Exploring Design Opportunities for Improved Self-motivation in Self-tracking and Health Goal Achievement

Self-tracking has grown in popularity over recent years, leading to a rise in users who monitor data for improving their health. However, decreasing self-motivation due to different user circumstances such as priorities, lifestyles, and habits affects how users conduct self-tracking in apps and hamper their progress towards achieving health goals. We investigated factors that contribute to increasing and maintaining self-motivation while self-tracking for health goals, as well as the potential applications of these factors in health apps. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 participants to gain insights into their self-tracking habits and health app usage. Our thematic analysis suggests that users value convenient self-tracking methods and seeing notable progress changes toward a health goal. These findings reveal design opportunities for streamlining app features, reframing progress indicators in data visualizations, and accommodating user priorities.