Facilitators and Barriers of Wearable Stress Management Technology: A Narrative Review of User Perspectives

Research and technological advancements have driven the development of wearable technology for stress management. Previous reviews primarily focused on its performance and effectiveness in health contexts. In contrast, this review takes a human-centric approach and reviews studies on users’ attitudes and experiences. We conducted a narrative review to identify (1) the facilitators and barriers of wearable stress management technology (WSMT) and (2) design considerations for human-centered WSMT. We identified 28 articles reporting user perspectives on stress management technology, primarily based on evaluation studies in which user perspectives were gathered through qualitative methods. We found five facilitators and barriers of WSMT (i.e., usefulness, functionality/interactivity, seamlessness, user privacy, and technology’s image). Additionally, we synthesized 18 design considerations, highlighted two main design challenges, and proposed a value-sensitive approach for future research. This review adds to the HCI literature by demonstrating the complexity of designing human-centered WSMT and the need for actionable recommendations.