Ivy: A Qualitative Interface to Reduce Sedentary Behavior in the Office Context

This paper describes Ivy, an office chair that represents sitting time of an office worker through growing ivy strands. The longer one sits, the more strands will grow onto the chair. By means of a qualitative interface called Ivy, we illustrate a design approach that is currently underrepresented in sedentary behavior interventions. With this approach, we counter the current trend of digitalization and quantification of health interventions. Instead of graphs and numbers, Ivy uses data physicalization as a qualitative interface that represents sitting. We describe the design, the process, and future research steps of Ivy as a critical perspective on sedentary behavior interventions. We aim to spark discussion amongst designers and researchers in the field of Human-Computer Interaction to use qualitative interfaces as a promising approach to deepen the user’s relationship with the targeted behavior and enrich the ability to construct meaning from the feedback.