Design Of Digital Services For Health Behaviour Change (FULLY BOOKED)

Non-Degree / Dates: 20 – 31 July 2026

The digital era needs digital solutions. Digital solutions can prevent and manage healthcare issues faster and more effectively both at the personal and societal levels. E-health innovations are proven to promote health and behavior change in various health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, etc. However, developing effective technological solutions for behavior change requires an interdisciplinary approach. While the competence of designing and selecting effective technologies is essential, that is still incomplete without an understanding of evidence-based behavioral change theories and techniques.

The course consists of a series of short theory lessons that provide the required background on knowledge of behavior change and the specific methods that can be applied by means of technological solutions.

Course Aims:

To provide students with methodological knowledge of combining intervention design and interaction design methods for designing Digital Behaviour Change Interventions (DBCIs)
To equip students with a critical understanding of theories, models, and frameworks of behaviour change
To enable students to apply interaction design methods and tools contextualised for behaviour change

Brief description of the course

The course combines theoretical lectures with practical design workshops to provide students with both conceptual knowledge and applied skills. Students will learn about:

Key behaviour change theories and frameworks (e.g., COM-B, Behaviour Change Wheel)
Designing Personas for designing DBCIs
Selection of Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs)
Designing Scenarios for designing DBCIs
Design patterns for operationalising BCTs in DBCIs
Low-fidelity prototyping for early-stage design development
Evaluation of low-fidelity prototypes

Course Outcomes

Upon completing the course, the student:
Understands key theories, models, and frameworks of behaviour change and their importance for designing DBCIs
Demonstrates knowledge of methodological approaches for designing Digital Behaviour Change Interventions (DBCIs), including intervention design and interaction design methods
Can use various interaction design methods and tools contextualised for behaviour change
Demonstrates skills in developing and evaluating low-fidelity prototypes for behaviour change interventions

In accompaniment to these lessons, several interaction design workshops will be conducted where the students will apply the new knowledge to the health problem domain. In the workshops, students will work in groups by using various interaction design methods, tools, and a user-centered design approach.

The course will be finished with a session where all design teams will show the prototypes of their digital services.

Why this course?

You will learn how to use digital technology to prevent and manage health issues.
You will be involved in a guided user-centered interaction design process and will create a prototype of behavior change aiming digital application or service.

Teacher(s)

Vladimir Tomberg, PhD, Associate Professor of Interaction Design and Senior Research Fellow at Tallinn University

Gulagha Gozalov, MSc in Computer and information sciences, Junior Research Fellow, doctoral student in School of Digital Technology, Tallinn University

Aishah Shah, MSc in Innovative Technologies for Learning, doctoral student in the School of Digital Technologies, Tallinn University

Timetable

Classes take place every day from Monday to Friday:
10:00 – 13:30 Lectures and seminars

After that, the students will have time for group or individual work, which is a convenient time for that, and the distribution of tasks will be agreed upon between the students.

For your reference, you can find the detailed programme for this year

Participants

The course is open for everyone who is interested in health, behavior change, and design of digital services. Any relative competencies are highly welcomed, but not strictly required.

The course is limited to 20 participants.

Credit points

Upon full participation and completion of course work students will be awarded 3 ECTS points and a certificate of completion.

Assessment criteria:

Student shows knowledge of the basic theory of behavior change and the methods for applying the theory in practice when designing BC digital products and services.
Student has participated in the design team and can demonstrate a designed prototype for BC product or service.

Course fee

NB! Accommodation, cultural programme and meals are not included in the price.

Early-Bird Course Fee (until March 31)	440€
Regular Course Fee (after March 31)	500€

Scholarships

* The Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and Education and Youth Board offer scholarships to foreign nationals for participation in summer and winter schools in Estonia. Scholarships can be applied by foreign bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD students who have studied in their universities for at least one year (including former study levels). More info and application process details are here.