In Search of Forms for Evocative and Generative Reflection: Exploratory Studies and a Design Proposal

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Today an increasing number of personal informatics tools and platforms support intended behavior change and goal achievement through data-based self-reflection. The scope of self-reflection expands with emerging sources, goals, and challenges of human well-being, demanding for reframing recent computer-mediated reflective practice. This study investigates a broader range of contexts and forms of self-reflection that support navigating one's mind and goals beyond achieving preset goals. This paper describes contemporary issues on human well-being and two exploratory studies—one conducted in a traveling artists' residency and the other in a design studio class—which surveyed various triggers, contexts, and forms of self-reflection. By connecting the insights from the two studies, I propose evocative and generative reflection as an alternative perspective to tracking-based, goal-oriented reflection and discuss implications for the design for reflection with a focus on the creative dimension of human well-being.