Exchange of Tracking Information on a Shared Platform - How the space of interaction can be designed to increase practitioners' motivation in physical activity outdoors

Sammanfattning: Interactive technology in the area of fitness and wellbeing has gained increasing interest in the HCI community with the emphasize to design technologies and tools in the aim to encourage people and make them more engaged in physical activity. However, there is little investigation in which precise factors that contribute to user motivation and self-efficacy.Physical activity outdoors together with tracking devices enables the users to view and interpret the results from their practice based on movements. The data can then be visualized on geographic maps, which are powerful tools for presentation. Online platforms on the web give users the opportunity to share their own results together with other practitioners’ results. This creates a shared network of practitioners in a world-wide online setting, based on geolocated information visualized on geographic maps. The study starts with the hypothesis that the space of interaction on a map-based social network platform can be further developed in the aim to increase practitioners’ motivation in physical activity. Two approaches are identified in the study: comparative and supportive. The study examines how they can be integrated in the space of a map-based social network platform in the aim to motivate practitioners. The study results in different kinds of features and investigate in practitioners’ experience of them.