Supporting Meaningful Personal Fitness

Social Reflections on Fitness Tracking Data

“…Therefore, we must not overlook how social context affects how users learn about how they were active and how they can be active. Rooksby et al and Niess et al show that self-trackers were motivated by life goals that were influenced by their social context [39,45]. Lin et al and Puussaar et al show that PA tracker users sought other users' data to make sense of their own data [31,43].…”

“…Furthermore, individuals are often driven by aspirations beyond health goals when they use self-tracking tools [13,39,45]. Rooksby et al show that self-trackers are driven by their needs and desires in the context of their social lives [45].…”

“…Rooksby et al show that self-trackers are driven by their needs and desires in the context of their social lives [45]. Similarly, work by Niess et al shows that individuals set PA tracking goals to satisfy their needs for enjoyment as well as their need for a meaningful and authentic life [39].…”

Loop

“…becoming more active or losing weight) and the quantitative goals supported by activity tracking systems (e.g. a daily goal of 8000 steps) [27]. Hence, the standard configuration of numbers and graphs on the screens of most activity tracking tools are not always appropriate to the user's needs.…”

Telling the Story Right

“…Brad refused to train and reacted negatively towards the therapist's feedback indicated a lack of trust in the therapist and Alfred called into question what Trail it reported as he perceived his results to be better than that. The role of trust in a goal-setting driven context such as rehabilitation, fits with the self-tracking model proposed by Niess and Wozniak [26]. A trusting and open relationship is necessary for the therapist to develop the patient's self-awareness [24].…”