A Quantified Past: Toward Design for Remembering With Personal Informatics

by | Dec 9, 2015 | Research Publications

Author(s):

  • Elsden, Chris
  • Kirk, David S.
  • Durrant, Abigail C.

Abstract:

This article questions how people will interact with a quantified past—the growing historical record generated by the increasing use of sensor-based technologies and, in particular, personal informatics tools. In a qualitative study, we interviewed 15 long-term users of different self-tracking tools about how they encountered and made meaning from historical data they had collected. Our findings highlight that even if few people are self-tracking as a form of deliberate lifelogging, many of them generate data and records that become meaningful digital possessions. These records are revealing of many aspects of people’s lives. Through considerable rhetorical data-work, people can appropriate such records to form highly personal accounts of their pasts. We use our findings to identify six characteristics of a quantified past and map an emerging design space for the long-term and retrospective use of personal informatics. Principally, we propose that design should seek to support people in making account of their data and guard against the assumption that more, or “better,” data will be able to do this for them. To this end, we speculate on design opportunities and challenges for experiencing, curating, and sharing historical personal data in new ways.

Document:

https://doi.org/10.1080/07370024.2015.1093422

References:
  1. Arrmitage, T. (2012). Ghostcar. Retrieved from http://infovore.org/archives/2012/07/30/ghostcar/. [Google Scholar]
  2. Banks, R. (2011). The future of looking back. Redmond: Microsoft Press. [Google Scholar]
  3. Banks, R., Kirk, D. S., & Sellen, A. (2012). A design perspective on three technology heirlooms. Human–Computer Interaction, 27, 63–91. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  4. Bannon, L. J. (2006). Forgetting as a feature, not a bug: The duality of memory and implications for ubiquitous computing. CoDesign, 2, 3–15. doi:10.1080/15710880600608230 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]
  5. Bartlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering: An experimental and social study. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]
  6. Belk, R. W. (1990). The role of possessions in constructing and maintaining a sense of past. Advances in Consumer Research, 17, 669–676. [Google Scholar]
  7. Bergson, H. (1988). Matter and memory (N. M. Paul & W. S. Palmer, Trans.). New York, NY: Zone Books. (Original work published 1896) [Google Scholar]
  8. Bird, J., & Rogers, Y. (2010). The pulse of tidy street: Measuring and publicly displaying domestic electricity consumption. Proceedings of Workshop on Energy Awareness and Conservation through Pervasive Applications at Pervasive 2010 International Conference on Pervasive Computing. New York: ACM. [Google Scholar]
  9. Button, G. (1991). Ethnomethodology and the human sciences. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  10. Choe, E. K., Lee, N. B., Lee, B., Pratt, W., & Kientz, J. A. (2014). Understanding quantified-selfers’ practices in collecting and exploring personal data. Proceedings of the CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  11. Cohen, G., & Conway, M. A. (2007). Memory in the real world. New York, NY: Psychology Press. [Google Scholar]
  12. Crabtree, A., Rodden, T., & Mariani, J. (2004). Collaborating around collections: Informing the continued development of photoware. Proceedings of the CSCW 2004 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  13. Davis, J. (2013). The qualified self. Blog Cyborgology/The Society Pages. Retrieved from http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2013/03/13/the-qualified-self/ [Google Scholar]
  14. Donath, J., Dragulescu, A., Zinman, A., Viégas, F., & Xiong, R. (2010). Data portraits. Proceedings of the SIGGRAPH 2010 Art Gallery. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  15. Dong, T., Ackerman, M. S., & Newman, M. W. (2014). If these walls could talk: Designing with memories of places. Proceedings of the DIS 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  16. Drucker, J. (2011). Humanities approaches to graphical display. Digital Humanities Quarterly, 5(1), 1–21. [Google Scholar]
  17. Durrant, A., Frohlich, D., Sellen, A., & Lyons, E. (2009). Home curation versus teenage photography: Photo displays in the family home. International Journal of Human–Computer Studies, 67, 1005–1023. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2009.09.005 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  18. Epstein, D. A., Borning, A., & Fogarty, J. (2013, September). Fine-grained sharing of sensed physical activity: A value sensitive approach. Proceedings of the Ubicomp 2013 Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  19. Epstein, D. A., Cordeiro, F., Bales, E., Fogarty, J., & Munson, S. A. (2014). Taming data complexity in lifelogs: Exploring visual cuts of personal informatics data. Proceedings of the DIS 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  20. Epstein, D. A., Jacobson, B. H., Bales, E., McDonald, D. W., & Munson, S. A. (2015). From nobody cares to way to go!: A design framework for social sharing in personal informatics. Proceedings of the CSCW 2015 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  21. Espeland, W. N., & Stevens, M. L. (1998). Commensuration as a social process. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 313–343. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.24.1.313 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  22. Fleck, R., & Fitzpatrick, G. (2010, November). Reflecting on reflection: Framing a design landscape. Proceedings of the OzChi 2010 Australian Conference on Human–Computer Interaction. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  23. Fox, S., & Duggan, M. (2013). Tracking for health. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/01/28/tracking-for-health/ [Google Scholar]
  24. Gemmell, J., Bell, G., & Lueder, R. (2006). MyLifeBits: A personal database for everything. Communications of the ACM, 49, 88–95. doi:10.1145/1107458 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  25. Giaccardi, E., Karana, E., Robbins, H., & D’Olivo, P. (2014). Growing traces on objects of daily use: A product design perspective for HCI. Proceedings of the DIS 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  26. Golsteijn, C., Van Den Hoven, E., Frohlich, D., & Sellen, A. (2012). Towards a more cherishable digital object. Proceedings of the DIS 2012 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  27. Gulotta, R., Odom, W., Forlizzi, J., & Faste, H. (2013). Digital artifacts as legacy: Exploring the lifespan and value of digital data. Proceedings of the CHI 2013 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  28. Gurrin, C., Smeaton, A. F., & Doherty, A. R. (2014). Lifelogging: Personal big data. Foundations and Trends in Information Retrieval, 8, 1–125. doi:10.1561/1500000033 [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  29. Haggerty, K. D., & Ericson, R. V. (2000). The surveillant assemblage. The British Journal of Sociology, 51, 605–622. doi:10.1080/00071310020015280 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  30. Harper, R., Randall, D., Smyth, N., Evans, C., Heledd, L., & Moore, R. (2008). The past is a different place: They do things differently there. Proceedings of the DIS 2008 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  31. Harper, R., Whitworth, E., & Page, R. (2012). Fixity: Identity, time and durée on Facebook. Proceedings of the IR 2013 Conference on Information Retrieval. New York, NY: ACM. [Google Scholar]
  32. Hogan, B. (2010). The presentation of self in the age of social media: Distinguishing performances and exhibitions online. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 30, 377–386. doi:10.1177/0270467610385893 [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  33. Hoskins, A. (2011). Media, memory, metaphor: Remembering and the connective turn. Parallax, 17(4), 19–31. doi:10.1080/13534645.2011.605573 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  34. Hoskins, J. (1998). Biographical objects: How things tell the stories of peoples’ lives. London, UK: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  35. Isaacs, E., Konrad, A., Walendowski, A., Lennig, T., Hollis, V., & Whittaker, S. (2013). Echoes from the past: How technology mediated reflection improves well-being. Proceedings of the CHI 2013 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  36. Jackson, S. J., & Baker, K. S. (2004). Ecological design, collaborative care, and ocean informatics. Paper presented at the PDC 2004 Conference on Participatory Design, Toronto, Canada. [Google Scholar]
  37. Kalnikaite, V., Sellen, A., Whittaker, S., & Kirk, D. (2010). Now let me see where i was: Understanding how lifelogs mediate memory. Proceedings of the CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  38. Karasti, H., & Baker, K. S. (2008). Digital data practices and the long term ecological research program growing global. International Journal of Digital Curation, 3, 42–58. doi:10.2218/ijdc.v3i2.57 [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  39. Khovanskaya, V., Baumer, E. P., Cosley, D., Voida, S., & Gay, G. (2013). Everybody knows what you’re doing: A critical design approach to personal informatics. Proceedings of the CHI 2013 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  40. Kirk, D. S., & Sellen, A. (2010). On human remains: Values and practice in the home archiving of cherished objects. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 17(3), 1–43. doi:10.1145/1806923 [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  41. Kirk, D., Sellen, A., Harper, R., & Wood, K. (2007). Understanding videowork. Proceedings of the CHI 2007 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  42. Kirk, D., Sellen, A., Rother, C., & Wood, K. (2006). Understanding photowork. Proceedings of the CHI 2006 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  43. Koeman, L. (2014). An exploratory study into the public and situated visualization of local data in urban communities. Proceedings of the DIS 2014 Companion Publication on Designing Interactive Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Google Scholar]
  44. Li, I., Dey, A., & Forlizzi, J. (2010). A stage-based model of personal informatics systems. Proceedings of the CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  45. Li, I., Dey, A. K., & Forlizzi, J. (2011). Understanding my data, myself: Supporting self-reflection with Ubicomp technologies. Proceedings of the Ubicomp 2011 Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  46. Lindley, S. (2013). Rethinking the web as a personal archive. Proceedings of the WWW 2013 Conference on the World Wide Web. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  47. Lindley, S. E., Randall, D., Sharrock, W., Glancy, M., Smyth, N., & Harper, R. (2009). Narrative, memory and practice: Tensions and choices in the use of a digital artifact. Proceedings of the British HCI 2009 Conference on People and Computers. London, UK: British Computer Society. [Google Scholar]
  48. Lupton, D. (2013). Understanding the human machine [Commentary]. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 32(4), 25–30. doi:10.1109/MTS.2013.2286431 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  49. Lupton, D. (2014a). Self-tracking cultures: Towards a sociology of personal analytics. Proceedings of the OzCHI 2014 Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  50. Lupton, D. (2014b). Self-tracking modes: Reflexive self-monitoring and data practices (SSRN 2483549). Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. Retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2483549 [Google Scholar]
  51. Marcoux, J.-S. (2001). The “Casser Maison” Ritual: Constructing the self by emptying the home. Journal of Material Culture, 6, 213–235. doi:10.1177/135918350100600205 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  52. Marshall, C., Bly, S., & Brun-Cottan, F. (2006). The long term fate of our personal digital belongings: Toward a service model for personal archives. Proceedings of the IS&T Archiving 2006. Springfield, VA: Society of Imaging Science and Technology. [Google Scholar]
  53. Mayer-Schönberger, V. (2011). Delete: The virtue of forgetting in the digital age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Google Scholar]
  54. Meyer, E. (2014) Inadvertent algorithmic cruelty. Retrieved from http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/12/24/inadvertent-algorithmic-cruelty/ [Google Scholar]
  55. Middleton, D., & Brown, S. D. (2005). The social psychology of experience: Studies in remembering and forgetting. London, UK: Sage. [Google Scholar]
  56. Morozov, E. (2013). To save everything, click here: Technology, solutionism, and the urge to fix problems that don’t exist. London, UK: Penguin UK. [Google Scholar]
  57. Mortier, R., Haddadi, H., Henderson, T., McAuley, D., & Crowcroft, J. (2014). Human-data interaction: The human face of the data-driven society (SSRN 2508051). Retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2508051 [Google Scholar]
  58. Neuringer, A. (1981). Self-experimentation: A call for change. Behaviorism, 9(1), 79–94. [Google Scholar]
  59. Nissen, B., & Bowers, J. (2015). Data-things: Digital fabrication situated within participatory data translation activities. Proceedings of the CHI 2015 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  60. Odom, W., Banks, R., Kirk, D., Harper, R., Lindley, S., & Sellen, A. (2012). Technology heirlooms?: Considerations for passing down and inheriting digital materials. Proceedings of the CHI 2012 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  61. Odom, W., Zimmerman, J., & Forlizzi, J. (2014). Placelessness, spacelessness, and formlessness: Experiential qualities of virtual possessions. Proceedings of the DIS 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  62. Peesapati, S. T., Schwanda, V., Schultz, J., Lepage, M., Jeong, S. Y., & Cosley, D. (2010). Pensieve: Supporting everyday reminiscence. Proceedings of the CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  63. Petrelli, D., Van Den Hoven, E., & Whittaker, S. (2009). Making history: Intentional capture of future memories. Proceedings of the CHI 2009 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  64. Radley, A. (1990). Artifacts, memory and a sense of the past. In D. Middleton & D. Edwards (Eds.), Collective remembering (pp. 46–59). London, UK: Sage. [Google Scholar]
  65. Rettberg, J. W. (2014). Seeing ourselves through technology: How we use selfies, blogs and wearable devices to see and shape ourselves. Palgrave Macmillan. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  66. Rooksby, J., Rost, M., Morrison, A., & Chalmers, M. C. (2014). Personal tracking as lived informatics. Proceedings of the CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  67. Ruckenstein, M. (2014). Visualized and interacted life: Personal analytics and engagements with data doubles. Societies, 4, 68–84. doi:10.3390/soc4010068 [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  68. Sas, C., & Whittaker, S. (2013). Design for forgetting: Disposing of digital possessions after a breakup. Proceedings of the CHI 2013 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  69. Schwanda Sosik, V., Zhao, X., & Cosley, D. (2012). See friendship, sort of: How conversation and digital traces might support reflection on friendships. Proceedings of the CSCW 2012 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  70. Schwarz, O. (2014). The past next door: Neighbourly relations with digital memory-artefacts. Memory Studies, 7, 7–21. doi:10.1177/1750698013490591 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  71. Selby, M., & Kirk, D. (2015). Experiential manufacturing: The earthquake shelf. Proceedings of RTD 2015 Conference on Research Through Design. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.1327994 [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  72. Sellen, A. J., & Whittaker, S. (2010). Beyond total capture: A constructive critique of lifelogging. Communications of the ACM, 53(5), 70–77. doi:10.1145/1735223 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  73. Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. London, UK: Sage. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  74. Taylor, A. S., Lindley, S., Regan, T., Sweeney, D., Vlachokyriakos, V., Grainger, L., & Lingel, J. (2015). Data-in-place: Thinking through the relations between data and community. Proceedings of the CHI 2015 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  75. Van Den Hoven, E. (2014). A future-proof past: Designing for remembering experiences. Memory Studies, 7, 370–384. doi:10.1177/1750698014530625 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  76. Van Den Hoven, E., & Eggen, B. (2008). Informing augmented memory system design through autobiographical memory theory. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 12, 433–443. doi:10.1007/s00779-007-0177-9 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  77. Van Dijck, J. (2014). Datafication, dataism and dataveillance: Big data between scientific paradigm and ideology. Surveillance & Society, 12, 197–208. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  78. Van House, N., & Churchill, E. F. (2008). Technologies of memory: Key issues and critical perspectives. Memory Studies, 1, 295–310. doi:10.1177/1750698008093795 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
  79. Viégas, F. B., Golder, S., & Donath, J. (2006). Visualizing email content: Portraying relationships from conversational histories. Proceedings of the CHI 2006 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  80. Whitelaw, M., (2009). Weather bracelet. Retrieved from http://mtchl.net/weather-bracelet/ [Google Scholar]
  81. Wright, P., & McCarthy, J. (2004). Technology as experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Google Scholar]
  82. Zhao, O. J., Ng, T., & Cosley, D. (2012). No forests without trees: Particulars and patterns in visualizing personal communication. Proceedings of the 2012 iConference. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  83. Zhao, X., & Lindley, S. E. (2014). Curation through use: Understanding the personal value of social media. Proceedings of the CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
  84. Zhao, X., Salehi, N., Naranjit, S., Alwaalan, S., Voida, S., & Cosley, D. (2013). The many faces of Facebook: Experiencing social media as performance, exhibition, and personal archive. Proceedings of the CHI 2013 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY: ACM. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]