My interests, my activities: Learning from an intergenerational comparison of smartwatch use

Abstract

We analyze smartwatch use from an intergenerational perspective to garner non-stereotypical reflections on ageing. The research questions are: (1) How do personal interests shape, and how are they shaped by, first-time use of a smartwatch? (2) To what extent do tracked data help in interpreting the relationship between the user and the device? We analyze two older and two middle-aged adults involved in a one-year case study, and combine log data and reported activities for richer empirical evidence. The older adults showed higher levels of smartwatch activity than the middle-aged. The key services they used were notifications and the pedometer. We found that smartwatch uses and forms of appropriation are as diverse as the four participants are and that the ways in which such watches are adopted are shaped by personal circumstances and interests. The tracked data helped to illustrate smartwatch uses, providing acceptably accurate pictures of activities. However, the low number of participants in the case study magnified the data’s limitations, which illustrate issues to be taken into account when working with tracked data – or big data in general.