Crafting a View of Self-Tracking Data in the Clinical Visit

When self-tracking encounters clinical practices, the data is reshaped by goals and expertise that exist within a healthcare framework. To uncover these shaping practices, we provided a Fitbit Zip step-count sensor to nine patients with Parkinson's disease. Each patient wore the sensor for four weeks and then returned for a clinical visit with their neurologist. Our analysis focuses on this first clinical visit after four weeks of data had been collected. Our use of conversation analysis of both talk and action makes visible the practices engaged in by both collaborative members to 'craft a view' of the data toward shared decision making. Our findings reveal the deliberate guiding of attention to specific views and interpretations of the data through both talk and actions and we explain how our systematic analysis has uncovered tools for the mutually beneficial crafting practices of the clinician and patient.