CAREER: Inspecting Personal Informatics: Reflection Practices to Unlock Value in Self-Tracked Data

该项目将通过设计、构建和部署用于探索个人数据的新工具来研究人们如何反思个人信息数据。健身追踪设备、智能手机应用程序和其他基于计算机技术的工具正变得越来越普遍，这些工具可以帮助人们自动跟踪生活方方面面的数据。尽管在改进人们为自我跟踪收集数据的方式方面取得了相当大的进步，但关于技术如何帮助人们反思收集到的数据的研究却很少。因此，人们经常被他们收集的数据所淹没，不知道得出什么结论，变得沮丧或停止使用。这项研究将研究如何减少对追踪数据的理解障碍，无论是个人还是与朋友、家人、同龄人和专家合作。为了理解和加强对个人信息数据的反思和行动的实践，该研究将建立和部署工具，帮助人们探索他们的数据并识别变革的机会。该项目包括针对高中、大学、研究生和社区的综合推广和教育活动。最初的重点将是设计工具，支持从多个来源（如身体活动、情绪、睡眠、位置、天气、体重和个人财务）跟踪数据的探索，并评估这些工具如何增强反映和识别变化机会的能力。这项研究将调查现有的家庭、专家、朋友和同龄人之间共享数据的做法。对理财规划师、生活教练和私人教练的采访将记录他们如何处理客户数据。每个受众需要什么样的数据和观点，如何将其整合到他们的反思和行动过程中？分享时会产生什么紧张关系？个人信息记录如何帮助沟通不同层次和类型的专业知识？结果将导致新的设计方法，使个人信息数据对已经进行跟踪的人更有价值，并使更多人能够进行自我跟踪。这项研究将改进帮助人们理解其跟踪数据的系统，这将导致更好的个人信息系统，更广泛地说，改进对大型、不同数据流的开放式探索的实践。研究结果还将有助于研究人们如何单独和协作地思考个人数据，特别是在不同专业水平的人之间。

This project will study how people reflect on personal informatics data by designing, building, and deploying novel tools for exploration of personal data. Fitness tracking devices, smartphone applications, and other tools based on computer technology that help people automatically track data about every facet of their lives are becoming increasingly prevalent. Despite considerable progress in improving how people collect data for self-tracking, there has been little research on how technology can help people reflect on the collected data. Consequently, people often are overwhelmed by the data they collect, do not know what conclusions to draw, and become frustrated or discontinue use. The research will study approaches to reducing barriers to making sense of tracked data, both individually and in collaboration with friends, family, peers, and experts. To understand and enhance practices for reflecting and acting on personal informatics data, the research will build and deploy tools that help people explore their data and identify opportunities for change. The project includes integrated outreach and educational activities for high school, college, and graduate students and the community. The initial focus will be on designing tools that support exploration of tracked data from several sources - such as physical activity, mood, sleep, location, weather, weight, and personal finances - and evaluating how these tools augment abilities to reflect and to identify opportunities for change. The research will survey existing practices for sharing data among family and with experts, friends, and peers. Interviews with financial planners, life coaches, and personal trainers will document how they engage with client data. What data and views does each audience need, and how should this be integrated into their process for reflecting and acting? What tensions arise when sharing? How can personal informatics records help bridge different levels and types of expertise? Results will lead to new design approaches that make personal informatics data more valuable to people who already track and that will make self-tracking accessible to more people. The research will improve systems that help people make sense of their tracked data, which will lead to better personal informatics systems and, more broadly, improved practices for open-ended exploration of large, disparate data streams. Results will also contribute to theory about how people reflect on personal data individually and collaboratively, particularly among people with different levels of expertise.