Careful Devices

Abstract

This short paper offers a rationale and manifesto for a design-led research project called careful devices—domestic healthcare technologies that seek to bridge the gap between the lived experience of a person and the abstracted medical knowledge of a health practitioner. The rationale places careful devices at the intersection of contemporary trends in self-tracking and health care technology, and explains how and why this intersection is relevant for future interaction design. This is followed by a manifesto that articulates design goals for producing devices linking these trends, creating a space for interaction design research. We end with a discussion of Ovum, an example of a careful fertility tracking device.