TLDR: WATCH THE VIDEO (click above)
Have you ever been shocked by the number of times you pick up your phone in a day? I was when Apple’s Screen Time feature told me: 125. 😳 But even with that number staring me in the face, I didn’t change my behavior. Why?
Today, we’re devoting some screen time to uncovering why Apple’s screen time stats are lacking and what could be improved. Spoiler: behavioral insights ahead!
The behavioral science of screen time
To understand the macro critique here, we need to start by defining a recent idea in behavioral science: i-frame and s-frame interventions.
Let’s start with i-frame. These are interventions that focus on individual behavior. Apple’s screen time features are pretty definitionally i-frame interventions. This approach provides users with tools to change their behavior — a bit like adjusting the game's settings to play better, but without changing the game’s rules. For example, you can set app limits or schedule downtime. Great features, but they typically require you (read: the user/individual) to opt into changing your behavior. What could possibly go wrong? 🤔
The critique of an ‘i-frame only’ approach is that it doesn’t fundamentally alter the environment that nudges us toward overuse in the first place. It’s like being on a diet but keeping a candy jar on the counter, in plain sight. 🍬👀
Missing ingredient: system-level change?
An alternative to i-frame interventions is what’s called s-frame solutions. These involve making systemic changes to the environment itself. Here, this would mean redesigning digital environments so that they inherently discourage excessive use. Imagine if social platforms like TikTok had "store hours" to limit night time usage or if feeds were deliberately slowed down after certain usage thresholds (think: adding speed bumps to roads).
These structural changes could reshape our interactions, making platforms naturally less engaging. This would limit overuse without additional user effort. Take that, screen time. 📱
The debate
Where do I stand in the “i-frame vs. s-frame” debate? I’m on the side of “do the thing that’s reasonably possible.” You probably can’t change the laws for how student financial aid is delivered in the short term, but you could change a form to make it easier for students to apply. Should you do it? Yes.
But for Apple, they are the system! They are the s-frame. Likewise, all of this i-frame stuff (dials and nodes to help me track my behavior) does actually feel like a distraction from them doing s-frame work.
But we’re here now. And they have these i-frame features. So, let’s focus (literally) on these. How could Apple make Screen Time more effective at helping us reduce our phone usage?
Here are three insights from the teardown:
🎯 What is good? There isn’t a mental model for what “normal” screen time is. It’s hard for me to feel motivated to change if it’s not clear I am wrong. While we can/should argue about the validity of a 10,000 steps goal, it does give us a generally accepted idea of what is “good” behavior. If Apple doesn’t want to set this societal anchor, it could at least try to help us be 10% better. If I’m at 3 hours today, is my goal tomorrow 2:50 minutes? Behavior change here would come down to measuring the right things at the right times.
🔒 Design for what you want people TO do vs what you don’t want them to do: Dog trainers would never tell the dog to “stop running” or “stop jumping.” Instead, they recommend saying “sit” or “come.” By telling dogs (and people) what they should do, we focus on the behavior change needed to succeed. Apple’s Screen Time and Pickups focus on the bad behavior; they only highlight what I shouldn’t be doing. What would it look like to focus on what I should be doing - leaving my phone in the other room!
⏲️ One Time Actions: Apple has lots of killer “one-time action” features buried in the settings. For i-frame interventions, “one-time actions” are the gold standard. “One-time actions” hold the key to our sustained behavior change.
What are “one-time actions”? They are changes we make ONCE that lock us into future behavior. For Apple, these include:
❎ Getting me to turn off notifications for top apps
❎ Getting me to set up “downtime” to prevent late night scrolls
❎ Getting me to turn on Focus Time for work hours
A lot of activation energy has to go into getting me to opt into these “one time actions” — but after that, I don’t have to do anything. Apple has built the features. And now that they’ve seen my crazy high screen time stats (watch to find out my weekly average 🤦♀️), they just need to capture my motivation into a “one-time action” for change.
Join the conversation
How do you tackle screen time? 💬 And which tools actually make a difference for you? Let me know—and let’s get smarter together about how we design our digital environments.
Don't miss next week, when I'll be tearing down another popular product. Stay tuned and keep those notifications on (but maybe batch them)! 😄
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Apple Screen Time: Does Information Change Behavior?