Evaluating at the beginning and the end: how we evaluate activities from the perspectives of the experiencing and remembering self

Abstract

This thesis explores how the quantified self influenced the experiencing self and remembering self for the activities eating, cooking, reading, sleep- ing, sports, and social activity. First it illustrates how the experience of reading can feel more stressful when trying to read as fast as you can and speculates how this could affect well-being. In the literature study, various ways of measuring and improving well-being are discussed. It is then dis- cussed what bounded rationality and quantified self are and how these three theories are intertwined. The question this thesis tries to answer is how the experiencing self and remembering self differ when gathering data for the quantified self and how these differences could influence the experience of an activity. To answer this question, in this research a scenario-based sur- vey was conducted where a group of 51 participants was divided into two groups which answered from one of two perspectives, either the experiencing self or the remembering self perspective. For each of the six activities the participants were asked to think of 3 to 5 considerations that they would have for the individual activities. Additional literature was searched and overviews of available applications and their features for the activities were made, to give context to the results. The results showed how the considera- tions aligned with available applications and literature while in other ways they did not. Participants mentioned for various activities how they had social and enjoyment considerations which applications could not support. For some activities it was also posed that quantification could work counter actively by not aligning with the intended purpose of the activity. Overall the research showed how it is important for quantifications are important to be aligned with their intended purpose and showed how there can be un- intended consequences while measuring for certain activities.