Fitness Technology
Are FitBits and their ilk destined to be yet another short-lived fitness fad?
A few months ago, after having shunned the idea for quite some time, I decided to purchase a FitBit. Although I will tell people that it was mainly out of professional curiosity, it was more likely motivated by a newfound interest in my general health and fitness. Over the past year or so, I have been taking small steps towards a healthier lifestyle- a bit of gym here, a few less calories there, all in the name of “health.” Perhaps this is a result of getting older and realising that health is a priority, or perhaps (and this is far more likely) I have fallen prey to the general health “craze” that seems to be sweeping the globe. Gone are the days of simply being “slim” and counting calories. These days it’s all about “fitspiration,” getting abs, and lifting weights. Although for the most part, I think that’s a positive change, the most interesting aspect of this for me from a professional point of view, has been the rise of what I call “Fit-Tech.” The release of iOS8 with its gradient-festooned Health app is the latest in a slew of fitness focussed technology to hit the market. From the FitBit and FuelBand, to apps like My Fitness Pal- the race to create the most high-tech fitness trackers and tools is on. And with Fitbit shares opening 52% higher than their IPO price on Thursday, the race is most certainly on. People are more connected to their health than ever before- they can track every calorie, monitor every heartbeat, and share their progress with friends using a myriad of different gadgets and services. You may be thinking “Well, isn’t an increased awareness of health and fitness a positive thing?” The short answer, I believe, is “It could be.” Here’s the long answer:
A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to be involved in a large-scale research project focussed on people’s financial habits, specifically regarding their interaction with financial technologies. One of the most interesting findings from that research revolved around people’s ability to convert data (collected from monitoring and recording their financial behaviour) into positive actions that would improve their financial position. The majority of people interviewed believed themselves to be in control of their finances, however on closer inspection, rarely used the information they had built up about their spending and budgeting habits to change their behaviour. For those people, especially those who were struggling financially, constantly monitoring and recording their finances became a source of anxiety and was ultimately not seen as a valuable activity. However, those few who were able to draw conclusions from their data and take steps to change their behaviour, were generally more financially stable.
So what does this have to do with your morning jog? Just as the people we interviewed struggled to effect positive change in their financial lives based on their spending patterns, so, I believe, will people struggle to use their health tracking gadgets to improve their overall well-being. Monitoring data is a passive action. It requires very little effort, and yet lulls people into the false belief that they are taking action to improve their health. And, of course, there will be hundreds of companies waiting in the wings, ready to exploit this belief, selling people any number of fitness trackers and apps with the unfounded promise that simply tracking your data will somehow lead to health. The truth is that there is very little to be gained by monitoring your every move. Obsessively checking our health stats every five seconds is at best pointless and at worst, dangerous. When combined with constant media messaging aimed at using our guilt over our perceived failure to meet acceptable fitness standards to sell products, Fit-Tech can become a dangerous game and cause people endless anxiety. In an age where Orthorexia is on the rise and societal pressure is pervasive, these negative effects are something that we can ill afford.
While many unscrupulous companies will make a quick buck off the Fit-Tech trend, there is room for a technology to really help people make a difference with regards to their health. The challenge for companies wanting to elevate their product from being “just another fitness tracker” to something revolutionary, is to find ways to make data actionable. The main reason that people never progress from monitoring their data to taking action is that they are overwhelmed by the raw data and have no idea how to begin using it to make change.
So, what would my ideal fitness app look like, and how would it behave? The possibilities are many, however some of the things I’d like to see incorporated into fitness apps in the future are:
Useful insights
Don’t just show me a graph, analyse it for me. Don’t just show me numbers, tell me what they mean. Use my data to draw conclusions and provide insights that I may not have the knowledge or inclination to find myself, and then present them in a way that is easy to understand and that is actionable.
My Fitness Pal has begun to incorporate this type of behaviour by providing mini insights when users log food. If you log something that’s good for you, a little green message will pop up saying “This food is high in protein,” whereas foods that are less healthy prompt a subtle warning- “This food contains 10g of sugar- your goal is 30g of sugar a day.” Not only do these insights make sense of an otherwise overwhelming amount of data, they also provide positive reinforcement.
Contextual prompts, reminders and insights
A smart fitness app would be able to tell when I’m at the gym from my GPS location and congratulate me on sticking with my workout plan, or figure out that I’m at Starbucks and suggest that I order a long black instead of my usual sugar loaded beverage of choice. As technology becomes smarter and more connected, its potential to understand the user and their behaviour increases. Being context aware means that an app can help the user make positive choices by stepping in and being the voice of reason.
While many of the apps available at the moment give the user the ability to “brag” about their success via social media, I think the important fact that is often missed is that health and fitness is very intimate. It’s often not something that people (especially people who do not consider themselves to be particularly healthy or fit) wish to plaster all over their Facebook page. More effort should be put into positive reinforcement and perhaps even gamification (which, when done right, can be incredibly powerful). The website Nerd Fitness, of which I am a huge fan, allows members to “level-up” their characters as they achieve fitness goals. This provides positive reinforcement and a sense of accomplishment and yet is not outwardly competitive. Ultimately, fitness is a competition with yourself, and they capture that perfectly.
Currently, Fit-Tech is still in its early stages, and like many other data driven services, has made the early mistake of providing an overwhelming amount of data without equipping users with the tools they need to use that data effectively. In order for Fit-Tech to be a positive influence on people’s lives, and in order for it to have any sort of longevity, it will have to start using data in more creative ways in order to empower users. As it stands, I’ve had my FitBit for a few months and other than being aware of the fact that I don’t walk around very much, I’m none the wiser regarding my personal health. If Fit-Tech products don’t step it up soon, they are going to go the way of my Ab-Glider and elliptical machine- yet another empty fitness industry promise left to gather dust in the corner of my spare room.
