Digital guidance design for physical activity support explained
Conceptualising an Initial Design Space for Guidance in Digital Physical Activity Support
Human-Computer Interaction
Summary
It can be confusing to understand what "guidance" means in apps and digital tools that help people stay active because the word is often mixed up with similar ideas like feedback or personalization. The authors offer a clear way to think about guidance as step-by-step help that supports people while they exercise. They break down guidance into parts like when and how it's given, what it looks like, and how it changes to fit the person. Their work helps people who make health apps design better support for physical activity.
What this means in practice
- •For mobile app developers: Design clearer, more effective physical activity support features by distinguishing guidance from personalization and feedback.
- •For fitness device manufacturers: Structure user guidance in activity tracking devices with detailed dimensions like timing, modality, and adaptivity to improve engagement.
A position paper. It proposes an approach and reports no results.
Authors
Faith Young, Markus Tatzgern, Alexander Meschtscherjakov, Jan Smeddinck
Abstract
Providing guidance is frequently referenced as a key capability of digital health interventions targeting physical activity, yet the term remains poorly defined and inconsistently applied. Existing work often conflates guidance with related constructs such as personalisation, feedback, or persuasion, limiting both theoretical clarity and design progress. This paper conceptualises an initial design space of guidance in the context of digital physical activity support. We define guidance for physical activity as situated, action-oriented support that scaffolds users' embodied engagement in physical activity. Drawing on literature from behaviour change, human-computer interaction, embodied cognition, and digital health, we outline a design space that characterises guidance along multiple dimensions: scope, purpose, timing, context, modality, embodiment, adaptivity, autonomy, and affective quality. By offering a structured vocabulary and conceptual foundation, this work aims to support more coherent research, comparisons, and responsible design of digital health interventions featuring guidance for physical activity support.