In recent years, the excessive use of social media among young people and its adverse effects on mental health have drawn widespread attention. Developing effective strategies to help them manage their excessive use of social media remains a significant challenge, especially in the context of short-form video (SFV) products, where this issue is particularly pronounced. SFV products, due to their high attractiveness and instant gratification, can easily lead users to become addicted. Therefore, this study explores and discusses design strategies based on emotional design principles to help young adults manage their excessive use of SFV products. The aim is to help them establish healthier engagement with digital products and better usage habits, thereby improving their mental health and overall quality of life. This research primarily focuses on three questions: 1) What factors influence young adults' excessive usage of SFV applications? 2) What emotional design-based design strategies can effectively regulate this usage? 3) How can a mobile application be designed to help users manage their excessive use of short-form video platforms?

To answer these questions, the study initially employs the internet ethnographic method to understand the factors leading to the excessive use of SFV applications and the difficulties and challenges people face in trying to manage their SFV product usage. Through an online survey, the study then investigates the specific usage patterns of SFV applications among 144 young adults aged between 18 and 35 and their motivations and reasons for overconsumption of these products. Based on online ethnographic and survey results, the study integrates emotional design principles to explore what emotional design strategies can help young adults regulate unhealthy SFV application usage and how they can be implemented in the design of a mobile application for such purposes. Additionally, the study employs the co-design method to assist in the design of the application and evaluate the effectiveness and usability of the emotional strategies and the mobile application.

This study proposes design strategies to help young adults manage their excessive use of SFV applications and presents a design demonstration of a mobile application to manage the overuse of SFV products. By emphasizing effective methods to promote healthier social media and digital product consumption habits, the study provides valuable insights for creating responsible digital products.