A Digital Guide for Self-Tracking Goes Online
Dates of Project: January 2011 through January 2012
Field of Work: Creating an online resource guide for self-tracking tools.
Problem Synopsis: A small but increasing number of people across the United States are developing and using self-tracking tools—chiefly spreadsheets and smartphone apps that allow individuals to measure and track their own health, wellness, fitness, habits, emotions and symptoms. But there had been no guide to these tools.
Synopsis of the Work: The project team created an online resource guide for self-tracking tools and services.
Key Results
Features of the Quantified Self: Guide to Self-Tracking include a list of some 500 tools, reviews of the tools, profiles of members, and a discussion forum. However, the project director thinks the guide was more a catalog of tools than a useful manual for people wanting to choose and use these tools. She offered a number of lessons from the project:
- Provide users of self-tracking tools with clear instructions on how to evaluate their own needs, choose tools appropriate to those needs, and make sense of their findings
- Create a strong editorial voice and identity to enhance credibility
- Provide clear measures and objective standards for users who are assessing the tools
Recommended
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Related
- Web-Based Personal Health Record for Low- and Moderate-Income People Has a Positive Test August 22, 2008
- Health e-Technologies: Building the Science of eHealth May 28, 2010
- Patient Interest in Sharing Personal Health Record Information December 20, 2011
- Electronic Health Record Components and the Quality of Care December 1, 2008
- Towards a Personal Health Management Assistant October 1, 2010
- About this grant