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At the core of ‘Healthcare Information Systems’ is an idea of designing systems that are functional, practical and contained integrated solutions. As humans have always spent the majority of their hours in seated positions in work environments and workplaces, it is important to investigate these environments before applying a design for promoting daily movement and physical activity. In this paper we focus on the history of workplace design. We argue that the strategies for reaching this sedentary living style have been carried out by different means during the past 70 years of technological development. Further on, we illustrate this current paradigm through the presentation of an empirical study that shows how people compensate for a passive mode of working. In this paper, we contribute to the current development in our field by offering this alternative design paradigm and we suggest concept-driven design research as a possible way forward if we are to design information systems for active worklife.

The history of work is very much related to the history of bodies at work. Bodies  have always been a focal point in work design as sources of effort, knowledge  and skill for increasing productivity but seldom have they been the centre of  attention for their own good. Recently a handful of alarming studies indicate  problems associated with sedentary behaviour in offices. In order to interrupt  prolonged sitting and increase physical activity in workplaces many interventions  have been suggested. This paper is an attempt to breakdown the duality of bodies  in workspaces. Beginning by examining the history of bodies at work, we go on  to describe the role of bodies in today’s offices based on a three-month  ethnographic study. Finally, we discuss how current Interaction Design can aid us  in optimizing the role of bodies in carrying out future work.

The design and usage of Personal Informatics (PI) systems have been subjects of rapidly growing interest in recent years. PI systems are typically designed to monitor individuals' physical activity and encourage them to be more active, thereby 'hacking' the habit of prolonged sitting. Most PI systems focus solely on collecting quantitative data to encourage self-reflection and are therefore sometimes discussed in terms of the Quantified Self movement. However, this perspective is wholly focused on individual bodily movements and neglects the role of architectural spaces. This paper discusses an ongoing project focused on PI systems design at the intersection of bodily movements and the office as an architectural space. Taking this as a point of departure, we introduce a simple prototype interactive lamp known as the NEAT lamp, which was designed, implemented and evaluated in relation to everyday office work. The rationale underpinning the prototype's design is presented, followed by the results of a real-world evaluation of its effects in practice. We also discuss the role of the NEAT lamp as an ambient light that promotes awareness of sedentary behavior in the office as an open architectural space. Finally, we highlight the role of ambient displays as a medium for creating a sense of unity between the self and the architectural space, and propose that this observation suggests that we should move the discussion away from "quantified selves" towards qualitative spaces.

Office workers tend not to move about during work hours. A series of medical observational studies

have shown that extended sitting is associated with several negative health outcomes including

obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), breast and colon cancer and premature

mortality. Therefore, developing ways to encourage physical activity and breaking the habit of

prolonged sitting in offices is urgently needed. Few studies, however, have investigated the nature

of local movement and mobility in workspaces in depth and taking a cross disciplinary approach.

This paper reports on an ongoing cross-disciplinary research project targeted at increasing physical

activity of office workers while reducing prolonged sitting. Our collaboration between the

departments of Informatics, Public Health and Clinical Medicine and the Design School at Umeå

University resulted in two ethnographic studies. This led to the development and implementation of

two prototypes referred to as the “NEAT Lamp” and the “Talking Tree”. The “NEAT Lamp” is a

simple sensor-based lamp that was evaluated in situ in our second ethnographic study. The results

of this study deepened our understanding of local movement and mobility in offices and resulted in

the design of a second prototype, the “Talking Tree”. Using the knowledge gained through our

ethnographic studies and the experience of using the prototypes, we were able to develop a

conceptual framework for describing the patterns of local movement and mobility of office workers.

This paper describes the process leading to the development of this framework. Moreover, it

highlights how this process benefited from the cross-disciplinary nature of the project.