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Foley Scholars selection - Congratulations Maia and Jessica! | December 9, 2015

Congratulations to both Maia and Jessica for being finalist for the 2015-16 Foley Scholars Program . The Foley Scholars for 2015-16 included Jessica, Barbra Ericsson, and Tanushree Mitra. This was the first time that since the inception of the award program that all finalist were women. Congrats again Maia and Jessica!

ECL at UbiComp 2015 | November 16, 2015

The ECL was busy at UbiComp 2015! Maia presented at the DC, James presented the paper "No Longer Wearing: Investigating the Abandonment of Personal Health-Tracking Technologies on Craigslist". This paper was co-authored by Jessica Pater (Ga Tech), Dr. Andrew Miller (Univ. of Washington), Dr. Beth Mynatt (Ga Tech), and Dr. Lena Mamykina (Columbia).
Abstract: Personal health-tracking technologies have become a part of mainstream culture. Their growing popularity and widespread adoption present an opportunity for the design of new interventions to improve wellness and health. However, there is an increasing concern that these technologies are failing to inspire long-term adoption. In order to understand why users abandon personal health-tracking technologies, we analyzed advertisements of secondary sales of such technologies on Craigslist. We conducted iterative inductive and deductive analyses of approximately 1600 advertisements of personal health-tracking technologies posted over the course of one month across the US. We identify health motivations and rationales for abandonment and present a set of design implications. We call for improved theories that help translate between existing theories designed to explain psychological effects of health behavior change and the technologies that help people make those changes.

ECL at CSCW 2015 | March 14, 2015

The ECL is participating in 2 workshops and presenting one paper at CSCW 2015 in Vancouver this week! Jessica Pater is participating in the workshop on Ethics in CSCW. Dr. James Clawson, Maia Jacobs, and Andrew Miller (ECL alumni now at Univ. of Washington) are participating in the workshop on Moving Beyond e-Health and the Quantified Self
Maia Jacobs will be presenting the paper, "Comparing Health Information Sharing Preferences of Cancer Patients, Doctors, and Navigators". Dr. James Clawson and Dr. Beth Mynatt are also authors on the paper.
Abstract: As technologies such as personal health records and symptom trackers become more common, we are beginning to see an increase in patients actively engaging in health tracking behaviors. Patient collected data can provide valuable insight for healthcare providers, particularly in the area of breast cancer. Thus far, little work has examined whether the health information that patients are willing to track and share aligns with the health information needs of healthcare providers. Our work provides a comparison between the health information sharing preferences between breast cancer patients, doctors and navigators. We identify discrepancies between stakeholders' preferences, signifying where technology can play an important role in helping patients prioritize the health information that is shared with providers. We also present design implications from this work to guide the development of future health information sharing tools that consider the differing needs of those within a healthcare network.

New grant to continue research on MyJourneyCompass | February 15, 2015

Designing a personal, adaptive tool is the goal of the latest phase of MyJourney Compass project by the Everyday Computing Lab. The program recently received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to design the next generation of the tablets. Over the next four years, Georgia Tech researchers will continue prototyping and testing tablets that can anticipate a patient's needs and prepare them for things like surgery and chemotherapy.
“The question for us is, how would you design a computer that would adapt or change as the person progresses through different phases of their journey?” says Beth Mynatt, principal investigator for the project.
The Everyday Computing Lab will partner with healthcare providers in North Georgia to implement and evaluate such an adaptible technology for breast cancer patients.
Healthcare providers are excited about the program. “They have a better sense of what their patients are struggling with,” says Mynatt. “If we can give a more realistic portrayal of what the patients are going through, then they can tailor the care or pay attention to those barriers or problems.”

Beth Mynatt at the White House | January 31, 2015

Beth Mynatt participated in the launch of President Barack Obama's Precision Medicine initiative at the White House.
The goal of precision medicine —also known as personalized medicine —is to identify and treat the exact form of disease in patients based on their genome. This approach also allows doctors to tailor drugs to each individual and avoid ineffective or harmful drugs.
At the launch event on January 30, the President hosted academics, scientists and government officials to announce details of the new initiative.
Read more about the President's Precision Medicine initiative here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/obama-to-unveil-research-initiative...

Convergence Innovation Competition win for Jessica and Maia! | November 6, 2014

On Wednesday November 5, 2014 lab members Jessica Pater and Maia Jacobs, along with four other students (Casey Fiesler, Miranda Parker, Catherine Grevet, and Kayla Desportes), took 1st place at the GT Convergence Innovation Competition in the Social Impact category. Their application, the Sexual Assault Transparence @ Georgia Tech (SAT@GT) app focused on creating a space for GT students and faculty to anonymously discuss instances of sexual assault on campus. The CDC estimates that 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted while at college. For Georgia Tech, this equates to roughly 342 students for 2013, yet only 18 instances were officially reported. Why is there such a discrepancy? Why aren't GT women reporting sexual assault? SAT@GT, while not an official reporting tool, was developed in an effort to "close this gap" through allowing anonymous accounts sexual assault for both the student body. Developed in collaboration with the GT Women's Resource Center, the app will also collect high-level data for the Center to better direct campus resources. With the 1st place win, the team will now work with GT RNOC to further develop the SAT@GT app and get it ready for public release in Spring of 2015!
Check out the video for the submission!

Mobility Star Award for Beth Mynatt | September 25, 2014

Beth Mynatt received one of five Mobility Star Awards at Mobility Live 2014. The awards recognize mobile technology leaders who have made a substantial impact in the past year creating and advancing adoption or innovative use of mobile technology, and that have helped grow Atlanta's mobile presence. The list of winners included:
· Jonathan LeCompte, President, Georgia/Alabama Region, Verizon Wireless
· Glenn Lurie, President & CEO, AT&T Mobility
· Tom Daly, Group Director, Global Connections, The Coca-Cola Company
· Dr. Elizabeth Mynatt, Executive Director, Institute for People and Technology, Georgia Tech
· Aaron Hillegass, Founder and Chief Learning Officer, Big Nerd Ranch
To learn more, click http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mobile-technology-leaders-convene-for-m...

Beth Mynatt chaired Aging in Place Workshop at NIH campus | September 12, 2014

Beth Mynatt chaired a Trans-NIH Interagency workshop on the future research agenda for Aging in Place technologies. More than 80 researchers and government officials attended the workshop held on the NIH campus. Other Georgia Tech attendees included Wendy Rogers, Jon Sanford, and Brian Jones.
For more details, click on http://www.cra.org/ccc/visioning/visioning-activities/aging-in-place/411...

ECL at Pervasive Health '14 | May 16, 2014

Matt Bonner will present a paper on his work on health information seeking this May in Oldenburg, Germany. Congrats, Matt!

ECL at CHI '14 | April 25, 2014

The ECL is presenting three papers at CHI '14 in Toronto, Canada. Maia Jacobs will present a paper on the initial deployment of My Journey Compass, Andrew Miller will present a paper about StepStream, and Jessica Pater will present a paper about her study of online community Something Awful. Come find us!

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