Presentation Type

Poster

Abstract

Regular exercise has many health benefits, however a major problem in the United States is that Americans do not exercise enough to reap these advantages. Although there are many ways that one can be motivated to exercise, the use of wearable technologies such as fitness tracking devices show great promise as an individual, and cost effective solution. On the other hand, many people who try out these devices end up returning them, leading to lower device acceptance rates. We examined online product reviews for wearable fitness devices in order to discover which factors led to product acceptance or rejection. Devices that were reviewed include: Fitbit Zip, Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, Jawbone Up 3, Basis Peak, and Garmin Vivosmart HR. We performed a qualitative analysis of user reviews across many websites and devices followed by a quantitative exploratory analysis using stepwise multiple regression predicting users’ experience. Overall, our results support those four high-level themes: usability, trust, motivation, and wearability, which all determined a user’s experience.

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Describing the User Experience of Wearable Fitness Technology through Online Product Reviews

Regular exercise has many health benefits, however a major problem in the United States is that Americans do not exercise enough to reap these advantages. Although there are many ways that one can be motivated to exercise, the use of wearable technologies such as fitness tracking devices show great promise as an individual, and cost effective solution. On the other hand, many people who try out these devices end up returning them, leading to lower device acceptance rates. We examined online product reviews for wearable fitness devices in order to discover which factors led to product acceptance or rejection. Devices that were reviewed include: Fitbit Zip, Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, Jawbone Up 3, Basis Peak, and Garmin Vivosmart HR. We performed a qualitative analysis of user reviews across many websites and devices followed by a quantitative exploratory analysis using stepwise multiple regression predicting users’ experience. Overall, our results support those four high-level themes: usability, trust, motivation, and wearability, which all determined a user’s experience.

 

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