Parents play a critical role in facilitating children's physical activity, as they are an important source of modeling and support. While Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers have explored exergame design for children or adults separately, an important open area of work is identifying design guidelines for family exergames. One question that researchers have increasingly posed is, how can exergames be designed to avoid potential negative consequences of competition? To address these questions we designed Spaceship Launch, an exergame for parents and kids in lower income neighborhoods, where obesity is most prevalent. We describe our iterative design process: the formative study to identify design opportunities, our resulting system, and our field evaluation of the tool. Our findings highlight the impact of SL on physical activity intentions, and how parental preferences for in-game competition were aligned with the psychological needs of relatedness and competence. We conclude with design recommendations for future family-focused exergames.
Wearable activity trackers can encourage physical activity (PA)-a behavior critical for preventing obesity and reducing the risks of chronic diseases. However, prior work has rarely explored how these tools can leverage family support or help people think about strategies for being active-two factors necessary for achieving regular PA. In this 2-month qualitative study, we investigated PA tracking practices amongst 14 families living in low-income neighborhoods, where obesity is prevalent. We characterize how social discussions of PA data rarely extended beyond the early stages of experiential learning, thus limiting the utility of PA trackers. Caregivers and children rarely analyzed their experiences to derive insights about the meaning of their PA data for their wellbeing. Those who engaged in these higher-order learning processes were often influenced by parenting beliefs shaped by personal health experiences. We contribute recommendations for how technology can more effectively support family experiential learning using PA tracking data. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in ubiquitous and mobile computing.
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