Editorial of the special issue on quantified self and personal informatics

In recent years, we witnessed the spreading of a plethora of wearable and mobile technologies allowing for a continuous and “transparent” gathering of personal data [...

Tracking in the wild: exploring the everyday use of physical activity trackers

As the rates of chronical diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes continue to increase, the development of tools that support people in achieving healthier habits is becoming ever more important. Personal tracking systems, such as activity trackers, have emerged as a promising class of tools to support people in managing their everyday health. However, for this promise to be fulfilled, these systems need to be well designed, not only in terms of how they implement specific behavior change techniques, but also in how they integrate into people’s daily lives and address their daily needs. My dissertations provides evidence that accounting for people’s daily practices and needs can help to design activity tracking systems that help people get more value from their tracking practices. To understand how people derive value from their activity tracking practices, I have conducted two inquiries into people’s daily uses of activity tracking systems. In a fist attempt, I led a 10-month study of the adoption of Habito, our own activity tracking mobile app. Habito logged not only users’ physical activity, but also their interactions with the app. This data was used to acquire an estimate of the adoption rate of Habito, and understanding of how adoption is affected by users’ ‘readiness’, i.e., their attitude towards behavior change. In a follow-up study, I turned to the use of video methods and direct, in-situ observations of users’ interactions to understand what motivates people to engage with these tools in their everyday life, and how the surrounding environment shapes their use. These studies revealed some of the complexities of tracking, while extending some of the underlying ideas of behavior change. Among key results: (1) people’s use of activity trackers was found to be predominantly impulsive, where they simultaneously reflect, learn and change their behaviors as they collect data; (2) people’s use of trackers is deeply entangled with their daily routines and practices, and; (3) people use of trackers often is not in line with the traditional vision of these tools as mediators of change – trackers are also commonly used to simply learn about behaviors and engage in moments of self-discovery. Examining how to design activity tracking interfaces that best support people’s different needs , my dissertation further describes an inquiry into the design space of behavioral feedback interfaces. Through a iterative process of synthesis and analysis of research on activity tracking, I devise six design qualities for creating feedback that supports people in their interactions with physical activity data. Through the development and field deployment of four concepts in a field study, I show the potential of these displays for highlighting opportunities for action and learning.À medida que a prevalência de doenças crónicas como a obesidade, doenças cardiovasculares e diabetes continua a aumentar, o desenvolvimento de ferramentas que suportam pessoas a atingir mudanças de comportamento tem-se tornado essencial. Ferramentas de monitorização de comportamentos, tais como monitores de atividade física, têm surgido com a promessa de encorajar um dia a dia mais saudável. Contudo, para que essa promessa seja cumprida, torna-se essencial que estas ferramentas sejam bem concebidas, não só na forma como implementam determinadas estratégias de mudança de comportamento, mas também na forma como são integradas no dia-a-dia das pessoas. A minha dissertação demonstra a importância de considerar as necessidades e práticas diárias dos utilizadores destas ferramentas, de forma a ajudá-las a tirar melhor proveito da sua monitorização de atividade física. De modo a entender como é que os utilizadores destas ferramentas derivam valor das suas práticas de monitorização, a minha dissertação começa por explorar as práticas diárias associadas ao uso de monitores de atividade física. A minha dissertação contribui com duas investigações ao uso diário destas ferramentas. Primeiro, é apresentada uma investigação da adoção de Habito, uma aplicação para monitorização de atividade física. Habito não só registou as instâncias de atividade física dos seus utilizadores, mas também as suas interações com a própria aplicação. Estes dados foram utilizados para adquirir uma taxa de adopção de Habito e entender como é que essa adopção é afetada pela “prontidão” dos utilizadores, i.e., a sua atitude em relação à mudança de comportamento. Num segundo estudo, recorrendo a métodos de vídeo e observações diretas e in-situ da utilização de monitores de atividade física, explorei as motivações associadas ao uso diário destas ferramentas. Estes estudos expandiram algumas das ideias subjacentes ao uso das ferramentas para mudanças de comportamento. Entre resultados principais: (1) o uso de monitores de atividade física é predominantemente impulsivo, onde pessoas refletem, aprendem e alteram os seus comportamentos à medida que recolhem dados sobe estes mesmos comportamentos; (2) o uso de monitores de atividade física está profundamente interligado com as rotinas e práticas dos seus utilizadores, e; (3) o uso de monitores de atividade física nem sempre está ligado a mudanças de comportamento – estas ferramentas também são utilizadas para divertimento e aprendizagem. A minha dissertação contribui ainda com uma exploração do design de interfaces para a monitorização de atividade física. Através de um processo iterativo de síntese e análise de literatura, seis qualidades para a criação de interfaces são derivadas. Através de um estudo de campo, a minha dissertação demonstro o potencial dessas interfaces para ajudar pessoas a aprender e gerir a sua saúde diária

Nudging behavior change: using in-group and out-group social comparisons to encourage healthier choices

This paper revisits concepts of nudge in the context of helping consumers to make healthier food choices. We introduce a novel form of social influence nudge not yet investigated by HCI scholars, the out-group social comparison, and test whether this form of nudging works at the point of checkout rather than the more conventional point of product consideration. Across two online experiments, we measure the effectiveness of using nutritional information nudges with added in-group (people like you) and out-group (people not like you) social comparisons. Our preliminary findings suggest that out-group social comparison nudges can be effective in encouraging both normal weight and overweight adults to reduce calories, even when these adults indicate that they do not typically change their diet behaviors. This research has implications for digital information design, interactive marketing, and public health

Theory-driven Visual Design to Support Reflective Dietary Practice via mHealth: A Design Science Approach

Design for reflection in human-computer interaction (HCI) has evolved from focusing on an abstract and outcome-driven design subject towards exposing procedural or structural reflection characteristics. Although HCI research has recognized that an individual\u27s reflection is a long-lasting, multi-layered process that can be supported by meaningful design, researchers have made few efforts to derive insights from a theoretical perspective about appropriate translation into end-user visual means. Therefore, we synthesize theoretical knowledge from reflective practice and learning and argue for a differentiation between time contexts of reflection that design needs to address differently. In an interdisciplinary design-science-research project in the mHealth nutrition promotion context, we developed theory-driven guidelines for “reflection-in-action” and “reflection-on-action”. Our final design guidelines emerged from prior demonstrations and a final utility evaluation with mockup artifacts in a laboratory experiment with 64 users. Our iterative design and the resulting design guidelines offer assistance for addressing reflection design by answering reflective practice’s respective contextual requirements. Based on our user study, we show that reflection in terms of “reflection- in-action” benefits from offering actionable choice criteria in an instant timeframe, while “reflection-on-action” profits from the structured classification of behavior-related criteria from a longer, still memorable timeframe

Understanding how to design health data visualizations for Chilean older adults on mobile devices

Mobile devices, including activity trackers and smartwatches, can help older adults monitor health parameters passively and unobtrusively. Most user interactions with small devices consist of brief glances at the time or notifications. Consuming information from small displays poses challenges, which have been seldom studied from the perspective of older users. In this paper, we worked with older adults towards creating health data visualizations for them for small devices. We conducted a mixed-methods study with 30 older adults, in which we (1) conducted group discussions to understand participants’ opinions, (2) measured times taken to interpret health data visualizations with and without progress information, (3) measured how much information they could manage to see during brief glances. When data was visualized without progress indicators, participants took less time to understand the data and made fewer errors. Participants preferred health data visualizations that featured peaceful, and positive pictorial representations. We present design opportunities for older adults’ data visualizations in small devices

Extending mobile touchscreen interaction

Touchscreens have become a de facto interface for mobile devices, and are penetrating further beyond their core application domain of smartphones. This work presents a design space for extending touchscreen interaction, to which new solutions may be mapped. Specific touchscreen enhancements in the domains of manual input, visual output and haptic feedback are explored and quantitative and experiental findings reported. Particular areas covered are unintentional interaction, screen locking, stereoscopic displays and picoprojection. In addition, the novel interaction approaches of finger identification and onscreen physical guides are also explored. The use of touchscreens in the domains of car dashboards and smart handbags are evaluated as domain specific use cases. This work draws together solutions from the broad area of mobile touchscreen interaction. Fruitful directions for future research are identified, and information is provided for future researchers addressing those topics.Kosketusnäytöistä on muodostunut mobiililaitteiden pääasiallinen käyttöliittymä, ja ne ovat levinneet alkuperäiseltä ydinsovellusalueeltaan, matkapuhelimista, myös muihin laitteisiin. Työssä tutkitaan uusia vuorovaikutuksen, visualisoinnin ja käyttöliittymäpalautteen keinoja, jotka laajentavat perinteistä kosketusnäytön avulla tapahtuvaa vuorovaikutusta. Näihin liittyen väitöskirjassa esitetään sekä kvantitatiivisia tuloksia että uutta kartoittavia löydöksiä. Erityisesti työ tarkastelee tahatonta kosketusnäytön käyttöä, kosketusnäytön lukitusta, stereoskooppisia kosketusnäyttöjä ja pikoprojektoreiden hyödyntämistä. Lisäksi kartoitetaan uusia vuorovaikutustapoja, jotka liittyvät sormien identifioimiseen vuorovaikutuksen yhteydessä, ja fyysisiin, liikettä ohjaaviin rakenteisiin kosketusnäytöllä. Kosketusnäytön käyttöä autossa sekä osana älykästä käsilaukkua tarkastellaan esimerkkeinä käyttökonteksteista. Väitöskirjassa esitetään vuorovaikutussuunnittelun viitekehys, joka laajentaa kosketusnäyttöjen kautta tapahtuvaa vuorovaikutusta mobiililaitteen kanssa, ja johon työssä esitellyt, uudet vuorovaikutustavat voidaan sijoittaa. Väitöskirja yhdistää kosketusnäyttöihin liittyviä käyttöliittymäsuunnittelun ratkaisuja laajalta alueelta. Työ esittelee potentiaalisia suuntaviivoja tulevaisuuden tutkimuksille ja tuo uutta tutkimustietoa, jota mobiililaitteiden vuorovaikutuksen tutkijat ja käyttöliittymäsuunnittelijat voivat hyödyntää

Extending mobile touchscreen interaction

Touchscreens have become a de facto interface for mobile devices, and are penetrating further beyond their core application domain of smartphones. This work presents a design space for extending touchscreen interaction, to which new solutions may be mapped. Specific touchscreen enhancements in the domains of manual input, visual output and haptic feedback are explored and quantitative and experiental findings reported. Particular areas covered are unintentional interaction, screen locking, stereoscopic displays and picoprojection. In addition, the novel interaction approaches of finger identification and onscreen physical guides are also explored. The use of touchscreens in the domains of car dashboards and smart handbags are evaluated as domain specific use cases. This work draws together solutions from the broad area of mobile touchscreen interaction. Fruitful directions for future research are identified, and information is provided for future researchers addressing those topics.Kosketusnäytöistä on muodostunut mobiililaitteiden pääasiallinen käyttöliittymä, ja ne ovat levinneet alkuperäiseltä ydinsovellusalueeltaan, matkapuhelimista, myös muihin laitteisiin. Työssä tutkitaan uusia vuorovaikutuksen, visualisoinnin ja käyttöliittymäpalautteen keinoja, jotka laajentavat perinteistä kosketusnäytön avulla tapahtuvaa vuorovaikutusta. Näihin liittyen väitöskirjassa esitetään sekä kvantitatiivisia tuloksia että uutta kartoittavia löydöksiä. Erityisesti työ tarkastelee tahatonta kosketusnäytön käyttöä, kosketusnäytön lukitusta, stereoskooppisia kosketusnäyttöjä ja pikoprojektoreiden hyödyntämistä. Lisäksi kartoitetaan uusia vuorovaikutustapoja, jotka liittyvät sormien identifioimiseen vuorovaikutuksen yhteydessä, ja fyysisiin, liikettä ohjaaviin rakenteisiin kosketusnäytöllä. Kosketusnäytön käyttöä autossa sekä osana älykästä käsilaukkua tarkastellaan esimerkkeinä käyttökonteksteista. Väitöskirjassa esitetään vuorovaikutussuunnittelun viitekehys, joka laajentaa kosketusnäyttöjen kautta tapahtuvaa vuorovaikutusta mobiililaitteen kanssa, ja johon työssä esitellyt, uudet vuorovaikutustavat voidaan sijoittaa. Väitöskirja yhdistää kosketusnäyttöihin liittyviä käyttöliittymäsuunnittelun ratkaisuja laajalta alueelta. Työ esittelee potentiaalisia suuntaviivoja tulevaisuuden tutkimuksille ja tuo uutta tutkimustietoa, jota mobiililaitteiden vuorovaikutuksen tutkijat ja käyttöliittymäsuunnittelijat voivat hyödyntää

Exploring the design space of glanceable feedback for physical activity trackers

Recent research reveals over 70% of the usage of physical activity trackers to be driven by glances - brief, 5-second sessions where individuals check ongoing activity levels with no further interaction. This raises a question as to how to best design glanceable behavioral feedback. We first set out to explore the design space of glanceable feedback in physical activity trackers, which resulted in 21 unique concepts and 6 design qualities: being abstract, integrating with existing activities, supporting comparisons to targets and norms, being actionable, having the capacity to lead to checking habits and to act as a proxy to further engagement. Second, we prototyped four of the concepts and deployed them in the wild to better understand how different types of glanceable behavioral feedback affect user engagement and physical activity. We found significant differences among the prototypes, all in all, highlighting the surprisingly strong effect glanceable feedback has on individuals' behaviors