Habilyzer: Empowering Office Workers to Investigate their Working Habits using an Open-Ended Sensor Kit

Abstract

Office work presents health and wellbeing challenges, triggered by unhealthy working habits or environmental factors. While technologies for vitality in the office context gain popularity, they are often solution-focused and fall short in acknowledging personal needs. Building on approaches from personal informatics, we see value in opening up the design space of tracking and sensing technologies for office workers. We designed and deployed an open-ended sensor kit and conducted two complementary studies to investigate the value of empowering office workers to investigate their own working habits. Findings show that Habilyzer triggers curiosity about working habits, and wireless sensors contribute to inquire into those habits, possibly supported by additional tools. We contribute new insights into how an open-ended sensor kit can be designed to support self-tracking practices and underlying reflections in the underexplored context of office work. It is an alternative approach to workplace vitality, moving from solution-oriented technologies to inquiry-enabling tools.