Design Opportunities in Three Stages of Relationship Development between Users and Self-Tracking Devices

Abstract

Recently, self-tracking devices such as wearable activity trackers have become more available to end users. While these emerging products are imbued with new characteristics in terms of human-computer interaction, it is still unclear how to describe and design for user experience in such devices. In this paper, we present a three-week field study, which aimed to unfold users' experience with wearable activity trackers. Drawing from Knapp's model of interaction stages in interpersonal relationship development, we propose three stages of relationship development between users and self-tracking devices: initiation & experimentation, intensifying & integration, and stagnation & termination. We highlight the challenges in each stage and design opportunities for future self-tracking devices.