Beyond the body:moving past the metricised bodily goal in self-tracking

Snooks, Kim and Whitham, Roger and Richards, Daniel and Lindley, Joseph (2022) Beyond the body:moving past the metricised bodily goal in self-tracking. In: DRS2022 Bilbao: Design Research Society Conference 2022. DRS2022 Bilbao: Design Research Society Conference 2022 . Design Research Society, ESP. ISBN 9781912294572

Abstract

Currently self-tracking systems, that sense and infer data about an individual or ‘the self’, focus on gathering quantitative data about the body. The social features present in these systems measure data about the body against other bodies or ‘the other’. However, focus on these metrics is causing harm. In this paper we discuss relations between the self and the other and more-than-human perspectives to pose questions for moving beyond the body and acknowledging potential harm in self-tracking systems. Throughout we draw on work from across Design Research, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Philosophy and Sociology, to high-light challenges and opportunities for Designers in the self-tracking space and discuss how the future of these systems needs to change.