Last month, 22 Ithaca middle school students spent a day just like Cornell students, brainstorming how everyday technology influences their emotions and behaviors, enjoying lunch and movement on the Ag Quad, designing and discussing ways to apply design methods and psychology principles to their daily life, and enjoying Cornell Dairy ice cream with peers.

Jay Yoon, assistant professor of human centered design (HCD), and Jeremy Faulk MS ’20, an HCD Ph.D. student, led the workshop as part of Yoon’s research on integrating positive emotion regulation theory into the design of future technologies.

This project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), focuses on young adults, who are still developing the ability to regulate their emotions. Teens also use digital technology daily, with nearly one third reporting that they use social media almost constantly. This combination can lead to negative health outcomes: Children and adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems, including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Yoon, who directs the Meta Design and Technology Lab, is approaching the problem from a design perspective. He wants to create interactive devices that enhance users’ lives, by inspiring and enabling positive behaviors and increasing their awareness of these behaviors.

“It is really important to understand how technology influences our daily behaviors,” said Yoon. “I want these students to be sensitive to how they are impacted by it in both positive and negative ways. What is important is what we [as users] do or think about — for example, envisioning what we will do on an upcoming vacation or engaging in an act of kindness.”

The workshop began with a group discussion of three prompts designed to help students think about emotion:

• What makes you happy?
• What are the things that bring you pleasure, but fail to make you happy?
• What are the things that don't necessarily bring you pleasure, but still make you happy?

One student identified waking up early as an unpleasurable activity with a positive outcome, because attending school and seeing peers made her happy.

“The ability to identify emotions improves emotion regulation,” Yoon said. “Some individuals only convey their feelings as either good or bad, but it is healthier to identify a wide variety of emotions and communicate them with specificity, such as relief, fascination, resentment and annoyance.”

After defining and exploring the difference between happiness and pleasure, students imagined everyday technologies that could support happiness and well-being. Their ideas included a YouTube feature that provides real-time feedback to viewers learning a new skill and headphones with limitless battery life. Finally, students explored how using everyday technologies — from phones to Netflix — made them feel in different situations.

Emotional awareness helps us adapt to various situations, including those related to technology, Yoon explained. For example, if you notice that you feel overwhelmed while setting up a new device, you may reduce the pressure by using online resources to guide you through the process. Alternately, if you feel inspired while exploring the device, you may want to use social media to connect with like-minded individuals and share your experiences. Emotional mindfulness and leveraging emotions to your advantage allows you to better navigate tech-related situations.

The students are part of the College Discovery Program (CDP), a long-term mentoring and academic support program run by the Ithaca Youth Bureau in partnership with the Ithaca City School District that aims to reduce achievement gaps and increase access to college education. Program highlights include a homework club during the academic year, quarterly family dinners and college visits like Yoon’s workshop.

After a full day of activities, the students received congratulatory certificates … and a challenge. Yoon tasked them with sharing their new knowledge with family and friends. Their key takeaways?

“Technology can impact your daily lives,” said Mia L.

“Emotions matter!” added Mia A.P.