Personal Informatics at Work

Scientific Conference (2023, April)

An ever-increasing amount of sensor technologies surrounds our work environment, collecting data about workers? activity and wellbeing ? often without them having any say in this. This datafication of the ... [more ▼]

An ever-increasing amount of sensor technologies surrounds our work environment, collecting data about workers? activity and wellbeing ? often without them having any say in this. This datafication of the workplace can help find novel ways to stimulate healthy behaviors or increase productivity. However, the ubiquitous usage of data collectors in the workplace can also put employees in a position of power imbalance, where management is frequently aiming at ?optimizing? employees towards normative and more-than-often problematic standards of productivity and wellbeing. Yet, data-tracking practices might not only seek an optimum but also can be interpreted towards self-enhancement (Meissner, 2016). In this sense, optimization is not per se an improvement on previous goals, but rather allows ?the discovery of new opportunities?. Indeed, data can be a means of giving space for users to be curious about their own subjective work experiences. Personal Informatics research has mostly focused on leisure and health-related topics but it takes on different forms, requirements, and ethical considerations for a work context. To explore how such considerations emerge from material practices, we conducted a field study, deploying a research probe called Habilyzer at a workplace (N=5). Findings show that users explored aspects meaningful to them yet highlight discrepancies between the envisioned self-tracking goals and participants? practices. Regarding sensors? open-endedness, a balance between the burden of data collection and the value derived from it appeared critical. We contribute new insights into how open-ended sensor technologies can be designed to support self-tracking practices in the workplace. [less ▲]

EduCHI 2023 - 5th Annual Symposium on HCI Education

in CHI'23 Extended Abstracts (2023, April)

Exploring the Embodied Experience of Walking Meetings through Bodystorming – Implications for Design

in TEI'23 Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (2023, February)

Walking meetings are a promising way to reduce unhealthy sedentary behavior at the office. Some aspects of walking meetings are however hard to assess using traditional research approaches that do not ... [more ▼]

Walking meetings are a promising way to reduce unhealthy sedentary behavior at the office. Some aspects of walking meetings are however hard to assess using traditional research approaches that do not account well for the embodied experience of walking meetings. We conducted a series of 16 bodystorming sessions, featuring unusual walking meeting situations to engage participants (N=45) in a reflective experience. After each bodystorming, participants completed three tasks: a body map, an empathy map, and a rating of workload using the NASA-TLX scale. These embodied explorations provide insights on key themes related to walking meetings: material and tools, physical and mental demand, connection with the environment, social dynamics, and privacy. We discuss the role of technology and opportunities for technology-mediated walking meetings. We draw implications for the design of walking meeting technologies or services to account for embodied experiences, and the individual, social, and environmental factors at play. [less ▲]

Uncovering factors influencing railway passenger experiences through love and breakup declarations

in Applied Ergonomics (2023), 111

While existing approaches for assessing passenger experience are often limited to surveys of customer satisfaction, societal and technological challenges push the railway industry to adopt a user-centric ... [more ▼]

While existing approaches for assessing passenger experience are often limited to surveys of customer satisfaction, societal and technological challenges push the railway industry to adopt a user-centric approach to the design of their service. We used the love and breakup method in a study involving N = 53 passengers making a declaration to their railway company to collect qualitative feedback on the passenger experience. The method allowed to gather personal, emotional, and contextual insights into passengers’ experiences that can inform the transportation service design process. We describe 21 factors and 8 needs influencing the passenger experience, thereby consolidating and deepening prior work in the railway context. Using the lens of user experience theories, we argue that the service should be assessed against fulfilling these needs, which can act as guiding principles regarding service improvement. The study also presents valuable insights into the love and breakup method to explore service experiences. [less ▲]

Eliciting Meaningful Collaboration Metrics: Design Implications for Self-Tracking Technologies at Work

in Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023 (2023)

As the workplace collaboration software market is booming, there is an opportunity to design tools to support reflection and self-regulation of collaboration practices. Building on approaches from ... [more ▼]

As the workplace collaboration software market is booming, there is an opportunity to design tools to support reflection and self-regulation of collaboration practices. Building on approaches from personal informatics (PI), we aim to understand and promote the use of data to enable employees to explore their work practices, specifically collaboration. Focused on the preparation stage of PI (deciding to track and tools selection), we invited office workers (N=15, knowledge workers in academia) to identify meaningful aspects of their collaboration experience and report them in a logbook for two weeks. We then conducted semi-structured interviews with participants to identify and reflect on metrics related to collaboration experience. We contribute new insights into employees’ motivations and envisioned metrics reflecting their collaboration, including the personal, social, and organizational considerations for collecting and sharing this data. We derive design implications for self-tracking technologies for collaboration. [less ▲]

Asynja: Sensorial Design for Running Motivation

in [ ] With Design: Reinventing Design Modes (2022, November)

If starting to run is an easy decision, committing to a long-term running routine proves to be a more challenging endeavor for many people. In this pictorial, we unravel the design process of Asynja, an ... [more ▼]

If starting to run is an easy decision, committing to a long-term running routine proves to be a more challenging endeavor for many people. In this pictorial, we unravel the design process of Asynja, an artefact that triggers exercise imagery by using natural scents related to running. Relying on peripheral interaction, this research probe subtly nudges users to go running, thereby supporting them to transform their positive intentions into actions. Exploring sensoriality as a design opportunity for behavior change interventions, we invite the community to expand the design space of exercise-related motivational products and systems. [less ▲]

Creating active urban environments: insights from expert interviews

in Cities & Health (2022)

Urban planning and design offer opportunities to nudge people towards more active behavior. This is a popular topic among urbanists and health professionals, with several guidelines and best practices ... [more ▼]

Urban planning and design offer opportunities to nudge people towards more active behavior. This is a popular topic among urbanists and health professionals, with several guidelines and best practices already developed. However, a gap exists between theory and practice and the complex realization process of such active environments is rarely documented. In this study, we investigated the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating active urban environments through semi-structured interviews with 11 European practitioner experts in the field of active environment design and development. We additionally analyzed 51 examples of active environments they provided. We discuss definitions of active environments and their added value to encourage active behavior and provide an overview of the spectrum of design strategies, elements and boundaries used to create them. We also describe typical steps in the design and realization process, including types of stakeholders, main gaps, and points of friction in this practice [less ▲]

Theme Track - Valuing the qualitative in design and data

in Proceedings of DRS 2022 (2022, June)

The DRS 2022 track ‘Valuing the Qualitative in Design and Data’ features eleven accepted papers on topics including visualisation and physicalisation of qualitative data, the use of materials in this ... [more ▼]

The DRS 2022 track ‘Valuing the Qualitative in Design and Data’ features eleven accepted papers on topics including visualisation and physicalisation of qualitative data, the use of materials in this context, practical applications in design and education, and applications in personal informatics. In this editorial, the track chairs introduce the track, and the reasoning behind it, together with a short introduction to the papers. [less ▲]

Impressions that last: representing the meaningful museum experience

in Behaviour and Information Technology (2022)

Research in human–computer interaction (HCI) has identified meaning as an important, yet poorly understood concept in interaction design contexts. Central to this development is the increasing emphasis on ... [more ▼]

Research in human–computer interaction (HCI) has identified meaning as an important, yet poorly understood concept in interaction design contexts. Central to this development is the increasing emphasis on designing products and technologies that promote leisure, personal fulfillment, and well-being. As spaces of profound historical significance and societal value, museums offer a unique perspective on how people construct meaning during their interactions in museum spaces and with collections, which may help to deepen notions of the content of meaningful interaction and support innovative design for cultural heritage contexts. The present work reports on the results of two studies that investigate meaning-making in museums. The first is an experience narrative study (N = 32) that analyzed 175 memorable museum visits, resulting in the establishment of 23 triggers that inform meaningful interaction in museums. A second study (N = 354) validated the comprehensiveness and generalisability of the triggers by asking participants to apply them to their own memorable museum experiences. We conclude with a framework of meaning in museums featuring the 23 triggers and two descriptive categories of temporality and scope. Our findings contribute to meaning research in HCI for museums through an articulation of the content of meaning-making in the cultural sector. [less ▲]

Physical Journey Maps: Staging Users’ Experiences to Increase Stakeholders’ Empathy towards Users

in Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2022, April)

Customer Journey Mapping is a widespread service design tool that synthesizes and communicates user research insights to stakeholders. In its common form, a journey map is a synthetic (typically non ... [more ▼]

Customer Journey Mapping is a widespread service design tool that synthesizes and communicates user research insights to stakeholders. In its common form, a journey map is a synthetic (typically non-interactive) visualization of the key steps of the users’ experience with a service or product. By decomposing the elements of a journey map and staging them under the form of a physical and interactive installation, we intend to leverage the power of journey mapping to break silos and prompt employees within an organization to discover end-users journeys in a compelling and empathic way. This aims to support the user-centered maturity of the organization by developing employees’ curiosity and empathy towards users. We illustrate this approach through a case study on railway passengers’ experiences. We explore the value of richer transfers of user research insights through physical journey maps and discuss design processes and mediums enabling journey maps to come to life. [less ▲]