H.A.L.T.

There is an acronym used by members of Alcoholics Anonymous called H.A.L.T. It stands for "Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired". The idea is that being in one of those four states makes you more likely to relapse on your commitment to sobriety. So, H.A.L.T. is a handy checklist of needs to address to reduce the likelihood of having an unwanted drink.

While HALT is a tool used by AA, it's a useful tool for working with any kind of addiction, especially and including addictive technology.

As consumers, we always have to be mindful when using addictive technology, but especially so when we are in HALT. While browsing social media can be a positive experience, it can also be a very negative one if you're feeling lonely. It's difficult as it is to prevent binge-watching a TV show, but mustering up the willpower to stop the next episode while you're tired is near-impossible.

And as designers, we have an equal responsibility to recognize when our users may be in one of these states, and be aware if our creations have the potential to generate an otherwise unwanted user behavior. If we can anticipate that a user may be in H.A.L.T. (based on factors such as time of day) what is our responsibility towards a user's time and attention? Being empathic and thoughtful in our work means supporting users at all times, especially when they are not completely at their best.