Daniel has successfully defended his senior thesis, "The Dilemma of Disclosure: Designing Interpersonal Informatics Tools for Mood Tracking."

Daniel successfully defends his undergraduate thesis

DanielWestphal

This research works to develop "interpersonal informatics" tools where data collection and sensemaking practices may be influenced by social factors, carried out collaboratively, or go beyond the conventional assumptions of individual-oriented self-tracking tools. Further recognizing that graphical metaphors can be more intuitive, relatable, and meaningful to users as well as provide privacy-sensitive abstractions of data, we are also designing novel visualizations for personal and public informatics displays to explore questions around flexible interpretation, social connectedness, and data ephemerality.

Sprout

Mental health is a serious issue that affects people of all ages, but is especially prevalent amongst college age youth. In the 2020-2021 school year, researchers found that around 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health condition, such as major depression or generalized anxiety disorder. Many digital interventions have been innovated in order to help address this issue. These range in type and functionality from teletherapy to medication tracking applications. Some of these digital interventions include social features that allow users to interact with other users, friends, family, or doctors; however, having social features in a mental health application inherently requires
some form of disclosure of having a condition, creating, what we call, _the dilemma of disclosure_. This project uses a mood tracking mobile app that supports privacy and incentivizes use by rewarding tracking behaviors with growth of a garden visualization. By keeping users in touch with their current emotional state, the approach aims to increase emotional intelligence and broader mental health.

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Daniel Westphal

News

Daniel successfully defends his undergraduate thesis

May 22, 2023

Publications

The Dilemma of Disclosure: Designing Interpersonal Informatics Tools for Mood Tracking

Projects

Sprout

Dilemma of disclosure (Sprout extension)