Self-Determination Theory and Technology Design

Abstract This chapter reviews the breadth of work applying self-determination theory (SDT) to digital technology with a focus on how it informs design. SDT is especially well-suited and actionable within the technology design context. The chapter reviews advancements within specific domains, highlighting fields that have been productive with respect to SDT in technology, including games, health, and education. It then shifts to work that applies SDT to user experience and technology design across domains, including the METUX model, and it describes efforts to provide practitioners with SDT-based tools that bridge academic theory to design practice. The chapter concludes by identifying gaps and opportunities for future work. The aim is to pull together the disparate work across domains that has constituted SDT for technology research and provide a coherent foundation for building on this work synergistically into the future.