Using consequence information in quantified-self service design to support user health motivation

Abstract

the potential impact of forecasting the future to support Quantified Selfers’ motivation was noticed. Secondly, a framework was proposed as a toolkit for CI design, which indicates what to consider in designing QS services forecasting the future.

The number of people adopting Quantified Self services to improve health-related behavior has increased recently. Psychologists claim that thinking about the future has a motivational impact on behavior change process. However, little work has probed the impact of forecasting the future in Quantified Self services. To investigate this issue, I begin with defining the term Consequence Information as a consequence of continuing what a person has done in the past, and Performance Information as a result of what a person has done in the past. Firstly, FutureSelf app which forecasts Quantified Selfers’ future based on their current behavior was developed, and with 11 participants who used FutureSelf app for 4 weeks, a qualitative study was conducted to explore the potential impact of forecasting the future. Findings reveal that the predicted information motivated the participants to become engaged in making that future come true regardless of the accuracy of prediction. As a result, the design Implications for future practice and research were suggested. Secondly, framework for Consequence Information Quantified Self service design which consists of service diagram and 10 design consideration cards was devised. A workshop was conducted to test and revise the framework with 12 designers who are interested in health promotion through Quantified Self service. Findings discovered the core components of Performance Information and Consequence Information and the design considerations that were not figured out in the previous study. Finally, based on the findings from the two studies, the framework was revised by adding three more design consideration cards, and it is suggested as a design toolkit. This thesis makes the following two contributions. Firstly, it suggested a new way of data representation in QS service