TY - GEN
T1 - A Phenomenological Study of Situated Sensemaking
T2 - 15th International Conference on Design, User Experience, and Usability, DUXU 2026, held as part of the 28th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2026
AU - Dong, Yihan
AU - Han, Dongjun
AU - Ren, Xipei
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - Wearable technologies are central to endurance running, yet their impact on runners’ embodied experiences remains under-researched. This phenomenological study examines how runners make sense of and negotiate self-tracking data through embodied experience during running. Using a hybrid approach of Micro-Phenomenology Interviews (MPI) and Body Mapping with nine amateur runners, we identify two primary experiential states: resonance, where digital metrics align with felt states and recede into the background, and rupture, where data conflicts with embodied experience, shattering technological transparency. To manage these tensions, runners employ situated negotiation strategies: redirecting attention, reframing metrics via environmental cues, or adjusting movement to comply with or resist digital targets. Our findings reveal that self-tracking data are not neutral reflections but active mediators that shape how bodily states are perceived. By foregrounding runners’ situated sensemaking practices, this study contributes to SportsHCI by showing how technological transparency is fragile in practice, and by outlining design implications that support embodied awareness through more dialogic, context-sensitive interaction.
AB - Wearable technologies are central to endurance running, yet their impact on runners’ embodied experiences remains under-researched. This phenomenological study examines how runners make sense of and negotiate self-tracking data through embodied experience during running. Using a hybrid approach of Micro-Phenomenology Interviews (MPI) and Body Mapping with nine amateur runners, we identify two primary experiential states: resonance, where digital metrics align with felt states and recede into the background, and rupture, where data conflicts with embodied experience, shattering technological transparency. To manage these tensions, runners employ situated negotiation strategies: redirecting attention, reframing metrics via environmental cues, or adjusting movement to comply with or resist digital targets. Our findings reveal that self-tracking data are not neutral reflections but active mediators that shape how bodily states are perceived. By foregrounding runners’ situated sensemaking practices, this study contributes to SportsHCI by showing how technological transparency is fragile in practice, and by outlining design implications that support embodied awareness through more dialogic, context-sensitive interaction.
KW - Data Sensemaking
KW - Embodied Experience
KW - Endurance Running
KW - Wearable Technologies
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105045541600
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-032-30083-6_4
DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-30083-6_4
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105045541600
SN - 9783032300829
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science
SP - 55
EP - 70
BT - Design, User Experience, and Usability - 15th International Conference, DUXU 2026, Held as Part of the 28th HCI International Conference, HCII 2026, Proceedings
A2 - Schrepp, Martin
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 26 July 2026 through 31 July 2026
ER -