Quantify Yourself

Step 1:

Look into the article Quantify Yourself or inside this recent Product Hunt app list to choose an app to download and start quantifying yourself on a given time period.

Choose an app which you think will keep you engaged and will want to keep using for a period of time. We suggest at least a week.

If you are undertaking the activity with a team, try to select different tools to give you a range of apps to evaluate afterwards.

In May of 2022, The Economist magazine argued that we are entering a wearable revolution, accelerated by Covid 19, in which the sales of smartwatches and fitness trackers have grown exponentially. The Quantified Self is an international community of users and makers of self-tracking tools who share an interest in “self-knowledge through numbers''. You can start tracking for any reason — to answer a health question, achieve a goal, explore an idea, or simply because you are curious

Step 2:

Ask participants to set up the app or tool which they have selected to trial.

You may need to register with your email. Define a time period in which to test the tool.

Step 3:

Allow the agreed time period for the participants to undertake the experience with their selected tool.

Ask them to be reflecting throughout the process and where possible capturing and recording the experience to subsequently share with others.

Step 4:

Ask participants at the end of the period, to analyze their lifelogging data and reflect on some key themes and to come up and deliver a 2-minute presentation of their learnings.

Ask them to think about the following:

The What: What was the tool you tried? What kind of data is it capturing? What was the user experience of this tool? What can you learn about human behaviour from the experiment?

The How: How did it feel to undertake the experiment? How could you imagine using this kind of tool and its outputs in the future? How might the experience and its outputs in terms of data - big and small - be a stimulus in the creative process?

Consequences: What are the consequences of greater tracking of our personal and collective behaviour and decisions with tracking technologies? How might individuals and organizations adapt their behaviours and desires in both positive and negative ways as a result?

Step 5:

Wrap Up

After all the presentations bring the whole group back together. Invite participants to reflect individually for five minutes on the following questions:

How was this experience overall?

What are the implications for creativity in terms of:

• Being asked to potentially step out of the comfort zone?
• Employing digital tools to learn new things about ourselves and others?
• Applying data and observations about ourselves and others within the creative process

After participants have reflected individually, invite them to share reflections in the larger group.