Fitness Trackers Misfire for Disabled Users, Study Shows
Wearable energy trackers significantly misalign with how people with disabilities actually experience their bodies, according to new research. The disconnect matters for tech companies designing wellness products—most devices ignore fluctuations from illness, travel, and menstrual cycles, limiting their utility and forcing users to abandon or distrust the tools.
Originaltitel: Design for Dis/Ability: A Crip Inquiry into Personal Energy Tracking
This study explores the phenomenon of energy and self-tracking technologies, moving beyond the context of managing chronic conditions. Our approach to designing from the experiences of people with disability is informed by crip theory, which challenges societal norms of health and ability. We analysed 50 survey responses and 15 interviews with wearable tracker users and found that self-tracking shapes interpretation of energy and self-care strategies. Our findings indicate that tracking significantly affect perceptions and judgments of bodily activity, energy and rest. We found a notable disconnect between the metrics provided by the trackers and the subjective understanding of personal energy meanings, especially during events of bodily and contextual changes such as travelling, illness, or menstrual cycle. This research contributes to discourses on energy in self-tracking technologies and advocates for designing more inclusive, crip futures for everyone that celebrate irregularity, fluctuation, and change, accommodating diverse bodily rhythms in energy tracking practices.