Behavior, change? Reflections on collecting my personal data

BEHAVIOR, CHANGE?Reflections on collecting my personal data.!

!

@holgerd!mail@holger-dieterich.de

EXPERIMENT 1/3

• What did I do?!

• How did I do it?

• What did I learn?

WHAT DID I DO?

• Curious about quantified self, I started tracking in January 2012 (without any concrete goals).

EXPERIMENT 1/3

• What did I do?

• How did I do it?!

• What did I learn?

FITBIT ULTRAphoto: Amazon

FITBIT ULTRAphoto: Amazon

HOW DID I DO IT?

• Wore a FitBit Ultra day and night

• Jan 2012 - July 2012

• Nov 2012 - Sept 2013

EXPERIMENT 1/3

• What did I do?

• How did I do it?

• What did I learn?

FITBIT ULTRACC BY-NC-SA http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-s-y/8043464454/

WHAT DID I LEARN?• I am a very ordinary human.

• I do not walk enough, but my sleep is good.

• Charging and syncing things always sucks.

• Measuring your baseline is fun, but only for a few months.

• Wait, who owns my data?

-> BEHAVIOR, NO CHANGE

EXPERIMENT 2/3

• What did I do?!

• How did I do it?

• What did I learn?

WHAT DID I DO?

• New goal: 10.000 steps per day

JAWBONE UPphoto: Jawbone

JAWBONE UPphoto: Jawbone

EXPERIMENT 2/3

• What did I do?

• How did I do it?!

• What did I learn?

HOW DID I DO IT?

• Told my wife about it.

• Tried to enjoy walks even if they where not to have some cappuccino or cake.

My iPhone trail (via trail.meteor.com, data: moves-app.com)

Go for more walks (red lines)

Places I’ve been to in central Berlin (via 4sqmap.com, data: foursquare.com)

Go for walks

EXPERIMENT 2/3

• What did I do?

• How did I do it?

• What did I learn?

EXCURSION: FITBIT VS. JAWBONE UP

0!

5000!

10000!

15000!

20000!

25000!

30000!

35000!

07.06.13! 14.06.13! 21.06.13! 28.06.13! 05.07.13! 12.07.13! 19.07.13! 26.07.13!

step

s!

day!

Daily Steps by Tracking Device!

Fitbit Ultra!

Jawbone Up!

0!

100!

200!

300!

400!

500!

600!

700!

07.06.13' 14.06.13' 21.06.13' 28.06.13' 05.07.13' 12.07.13' 19.07.13' 26.07.13'

min

utes

of s

leep!

night!

Nightly Sleep by Tracking Device!

FitBit Ultra!

Jawbone UP!

STATWING FTW!

STATWING ANSWERS

• „There is no statistically significant difference between steps fitbit and steps jawbone“

• „sleep jawbone tends to be larger than sleep fitbit"

Variables Median Average Standard Deviation

FitBit Ultra Steps 10542 11087.7 4847

Jawbone Up Steps 10352 11003.4 5042

Variables Median Average Standard Deviation

FitBit Ultra Sleep

(h:mm)6:49 6:55 1:00

Jawbone Up Sleep (h:mm)

7:07 7:13 0:56

END OF EXCURSION.

BUGGY :(

• Jawbone broke, waited one month for replacement, no data for August.

• June/July data was missing in CSV export.

WHAT DID I LEARN?

• Data missing

• Fitbit & Jawbone Up get the same results for me

• „Honey, did you make your steps today?“ does help :)

• But walks & festivals are not enough

-> BEHAVIOR, A LITTLE CHANGE

EXPERIMENT 3/3

• What did I do?!

• How did I do it?

• What did I learn?

WHAT DID I DO?

• Get a routine to achieve 10.000 steps per day.

photo CC BY-2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehnin78/6786019820/sizes/l/

RUN & MEASURE CHANGE

EXPERIMENT 3/3

• What did I do?

• How did I do it?!

• What did I learn?

photo CC BY-2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/belenko/6938718103/sizes/l/

TEMPELHOF AIRFIELD

HALF MARATHON

Berlin Half Marathon plan on runkeeper.com

WITHINGS SMART BODY ANALYZER

photo: Withings

HOW DID I DO IT?

• Committed to a workout plan

• Measured my body fat every day

• Entertained myself while running

EXPERIMENT 3/3

• What did I do?

• How did I do it?

• What did I learn?

I CAN RUN REGULARY

Variables Median Average Standard Deviation

before 7948 8960 4565

after 10795 11176 4528

Comparison 111 days before/after start of running

before: feb 2nd, 2013 - May 31st, 2013 (fitbit), after: sept 12, 2013 - Dec 31st, 2013 (jawbone)

My body fat since I started running

via trendweight.com, data: Withings

WHAT DID I LEARN?

• Seeing any data is a motivating reward.

• Seeing change is extremely motivating.

• Other „runners“ greet you on the field. wtf?

• Weather is never bad.

• A detailed plan helps a lot.

BEHAVIOR, CHANGE.

CONCLUSION

• I am not a machine, but technology helped me as a nerd start doing sport.

• My data should be mine and easy for me to retrieve.

• I should learn R.

BEHAVIOR, CHANGE.Reflections on collecting my personal data.!

!

@holgerd!mail@holger-dieterich.de