Short answer
Design self-tracking tools that acknowledge and support the user's dynamic relationship with their body, offering flexibility for both personal reflection and social interaction.
- Field
- User-Centred Design
- Source
- Sociology (2023)
- Method
- Qualitative research
- Sample
- 23 participants
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
Young people engage in 'body work' through self-tracking, treating their physical selves as either private or shared projects to manage ongoing bodily changes. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2023 study published in Sociology. Using Qualitative research with 23 participants, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Design self-tracking tools that acknowledge and support the user's dynamic relationship with their body, offering flexibility for both personal reflection and social interaction.
Self-tracking transforms the body into a dynamic project for young adults.
Young people engage in 'body work' through self-tracking, treating their physical selves as either private or shared projects to manage ongoing bodily changes.
Sociology · 2023
Key Findings
- 01Self-tracking facilitates different forms of 'body work' for young people.
- 02The body is treated as a 'private' or 'shared' project in the context of self-tracking.
- 03Self-tracking is an ongoing, iterative, and embodied process of discovery and learning.
Application
Design takeaway
Design self-tracking tools that acknowledge and support the user's dynamic relationship with their body, offering flexibility for both personal reflection and social interaction.
How to apply
When designing a fitness app, consider how users might want to share their progress with friends versus keeping certain metrics private, and how the app can adapt to changing user goals over time.
Project actions
- 01Consider how users might want to control the privacy of their tracked data.
- 02Think about how your design can adapt as a user's goals or understanding of their body changes.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Provides rich qualitative data on lived experiences.
- +Offers a nuanced understanding of self-tracking beyond simple quantification.
Limitations
The findings are based on interviews and may be subject to recall bias. The sample size is relatively small.
Reliability & validity
Reliability could be enhanced by using a larger, more diverse sample. Validity is strong in capturing the depth of lived experience through in-depth interviews.
Think critically
How might the 'private' versus 'shared' project framing of the body influence the design of social features in health and fitness applications?
Design Principles
"Design for iterative self-discovery and embodied experience."
Understanding how users conceptualize and interact with their own bodies as projects is crucial for designing effective health, fitness, and wellness technologies. This perspective highlights the need for tools that support both personal reflection and social sharing, acknowledging the fluid nature of self-perception.
What This Means for Your Design
Young people use apps to track their health and fitness, and they think about their bodies like ongoing projects they can work on, sometimes keeping their progress private and sometimes sharing it with others.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify the importance of user agency and the psychological impact of self-tracking features in your design project.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This research highlights that self-tracking is not merely data collection but an active process of 'body work' where young individuals treat their bodies as dynamic projects, managing them as either private or shared endeavors. This perspective is vital for designing user-centered health technologies that acknowledge the iterative and embodied nature of self-discovery.
Source
Sociology
Self-Tracking among Young People: Lived Experiences, Tensions and Bodily Outcomes
journal · 2023
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about self-tracking transforms the body into a dynamic project for young adults?
- Design self-tracking tools that acknowledge and support the user's dynamic relationship with their body, offering flexibility for both personal reflection and social interaction. Evidence: Sociology (2023).
- Why does "Self-tracking transforms the body into a dynamic project for young adults." matter for design?
- Understanding how users conceptualize and interact with their own bodies as projects is crucial for designing effective health, fitness, and wellness technologies. This perspective highlights the need for tools that support both personal reflection and social sharing, acknowledging the fluid nature of self-perception.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Design self-tracking tools that acknowledge and support the user's dynamic relationship with their body, offering flexibility for both personal reflection and social interaction.
- What were the main findings?
- Self-tracking facilitates different forms of 'body work' for young people.. The body is treated as a 'private' or 'shared' project in the context of self-tracking.. Self-tracking is an ongoing, iterative, and embodied process of discovery and learning.
- What research method was used?
- Qualitative research with 23 participants.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2023 journal from Sociology.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When designing a fitness app, consider how users might want to share their progress with friends versus keeping certain metrics private, and how the app can adapt to changing user goals over time.
- What are the limitations?
- The study focuses on young people and may not generalize to other age groups. The 'fleshy' and lived experience aspect is subjective and difficult to quantify.