Designing for Data Sensemaking Practices: A Complex Challenge

Armagan Karahanoglu, Aykut Coskun

Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticleProfessional

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Abstract

We have a plethora of digital tools at our fingertips for understanding our bodies, from activity trackers to smartwatches. Through these tools, we are not just recording our lives; we are quantifying them, owing to the affordability and accessibility of sensing and networking technologies, which empower us to track various health indicators such as heart rate variability (HRV) and stress scores. While the initial wave of health trackers focused on quantifying bodily metrics, the tide is turning toward more qualitative, subjective, and social-oriented tracking practices that capture lived experiences [1]. Digital data has turned the process of reflection into a sensory experience, fundamentally altering how individuals perceive and interact with their data. Self-tracking is no longer about sterile numbers and graphs, but rather about creating a personalized narrative that resonates with the individual’s goals, desires, dreams, and feelings. It is not only about how many steps you take anymore but also what those steps mean for your daily life, how they make you feel, the social interactions they lead to, and the broader context in which they occur. But are we truly harnessing the power of this data or merely drowning in the ocean of numbers? This article explores this question from the data sensemaking perspective.
Original languageEnglish
Pages28-31
Number of pages4
Volume31
No.4
Specialist publicationInteractions (ACM)
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Jun 2024

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