Data Engagement Reconsidered: a Study of Automatic Stress Tracking Technology in Use

Ding, X. , Wei, S., Gui, X., Gu, N. and Zhang, P. (2021) Data Engagement Reconsidered: a Study of Automatic Stress Tracking Technology in Use. In: 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21), 08-13 May 2021, p. 535. ISBN 9781450380966 (doi: 10.1145/3411764.3445763)

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Abstract

In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become a growing health concern. While more automatic stress tracking technologies have recently become available on wearable or mobile devices, there is still a limited understanding of how they are actually used in everyday life. This paper presents an empirical study of automatic stress-tracking technologies in use in China, based on semi-structured interviews with 17 users. The study highlights three challenges of stress-tracking data engagement that prevent effective technology usage: the lack of immediate awareness, the lack of pre-required knowledge, and the lack of corresponding communal support. Drawing on the stress-tracking practices uncovered in the study, we bring these issues to the fore, and unpack assumptions embedded in related works on self-tracking and how data engagement is approached. We end by calling for a reconsideration of data engagement as part of self-tracking practices with technologies rather than simply looking at the user interface.

Item Type:Conference Proceedings
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Ding, Dr Sharon
Authors: Ding, X., Wei, S., Gui, X., Gu, N., and Zhang, P.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
ISBN:9781450380966

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