A Panopticon on My Wrist: The Biopower of Big Data Visualization for Wearables

Hepworth, K

A Panopticon on My Wrist: The Biopower of Big Data Visualization for Wearables

Hepworth, K

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Publisher:: Informa UK Limited
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Design and Culture, 2019, 11, (3), pp. 323-344
Issue Date:: 2019-09-02

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Hepworth, K
dc.date.accessioned	2022-09-17T00:20:02Z
dc.date.available	2022-09-17T00:20:02Z
dc.date.issued	2019-09-02
dc.identifier.citation	Design and Culture, 2019, 11, (3), pp. 323-344
dc.identifier.issn	1754-7075
dc.identifier.issn	1754-7083
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/161858
dc.description.abstract	Big data visualization–the visual-spatial display of quantitative information culled from huge data sets–is now firmly embedded within the everyday experiences of people across the globe, yet scholarship on it remains surprisingly small. Within this literature, critical theorizations of big data visualizations are rare, as digital positivist perspectives dominate. This paper offers a critical, design-informed perspective on big data visualization in wearable health tracking ecosystems like FitBit. I argue that such visualizations are tools of individualized, neoliberal governance that operate largely through experiences of seduction and addiction to facilitate participation in the corporate capture and monetization of personal information. Exploration of my personal experience of the FitBit ecosystem illuminates this argument and emphasizes the capacity for harm to individuals using these ecosystems, leading to an exploration of the complex professional challenges for user experience designers working on visualizations within the ecosystems of wearables.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Informa UK Limited
dc.relation.ispartof	Design and Culture
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/17547075.2019.1661723
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.title	A Panopticon on My Wrist: The Biopower of Big Data Visualization for Wearables
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	11
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-09-17T00:19:56Z
pubs.issue	3
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	11
utslib.citation.issue	3

Abstract:

Big data visualization–the visual-spatial display of quantitative information culled from huge data sets–is now firmly embedded within the everyday experiences of people across the globe, yet scholarship on it remains surprisingly small. Within this literature, critical theorizations of big data visualizations are rare, as digital positivist perspectives dominate. This paper offers a critical, design-informed perspective on big data visualization in wearable health tracking ecosystems like FitBit. I argue that such visualizations are tools of individualized, neoliberal governance that operate largely through experiences of seduction and addiction to facilitate participation in the corporate capture and monetization of personal information. Exploration of my personal experience of the FitBit ecosystem illuminates this argument and emphasizes the capacity for harm to individuals using these ecosystems, leading to an exploration of the complex professional challenges for user experience designers working on visualizations within the ecosystems of wearables.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/161858