<i>is it ethical to create involuntary behaviours in your users?</i><p>Yes. Coke, McDonalds, The Gap and every other consumer company try like hell to create involuntary behaviors in people all the time.<p><i>is it ethical to judge users for behaviours deliberately created in them by applications?</i><p>Yes. Other than the specificity of the words &quot;by applications&quot;, this is what credit scores are designed to do. Madison Avenue in deliberately trying to create behaviors in all of us. A credit rating measures a person&#x27;s ability to resist that when it isn&#x27;t financially sound.<p><i>should the attention of users be better protected?</i><p>No, at least not for adults of sound mind. People are free to make their own decisions, whether that&#x27;s doing a keg stand or spending 3 hours clicking a button on Farmville. People can be warned about potential dangers, but it probably won&#x27;t have much of an effect.<p><i>can we start developing consumer applications that aren&#x27;t deliberately designed to capitalise on the attention of their users?</i><p>Yes. Or at least, you and anyone else who wants to can. But making products that people use frequently is a common definition of success. Most comapnies aren&#x27;t going to pass that up because some people have addictive personalities.<p><i>how can we educate people to navigate a world of applications designed to hold and capitalise on their attention?</i><p>Good luck with that. Education vs the Forces of Capitalism. Winner: Capitalism.