1. Reaktor
Mannerheimintie 2
00100, Helsinki Finland
tel: +358 9 4152 0200
www.reaktor.com
info@reaktor.com
Learnings from a company-
wide Fitbit experiment
Juuso Parkkinen (@ouzor)
Data Scientist and AI Designer at Reaktor (@ReaktorNow)
Quantified Employee 2017
2. 2
Company-wide Fitbit experiment
Fitbit Charge HR wristbands given to all willing Reaktorians in October 2015.
Goals:
•Increase employee well-being
•Learn about the devices and data
•Learn about occupational healthcare sector in general
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017
3. 3
Mostly positive feelings
Two out of three employees felt that the tracker
had a positive effect on their daily activity:
•Walking more, and using stairs instead of elevators
•More exercise
More than half felt that the tracker had a positive
effect on their sleeping habits:
•Going to bed early, avoiding coffee
•Reading a book before going to sleep
•Reducing alcohol consumption
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017
4. 4
Issues with hardware
Reasons to abandon the device:
•Too bulky
•Skin irritation
•Poor battery
Notable amount of the devices also broke down!
Fitbit Charge HR among the highest return rates in verkkokauppa.com (source: http://
www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/verkkokauppa-com-ala-nyt-ainakaan-naita-osta-6602282)
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017
5. 5
… and software
Syncing was a real problem in the beginning, as it
took very long and got interrupted often.
Also the user interface was not that good, but both
UI and syncing improved over time.
Step and floor counts were deemed unreliable by
many. Biking totally messes up both!
Heart rate values reasonably accurate during rest, but
not so during exercise with elevated heart rate.
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017
6. 6
Conclusions (mixed feelings)
Many short-term benefits on health and well-being
- but will they last on the long term?
Several issues cause people to abandon the device
•syncing, breaking down
•inaccurate measurements, bad UI
Use cases not clear!
Read more: https://www.reaktor.com/blog/what-did-we-learn-from-using-fitbits-for-a-year/
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017
7. 7
Peculiar data
Sudden drop of resting heart rate in March 2016.
This is the value that most users follow on a daily basis!
Reliable resting heart rate measurement and reporting might
be very valuable.
Unfortunately, Fitbit’s RHR algorithm is a complete black box.
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017
9. 9
Who cares?
Changes in the algorithm may mislead users in the
exercise habits.
Other problems
•Long-term statistical analysis
•Using the data for other purposes, such as insurance
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017
10. 10
I want to know how my data is being processed!
MyData 2017 Call for Proposals open:
http://mydata2017.org/programme/call-for-proposals/
Track: Ethical Processing of MyData - Practical tools and solutions for transparency,
accountability and fairness in processing of MyData
REAKTOR
MARCH 2017