“it might break but it has to work”: challenging and comparing values in personal physical activity systems

Scott, Darren ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7738-8662, Han, Wei ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1398-2360 and Stawarz, Katarzyna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9021-0615 2026. “it might break but it has to work”: challenging and comparing values in personal physical activity systems. Presented at: BCS-HCI 2026: British Computer Society Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, London, UK, 1-3 November 2026. Proceedings of BCS HCI 2026. BCS Learning and Development Ltd., Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Values play a key role in how we experience technology. Understanding the rationale behind choices between values may help future designers to build systems better aligned with user wants and needs. We present the outcomes of a workshop centred around an adversarial tournament-style ‘values deathmatch’ containing 32 values derived from the literature. These values were discussed in the context of personal exercise systems, with choices based around users’ preferences. Participants debated and chose from randomly paired values, and we analysed their arguments to understand their rationales. We found participants typically prioritised values relating to more effective system outcomes (e.g. Usefulness, Alignment), and gave less weight to values they felt could be as effectively satisfied by themselves, such as Safety or Direction. We highlight how users prioritise values, and we provide rationale-centric framing for discussing values in the context of behaviour change and technologies for supporting physical activity.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item - published (Poster)
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Computer Science & Informatics
Publisher:	BCS Learning and Development Ltd.
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 September 2026
Date of Acceptance:	21 August 2026
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2026 14:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189558

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