Enhancing Cooperation in Group Fitness Tracking: The Role of Rewards and Punishments

Abstract

The ”Quantified-Self” (QS) movement has transformed personal fitness applications through the use of wearable technology and real-time feedback. However, while fitness apps predominantly focus on individual metrics, they overlook the potential of group dynamics to improve performance. Offline group feedback has proven to be very useful, fostering a sense of community and accountability that can significantly increase motivation and performance in team settings. This highlights a gap in the literature on group fitness feedback in technology, which this thesis addresses. Using wearable devices, custom-designed visualisations and group feedback, this study investigates how different feedback and visualisation strategies affect motivation and performance in rowing teams. Using a between-subjects design, the research compares metaphorical visualisations with simple graphs and explores the effects of public versus private feedback. Participants shared their training data with the developed application, which then provided feedback according to one of four experimental conditions. Qualitative interviews were conducted to gain insight into the effectiveness of these feedback modalities. The results reveal that metaphorical visualisations, when well designed, outperformed simple diagrams by fostering greater engagement. Public feedback was found to be more motivating and to increase accountability and cohesion within the group. These findings offer initial and significant implications for the design of team fitness applications. Advocating the integration of tailored, visually appealing and context-sensitive feedback systems. By bridging the gap between individual metrics and collective performance goals, this research provides actionable insights for improving motivation, performance and efficiency in team-based sports and other group settings.