control Scale and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale.

We use this information to make the workshop effective (e.g., one week after the workshop, we remind you of what you wanted to try).

At the end of the workshop, you can opt-in to allow anonymised information to be used to contribute to research on digital wellbeing.

What are the benefits of allowing anonymised data to be used for research?

Digital distraction is an important challenge in society. If people can’t control their device use, it can have serious negative effects on productivity and mental wellbeing.

Our purpose with using anonymised data for research is to identify effective ways to help people stay in control, and make this knowledge publicly available.

What happens to the data?

The survey data are initially stored on a secure server in Germany, which hosts the open-source survey framework we use (LimeSurvey). We transfer the data to the lead researcher’s password-protected laptop and store it long-term on our secure server at the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford (GDPR/personal data policy).

All research data and records will be stored at least 3 years. We anonymise text data by removing or changing any information that could identify you. We don’t store any permanent link between your personal identity and the research data.

What happens if I don’t want to let my information be used for research anyway?

Even after you have agreed to take part, you can withdraw at any time without giving any reason. If any research data has been collected before you withdraw, this data will be destroyed.

What happens to the results?

Information from the workshop helps us improve it, for the benefit of future participants. It may also contribute to research in human-computer interaction, and be published in venues such as the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (where we published this paper).

Who has approved the research?

The workshop research has been reviewed by, and received ethical approval through, the University of Oxford Computer Science Departmental Research Ethics Committee (Reference number: CS_C1A_19_027_05).

Who is organising and funding the research?

The organiser is Principal Investigator Prof. Sir Nigel Shadbolt. The research is carried out by postdoctoral researcher Dr Ulrik Lyngs, funded by an EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account grant (reference: EP/X525777/1).

What if something goes wrong?

If a research participant is ever considered to have suffered harm through their participation, the University of Oxford has arrangements in place to provide for compensation. If you have a concern about any aspect of this project, please contact Dr Ulrik Lyngs, who will do his best to answer your query. The researcher should acknowledge your concern within 10 working days and give you an indication of how he intends to deal with it. If you remain unhappy or wish to make a formal complaint, please contact the University of Oxford Departmental Research Ethics Committee on ethics@cs.ox.ac.uk.

Contact details

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the workshop further, please contact:

Dr Ulrik Lyngs Department of Computer Science, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QD
Email: ulrik.lyngs@cs.ox.ac.uk / ulrik@redd-project.org
Tel.: +45 31 62 05 51