Sensors can provide massive amounts of data that can be used to inform individuals of their habits, histories, and provide insight into their personal behaviors. My research looks at expanding data usage beyond the individual, so that communities and relationships can benefit from these rich datasets. One of the big challenges in this space is to find a way to share automatically collected data in a meaningful way. Sharing automatically generated data is one of the few ways that technology can support true implicit interaction, yet it is easy for generated data to feel "spam-like'' to the recipient, leading quickly to frustration and the ignoring of messages. To shed light in this area I have conducted research in three projects; a qualitative study of how people use traditional physical artifacts to support connection, the design and deployment of CoupleVIBE a hands-free, eyes-free implicit mobile location sharing for couples, and CitiSense a mobile air- quality system for collection and sharing in communities

Poor air quality is a growing global health concern that impacts millions of people worldwide. Although we are beginning to understand the health impacts of air pollution, it remains a challenge to provide people with the information they need to be able to make health-conscious choices. The CitiSense system gives individuals the real-time tools they need to be able to identify when and where they are exposed to poor air. We present the results of a qualitative study regarding a 4-week “in the wild” deployment of the CitiSense air-quality sensor and system. We focus on how the 16 participants responded to their new-found information about their environment, how they shared information, and what kinds of actions were enabled by having access to real-time air-quality data. Quantitative data gathered through the course of the study frames participant responses by showing what levels of pollution were experienced and what activities heightened exposure. We found that CitiSense’s real-time graphical displays and everywhere monitoring provided a critical bridge between data and experience, enabling sophisticated in-the-world sensemaking and sharing with those nearby. This in turn affected behavior and attitudes, leading to shifts in how users reasoned about their world, and how they assessed their personal choices and impact.

Pre-2018 CSE ID: CS2014-1005

Although food journaling is understood to be both important and difficult, little work has empirically documented the specific challenges people experience with food journals. We identify key challenges in a qualitative study combining a survey of 141 current and lapsed food journalers with analysis of 5,526 posts in community forums for three mobile food journals. Analyzing themes in this data, we find and discuss barriers to reliable food entry, negative nudges caused by current techniques, and challenges with social features. Our results motivate research exploring a wider range of approaches to food journal design and technology.