ICSE 2026
Sun 12 - Sat 18 April 2026 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sun 12 Apr 2026 11:45 - 12:15 at Oceania II - Session 2 Chair(s): Mohamad Kassab, Rui Rua

This paper presents a longitudinal ethical analysis of Untappd, a social drinking application that gamifies beer consumption through badges, streaks, and social sharing. Building on an exploratory study conducted in 2020, we revisit the platform in 2025 to examine how its gamification features and ethical framings have evolved. Drawing on traditional ethical theory and practical frameworks for Software Engineering, we analyze five categories of badges and their implications for user autonomy and well-being. Our findings show that, despite small adjustments and superficial disclaimers, many of the original ethical issues remain. We argue for continuous ethical reflection built embedded into software lifecycles to prevent the normalization of risky behaviors through design.

Sun 12 Apr

Displayed time zone: Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil change

11:00 - 12:30
Session 2DSE at Oceania II
Chair(s): Mohamad Kassab Boston University, Rui Rua New York University Abu Dhabi
11:00
15m
Talk
dAurora: A Prescriptive Solution based on AI to Shade Light on Dark Engineering of Fake News
DSE
Valdemar Graciano Neto Federal University of Goiás, Jacson Rodrigues Barbosa Institute of Informatics (INF) / Federal University of Goiás (UFG), Eliomar Araújo de Lima Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG)
11:15
30m
Talk
The Dark Art of Dopamine Engineering
DSE
Jukka Ruohonen University of Southern Denmark, Qusai Ramadan The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Adam Alami University of Southern Denmark
11:45
30m
Talk
A Longitudinal Analysis of Gamification in Untappd: Ethical Reflections on a Social Drinking Application
DSE
Jefferson Seide Molléri Simula Metropolitan Centre for Digital Engineering, Sami Hyrynsalmi LUT University, Antti Hakkala University of Turku, Kai K. Kimppa University of Turku, Jouni Smed University of Turku
12:15
15m
Talk
Patrones Oscuros: a Browser Extension for detecting Dark Patterns in Spanish
DSE
Julian Grigera LIFIA, UNLP, Leonardo Germán Loza Bonora LIFIA Fac. de Informática, UNLP / CONICET, Juan Cruz Gardey LIFIA Fac. de Informática, UNLP, Alejandra Garrido LIFIA, University of La Plata & CONICET, Argentina