"It just kind of shows that I went somewhere": An Exploratory Study of Fitness Data Sharing

Abstract

The sharing of curated fitness data posts occurs frequently on fitness-focused social platforms such as Strava and on general social media platforms such as Instagram, which is a novel context for visualization. To better understand the process of sharing and designing fitness data posts, as well as the role of visualization within them, we conduct a constructivist grounded theory study. We conduct and analyze 18 semi-structured interviews with fitness data sharers. From our analysis of the data, we find three novel characteristics of fitness data sharing: (i) the role of visualization as providing proof that an individual did an activity, (ii) the importance of expressing individuality in posts, and (iii) design conformity to cultural norms. We also derive a set of design implications, including a need for more options for visualizations for activities without routes, more user control in fitness data sharing platforms, and maintained ease of use while increasing customization options.