Adversarial Design for Digital Well-Being: Facilitating Ethical Friction in Technology Use

While optimized digital experiences enhance user engagement, they may also foster compulsive use and digital addiction. To address this challenge, this study proposes Adversarial Design, an approach that introduces benevolent friction into interaction flows to disrupt habitual behaviors. Following a Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm, a systematic literature review identified five core characteristics of adversarial interaction. A co-creation workshop involving 10 high-digital-dependency users translated these characteristics into 20 intervention concepts. Subsequently, a behavioral simulation study (n = 140) examined users’ emotional and behavioral responses, revealing four experiential themes: irritability, guidance, desire for control, and reflection. Based on these findings, five actionable design principles—Dynamic Delay, Progressive Obfuscation, Emotional Adaptation, Multimodal Resistance, and Transparent Controllability—were developed and accompanied by practical guidelines. The resulting framework offers a methodological reference for digital detox interventions and supports more ethical, intentional, and sustainable technology use.