Activity tracking: Barriers, workarounds and customisation

Daniel Harrison, Paul Marshall, Nadia Bianchi-Berthouze, Jon Bird

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

138 Citations (Scopus)
18 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Activity trackers are increasingly popular, but they have high levels of abandonment and little evidence exists to suggest why this is. This paper explores barriers to engagement with activity trackers. We extend previous research by not only characterising the barriers users experienced, such as tracking accuracy and device aesthetics, but also by reporting the workarounds they created. We discuss implications for the design of activity tracking systems by reflecting on these workarounds, the potential for activity tracker design to help overcome existing barriers, and how customisation could play a role.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUbiComp 2015
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing
EditorsKenji Mase, M. Langheinrich, D. Gatica-Perez, H. Gellersen, T. Choudhury, K. Yatani
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherACM
Pages617-621
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781450335744
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Sept 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event3rd ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, UbiComp 2015 - Osaka, Japan
Duration: 7 Sept 201511 Sept 2015

Publication series

NameUbiComp 2015 - Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing

Conference

Conference3rd ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, UbiComp 2015
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityOsaka
Period7/09/1511/09/15

Keywords

  • Activity tracking
  • Behaviour change
  • Fitness
  • Health
  • Personal informatics
  • Physical activity
  • Quantified self

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