"I Am So Overwhelmed I Don't Know Where to Begin!" Towards Developing Relationship-Based and Values-Based End-of-Life Data Planning Approaches

Document Title

“I Am So Overwhelmed I Don’t Know Where to Begin!”: Towards Developing Relationship-Based and Values-Based End-of-Life Data Planning Approaches

Document Information

• Subject Area: Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction, Legacy Planning and Data Management
• Keywords: Digital legacy, end-of-life, inheritance, data management, affective computing, interpersonal relationships, identity transmission, legacy planning, collaborative design

Research Background and Issues

• Issues and Challenges:

  • In the data-driven era, how to effectively plan end-of-life data management for digital assets (e.g., social media accounts, emails, or photos stored on hard drives) both online and offline.
  • Traditional asset inventory-based legacy planning methods show unclear effectiveness when addressing complex digital legacy issues.
  • Lack of design and empirical research integrating data planning with values and relationships.
  • Data management faces unique challenges such as multi-user, multi-generational relevance, and privacy protection.

• Significance:

  • As the degree of digitalization in people's lives increases, the proportion of data assets in legacy planning is growing.
  • Scientific planning of digital legacy not only relates to identity transmission and personal value expression but also has a direct impact on reducing the burden of posthumous affairs.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • Existing HCI research is mostly limited to social networking platforms or static digital legacy issues, with limited studies on comprehensive technical data planning.
  • This study draws on methods from physical asset planning and incorporates the relational and value-driven emphases highlighted in the literature to explore innovative data planning models.

Solution

• Proposed Methods or Solutions:

  • Proposes an asset inventory-based "Inventory Approach" and a relationship- and value-based "Workbook Approach," co-designed and evaluated with participants.

• Innovations:

  1. Emphasizes starting from interpersonal relationships and values rather than focusing solely on asset inventories.
  2. Introduces highly interactive collaborative guidance, breaking down complex data planning tasks into multi-step processes.
  3. Designs planning tools with modules for value expression, relationship orientation, and timeline collaboration.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  • Utilizes a community-based participatory design method to co-develop planning tools in two stages.
  • Inventory Stage: Based on traditional legacy planning, users are required to list comprehensive accounts and login data, recording their management wishes one by one.
  • Workbook Stage: Reconstructs the process into a value-driven design, first identifying the intended audience, social goals, and key interpersonal relationships, then gradually expanding to specific operational guidelines for data assets.
  • Evaluates the effectiveness of the two approaches through controlled experiments, including user experience feedback and planning completion rates.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings:

  • In the Inventory Stage trials, participants struggled to complete the tasks and felt significant stress, primarily due to the overwhelming number of accounts (“I don’t know where to begin”) and unknown content.
  • The Workbook Approach proved highly effective, with all participants successfully completing their planning and reporting that this method significantly alleviated stress.

• Advantages Over Existing Solutions:

  • By starting from relationships and values, it reduces the stress users face when confronted with lengthy asset lists.
  • Emphasizes interactive guidance, helping users refine and achieve specific management goals.
  • Particularly efficient in handling diverse data and complex interpersonal relationships compared to the asset inventory model.

• Experiment and Evaluation Results:

  • The workbook model successfully helped participants balance discussions with relatives, address technical feasibility issues, and establish personalized plans.
  • Key effective points:
    1. Iterative small-step approach starting with a few accounts.
    2. Design oriented towards familial continuity (personal legacy, collective memory).
    3. Introduction of guided collaborative roles.
  • Main challenges:
    1. Emotional and interpersonal complexities arising when obtaining data access permissions.
    2. Difficulty in planning for large-scale accounts (e.g., email) that encompass multiple categories.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:
    • Age stratification differences in the user sample (early-stage samples skewed younger, later-stage samples skewed older).
    • Lack of explicit consideration of the impact of race and religion on legacy planning.
  • Future Directions:
    1. Develop more flexible, context-specific planning strategies for different user groups.
    2. Explore cross-platform legacy data management functionalities and technical possibilities.
    3. Conduct a more comprehensive examination of cultural norms and religious beliefs in the planning process.