Evaluating Glanceable Multi-Device Family Health Tracking with Smartwatches and Home Displays

Abstract

While ubiquitous computing research has explored diverse devices for personal health tracking, we know less about multi-device designs for family informatics, where health management is inherently collaborative. To understand how families adopt and perceive ubiquitous access to shared health data across contexts, we evaluated smartwatch-only, home display-only, and combined designs for tracking moods and goals, domains central to family health behavior regulation. 44 people across 12 families alternated between these designs over nine weeks. Log analysis revealed that mood tracking and goal reporting were significantly more frequent with the home display present compared to smartwatch-only use, despite an overall decline in mood tracking over time. Tracking peaked in afternoons, dropped on weekends, and occurred 2.6× more at home, with children tracking more consistently than adults across all designs. From interview analysis, we learned how family data glanceability on smartwatches supported opportunistic tracking and awareness while apart, whereas displays reminded families to self-track and collaborate during home routines including members that avoided wearables (e.g., non-participants). Multi-device redundancy accommodated diversity in routines, mobility patterns, and device preferences among members in the same family. We discuss opportunities for multi-device family informatics that accommodates different preferences through inclusive, glanceable, and adaptable ubiquitous data sharing.