MindStock: Investigating How Principle-Anchored Feedback Supports Self-Reflection in Mobile Investment
Proceedings of the 2026 Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 2026 (DIS 2026)
Abstract
Investment decisions are often driven by time pressure and emotion, leaving investors vulnerable to cognitive biases. Mobile trading apps intensify these tendencies, yet existing interventions rely on external constraints that fail to foster lasting behavioral change. We investigate how reflection-centered approaches support mindful decision-making across a spectrum of investor expertise. We present MindStock, a technology probe providing principle-anchored feedback by integrating user-defined principles with behavioral data mirroring trading patterns. In a 6-week field study with 16 investors, we found that meaningful reflection comes from the tension between principles and behavioral data. Principles give context to otherwise opaque metrics, while data keeps principles from drifting into vague self-assurances. This pattern varied by experience: novices gravitated toward normative rule-setting, while experienced investors used the system to test and refine their own assumptions. We contribute design implications for supporting reflection in high-stakes decision-making contexts.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{10.1145/3800645.3812925,
author = {Nam, Sooyohn and Jung, Yeohyun and Cho, Kyuwon and Lim, Hyunseung and Hong, Hwajung},
title = {MindStock: Investigating How Principle-Anchored Feedback Supports Self-Reflection in Mobile Investment},
year = {2026},
isbn = {9798400725630},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3800645.3812925},
doi = {10.1145/3800645.3812925},
abstract = {Investment decisions are often driven by time pressure and emotion, leaving investors vulnerable to cognitive biases. Mobile trading apps intensify these tendencies, yet existing interventions rely on external constraints that fail to foster lasting behavioral change. We investigate how reflection-centered approaches support mindful decision-making across a spectrum of investor expertise. We present MindStock, a technology probe providing principle-anchored feedback by integrating user-defined principles with behavioral data mirroring trading patterns. In a 6-week field study with 16 investors, we found that meaningful reflection comes from the tension between principles and behavioral data. Principles give context to otherwise opaque metrics, while data keeps principles from drifting into vague self-assurances. This pattern varied by experience: novices gravitated toward normative rule-setting, while experienced investors used the system to test and refine their own assumptions. We contribute design implications for supporting reflection in high-stakes decision-making contexts.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 Designing Interactive Systems Conference},
pages = {3237–3259},
numpages = {23},
keywords = {Mobile Investment, Financial Decision Making, Mindful Investment, Data-driven Insight},
location = {
},
series = {DIS '26}
}