Content Insights Blog

With new tools, such as band-aid sensors, and the ubiquity of computing devices, you can now constantly track your mind, body, and actions to learn more about yourself—and realize more of your own potential. The global movement to better understand the collection and meaning of this personal data is called “The Quantified Self.” Let's explore it further.

The Quantified Self Movement

I first became aware of the term “The Quantified Self” while listening to an NPR radio spot featuring John Bradley, a Wired contributor. In it, he discusses Wired's list of 2011's top 400 apps. That number alone speaks to the astounding impact of connectedness in our lives today. But, even more compelling evidence of that “internet of things” is his personal app pick: Sleep as An Droid.

Sleep as An Droid App for Android

This Android app is a sleep cycle tracker meant to wake you when your sleep is lightest, rather than disturbing much-needed deep sleep. Why? So that your days are more productive and enjoyable. Who would have thought that my phone could become a tool to help me avoid groggy, grumpy mornings and make me more active and alert, and thus more of myself? I love that the phone by my bedside can now track very personal biometric information about me to make a noticeable difference in my day-to-day life. My phone isn't just for Angry Birds anymore.

It's this sort of self-tracking that first attracted the attention of Wired co-founder Kevin Kelly and contributing editor Gary Wolf in 2008, and now their observation of the "Quantified Self" has become a movement. What started as a website has now grown to include self-tracking meet-ups around the country and conferences in both the United States and Europe.

Why the Quantified Self Is Possible

What makes a life-altering movement like this possible is that computers have become an integral part of life and goal management, aided by

1. the growth of data collection and storage.
2. the availability of tools to interpret that data (like apps).
3. the feedback of social sharing.

These 3 ingredients have led to sensor-based and web/app-based tracking of everything from sleep cycles to blood glucose levels to mood changes.

I was already accustomed to collecting personal metrics (think stepping on the scale in the bathroom or noting feelings in a journal) to potentially reach a state of betterness. Self-trackers use technology to take that monitoring to the next level, with the goal of changing the quality of their lives. With today's tools, a self-tracker can experiment, rate progress, be motivated to achieve more, and share their data to inform the community at large. The gaming aspect of this monitoring is enough to entice me into pursuing better behaviors. Anyone who uses Weight Watchers online knows how fun it is to see that graph of your weight start turning downwards after hard work.

The number of self-tracking tools is growing, as is the variety of people they attract. Consider the versatility of these niche examples:

• Nike+'s success with helping runners track and enjoy their running.
• Asthmapolis' GPS-enhabled inhaler and mobile phone apps that help asthma sufferer find triggers of episodes.
• the more general wellness approach of Fitbit, DirectLife, and UP.

UP wristband and iPhone app

What Does Tracking Personal Data Mean for Content?

The implications will evolve, but the most immediate ones I see are to user expectations, context, and relevancy.

New User Expectations

Your customers or users want to gather more information about themselves, measure it, compare it and share it. It’s becoming part of what they expect. No matter what your product or service, people will want to monitor how it affects them.

Context: Opportunity to Explain + Guide

Besides tracking their data, users want to be advised about what it all means. I can follow changes in my blood glucose level all day, but without context it means nothing. What does that data mean for my mood, my productivity, my eating habits? And, if you collect a large enough sample, what can this data do to educate everyone? That’s where content comes in.

Relevancy: Touchpoints Triggering Useful Content

The "internet of things" will be an even larger part of our lives, even to the point of being attached to our skin while we passively collect data about our heart rate. So, I see a big opportunity to create content with constant touchpoints in mind. When should you update users, send them reminders, or point out the impact of a specific action or metric? And what content should those updates, reminders, or notifications include? These questions are only the beginning.

Technology and our individual selves will continue to converge, I have no doubt. I look forward to what that can mean for our collective and individual understanding. In later posts, I'll explore how self-trackers (I'll be becoming more and more of one) and their closely-monitored personal data will come to affect content for health, potentially empower the consumer in a variety of industries, and architect how products are designed and marketed.

Want to learn more now? Check out the Quantified Self website.