Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Self-managing chronic conditions typically involves a diverse network of individuals and devices, forming a self-management ecosystem. For this ecosystem to be effective, components need to work together cohesively. The rapid advancement of technology means new devices need to be repeatedly integrated into existing self-management ecosystems. To examine this process, we used the case study of young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the UK who were given a smartwatch. Over six months, interviews and focus groups were performed to explore their smartwatch use alongside T1D management. Thematic analysis highlighted that smartwatches have potential as a display, interface and data source in T1D management, which is of particular importance as artificial intelligence plays a growing role in self-management ecosystems. It also emphasised the need for customisation, flexibility and adaptability, and automation in the design of technology to promote integration into existing self-management ecosystems for both T1D and other chronic conditions
ACM CHI 2025 video for paper Sam Gordon James, Miranda Elaine Glynis Armstrong, Zahraa S. Abdallah, Harry Emerson, and Aisling Ann O’Kane. 2025. Integrating Technology into Self-Management Ecosystems: Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes in the UK using Smartwatches. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’25), April 26-May 01, 2025, Yokohama, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 20 pages. doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713247
Self-managing chronic conditions typically involves a diverse network of individuals and devices, forming a self-management ecosystem. For this ecosystem to be effective, components need to work together cohesively. The rapid advancement of technology means new devices need to be repeatedly integrated into existing self-management ecosystems. To examine this process, we used the case study of young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the UK who were given a smartwatch. Over six months, interviews and focus groups were performed to explore their smartwatch use alongside T1D management. Thematic analysis highlighted that smartwatches have potential as a display, interface and data source in T1D management, which is of particular importance as artificial intelligence plays a growing role in self-management ecosystems. It also emphasised the need for customisation, flexibility and adaptability, and automation in the design of technology to promote integration into existing self-management ecosystems for both T1D and other chronic conditions
ACM CHI 2025 video for paper Sam Gordon James, Miranda Elaine Glynis Armstrong, Zahraa S. Abdallah, Harry Emerson, and Aisling Ann O’Kane. 2025. Integrating Technology into Self-Management Ecosystems: Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes in the UK using Smartwatches. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’25), April 26-May 01, 2025, Yokohama, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 20 pages. doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713247
