Take it personally: accounting for individual difference in designing diabetes management systems
Abstract
The goal of this study was to investigate how diabetes patients use health information to support their daily disease management. A qualitative interview study was conducted with type-2 diabetes patients and healthcare providers. The analysis suggests that individual diabetes patients have a unique way of managing their care through the interpretation of personal health experiences. The ways in which patients learn to interact with their diabetes are detailed in this paper in four themes: understanding typical life routine, accommodating atypical activities, disproving & discovering healthy tips and reevaluating personal expectations. The findings of this study call for a diabetes management system that addresses a patient's physiological, social and psychological activities within the process of individual disease management. The finding opens up new opportunities for designing interactive systems to account for individual differences, encouraging positive patient involvement and sustaining long-term health outcomes.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Previous studies claim that a supporting tool for people with diabetes should facilitate the learning process based on personal experiences on top of necessary knowledge provided by diabetes education.
“It is also claimed in previous studies that a supporting tool for people with diabetes should facilitate this learning process [48,58].”
From Long-Term Engagement With a Mobile Self-Management System for People With Type 2 Diabetes (2013) · cites this paper as [58]
Cites
Wagner, H. R., Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1968) · Social Forces · doi:10.2307/2575405 · Cited by 46,470 · see citing works
The Discovery of Grounded Theory; Strategies for Qualitative Research
Glaser, B. G., Strauss, A. L., & Strutzel, E. (1968) · Nursing Research · doi:10.1097/00006199-196807000-00014 · Cited by 39,449 · see citing works
Consolvo, S., McDonald, D. W., Toscos, T., Chen, M. Y., Froehlich, J. E., Harrison, B. L., Klasnja, P., LaMarca, A., LeGrand, L., Libby, R., et al. (2008) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/1357054.1357335 · Cited by 1,133 · see citing works
Individual differences in response to regular physical activity
BOUCHARD, C., & RANKINEN, T. (2001) · Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise · doi:10.1097/00005768-200106001-00013 · Cited by 939 · see citing works
Fish’n’Steps: Encouraging Physical Activity with an Interactive Computer Game
Lin, J. J.-W., Mamykina, L., Lindtner, S., Delajoux, G., & Strub, H. B. (2006) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/11853565_16 · Cited by 853 · see citing works
MAHI: investigation of social scaffolding for reflective thinking in diabetes management
Mamykina, L., Mynatt, E., Davidson, P., & Greenblatt, D. (2008) · Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/1357054.1357131 · Cited by 355 · see citing works
Tsai, C. C., Lee, G., Raab, F., Norman, G. J., Sohn, T. Y., Griswold, W. G., & Patrick, K. (2007) · Mobile Networks and Applications · doi:10.1007/s11036-007-0014-4 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Web-Based Collaborative Care for Type 2 Diabetes
Ralston, J. D., Hirsch, I. B., Hoath, J. I., Mullen, M. C., Cheadle, A. D., & Goldberg, H. I. (2008) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc08-1220 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Make Your Diabetic Patients Walk
Loreto, C. D., Fanelli, C. G., Lucidi, P., Murdolo, G., Cicco, A. D., Parlanti, N., Ranchelli, A., Fatone, C., Taglioni, C., Santeusanio, F., et al. (2005) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.28.6.1295 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Affleck, G. G., Tennen, H. A., URROWS, S. T., & Higgins, P. S. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.66.2.329 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Personal Models of Diabetes Among Older Adults: Relationship to Self-Management and Other Variables
Hampson, S. E., Glasgow, R. E., & Foster, L. S. (1995) · The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care · doi:10.1177/014572179502100407 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Investigating health management practices of individuals with diabetes
Mamykina, L., Mynatt, E. D., & Kaufman, D. R. (2006) · Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/1124772.1124910 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Shea, S., Starren, J. B., Weinstock, R. S., Knudson, P. E., Teresi, J. A., Holmes, D., Palmas, W., Field, L., Goland, R., Tuck, C. H., et al. (2002) · Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association · doi:10.1136/jamia.2002.0090049 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Moen, A., & Brennan, P. F. (2005) · Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association · doi:10.1197/jamia.m1758 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Affleck, G. G., Tennen, H. A., URROWS, S. T., et al. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.66.2.329 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Ethnic and Racial Differences in Diabetes Care
Bonds, D. E., Zaccaro, D. J., Karter, A. J., Selby, J. V., Saad, M., & Goff, D. C. (2003) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.26.4.1040 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Mobile phones assisting with health self-care
Preuveneers, D., & Berbers, Y. (2008) · International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI) · doi:10.1145/1409240.1409260 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Amiel, S. A., Simonson, D. C., Tamborlane, W. V., DeFronzo, R. A., & Sherwin, R. S. (1987) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/diab.36.4.518 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Affleck, G. G., Tennen, H. A., URROWS, S. T., & Higgins, P. S. (1991) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.10.6.419 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Smith, B. K., Frost, J. H., Albayrak, M., & Sudhakar, R. (2006) · Personal and Ubiquitous Computing · doi:10.1007/s00779-006-0087-2 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Personal understandings of illness among people with type 2 diabetes
Hörnsten, Å., Sandström, H., & Lundman, B. M. (2004) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03076.x · Cited by 94 · see citing works
A Multiagent System Enhancing Home-Care Health Services for Chronic Disease Management
Koutkias, V. G., Chouvarda, I., & Maglaveras, N. (2005) · IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine · doi:10.1109/titb.2005.847511 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Affleck, G. G., Tennen, H. A., URROWS, S. T., et al. (1991) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.10.6.419 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Frost, J. H., & Smith, B. K. (2003) · Conference on Designing for User Experience · doi:10.1145/997078.997094 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Reduced Diabetic, Hypertensive, and Cholesterol Medication Use with Walking
Williams, P. T. (2008) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · doi:10.1249/mss.0b013e31815f38f1 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Impact of MyCareTeam ™ for Poorly Controlled Diabetes Mellitus
Smith, K. E., Levine, B. A., Clement, S. C., Hu, M.-J., Alaoui, A., & Mun, S. K. (2004) · Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics · doi:10.1089/dia.2004.6.828 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Usability of a Mobile Self-Help Tool for People with Diabetes: the Easy Health Diary
Årsand, E., Varmedal, R., & Hartvigsen, G. (2007) · 2022 IEEE 18th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE) · doi:10.1109/coase.2007.4341807 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
PDA based Point-of-care Personal Diabetes Management System
Park, K.-S., Kim, N., Hong, J., Park, M., Cha, E., & Lee, T.-S. (2005) · Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) · doi:10.1109/iembs.2005.1617299 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Comparing Ontologies Using Entropy
Cho, M., Choi, C., Kim, W.-P., Park, J.-A., Canedo, P. K. A., Abderazek, B., & Sowa, M. (2007) · International Conference on Computer Sciences and Convergence Information Technology · doi:10.1109/iccit.2007.390 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
A system for monitoring physical activity data among people with type 2 diabetes.
Årsand, E., Olsen, O. A., Varmedal, R., Mortensen, W., & Hartvigsen, G. (2008) · PubMed · Cited by 11 · see citing works
An integrated system for assisting the diagnosis and management of diabetes
Chang, C.-Y., Tang, S., Lin, H.-Y., Chan, Y.-H., Chu, L.-C., Lee, T.-C., & Young, S.-T. (2004) · Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) · doi:10.1109/iembs.2003.1279547 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Chomutare, T., Fernandez-Luque, L., Årsand, E., & Hartvigsen, G. (2011) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.1874 · Cited by 451 · see citing works
Flexible and Mindful Self-Tracking
Ayobi, A., Sonne, T., Marshall, P., & Cox, A. L. (2018) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3173574.3173602 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Quantifying the Body and Caring for the Mind
Ayobi, A., Marshall, P., Cox, A. L., & Chen, Y. (2017) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3025453.3025869 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Self-citationBeyond self-monitoring: understanding non-functional aspects of home-based healthcare technology
Grönvall, E., & Verdezoto, N. (2013) · Proceedings of the 2013 ACM international joint conference on Pervasive and ubiquitous computing · doi:10.1145/2493432.2493495 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Tadas, S., & Coyle, D. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/18025 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Long-Term Engagement With a Mobile Self-Management System for People With Type 2 Diabetes
Tatara, N., Årsand, E., Skrøvseth, S. O., & Hartvigsen, G. (2013) · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.2432 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
O’Kane, A. A., Park, S. Y., Mentis, H. M., BLANDFORD, A. E., & Chen, Y. (2016) · Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1007/s10606-016-9260-y · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Self-citation"My blood sugar is higher on the weekends"
Raj, S., Toporski, K., Garrity, A. N., Lee, J. M., & Newman, M. (2019) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300349 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Facilitating Self-reflection about Values and Self-care Among Individuals with Chronic Conditions
Lim, C. Y., Berry, A. B. L., Hartzler, A. L., Hirsch, T., Carrell, D., Bermet, Z. A., & Ralston, J. D. (2019) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300885 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Ayobi, A., Stawarz, K., Katz, D., Marshall, P., Yamagata, T., Santos‐Rodríguez, R., Flach, P. A., & O’Kane, A. A. (2021) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3479601 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Integrative Gaming: A Framework for Sustainable Game-Based Diabetes Management
Kahol, K. (2011) · Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology · doi:10.1177/193229681100500214 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Individual and Social Recognition
Park, S. Y., & Chen, Y. (2015) · ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1145/2675133.2675248 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Self-citationCan Fitness Trackers Help Diabetic and Obese Users Make and Sustain Lifestyle Changes?
Randriambelonoro, M., Chen, Y., & Pu, P. (2017) · Computer · doi:10.1109/mc.2017.92 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Self-citationJames, S. G., Armstrong, M. E. G., Abdallah, Z. S., & O’Kane, A. A. (2023) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3544548.3580901 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Ayobi, A., Hughes, J., Duckworth, C. J., Dylag, J. J., Gordon James, S., Marshall, P., Guy, M., Kumaran, A., Chapman, A., Boniface, M., et al. (2023) · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3544548.3581424 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Managing healthcare conflicts when living with multiple chronic conditions
Caldeira, C. M., Gui, X., Reynolds, T. L., Bietz, M. J., & Chen, Y. (2020) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2020.102494 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Self-citationZhou, X., Sun, S., & Yang, J. (2014) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2556288.2557344 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Accounting for Medication Particularities: Designing for Everyday Medication Management
Dalgaard, L. G., Grönvall, E., & Verdezoto, N. X. (2013) · Proceedings of the ICTs for improving Patients Rehabilitation Research Techniques · doi:10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2013.252058 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Flexible Minimalist Self-Tracking to Support Individual Reflection
Barker, M., Gooch, D., van der Linden, J., & Petre, M. (2024) · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction · doi:10.1145/3660339 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Hentschel, J., Sherugar, S. M., Zhou, R., Kameswaran, V., Chandwani, R. K., & Kumar, N. (2017) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3025453.3025656 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Exploring physical activity monitoring devices for diabetic and obese patients
Randriambelonoro, M., Chen, Y., Geissbühler, A., & Pu, P. (2015) · ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) · doi:10.1145/2800835.2800951 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationGalliford, N., Yin, K., BLANDFORD, A. E., Jung, J., & Lau, A. Y. S. (2022) · Frontiers in Digital Health · doi:10.3389/fdgth.2022.838651 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Barth, C.-M., Bernard, J., & Huang, E. M. (2024) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3613904.3642234 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Designing a Social Mobile Platform for Diabetes Self-management: A Theory-Driven Perspective
Nguyen, H. D., Jiang, X., & Poo, D. C. C. (2015) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20367-6_8 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
'The Issue with that sort of Data?'
Tendedez, H., Ferrario, M. A., & McNaney, R. (2019) · ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1145/3311957.3359464 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The Situated, Relational, and Evolving Nature of Epilepsy Diagnosis
Marathe, M., & Toyama, K. (2021) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3432916 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
GlucoMaker: Enabling Collaborative Customization of Glucose Monitors
Lakhdhir, S., Nayar, C., Anderson, F., Fournier, H., Holsti, L., Kondratova, I., Périn, C., & Somanath, S. (2024) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3613904.3642435 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Li, Y., Tan, J., Shi, B., Duan, X., Zhong, D., Xiao-ling, L., & Qu, J. (2016) · JMIR Diabetes · doi:10.2196/diabetes.4475 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Xu, T., Jost, E., Messer, L. H., Cook, P. F., Forlenza, G. P., Sankaranarayanan, S., Fiesler, C. L., & Voida, S. (2024) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3613904.3642612 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Point-of-care testing for diabetes patients
Visser, L., Shahid, S., & Mahmud, A. A. (2014) · CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA) · doi:10.1145/2559206.2581193 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Arueyingho, O., O’Kane, A. A., Marshall, P., & Aprioku, J. S. (2025) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3710951 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Wyche, S. P., Olson, D. J., Karanu, M., Omondi, E., & Olonyo, M. E. (2024) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3687045 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Seizure aesthetics: Temporal regimes and medical technology in epilepsy diagnosis
Marathe, M. (2020) · Time & Society · doi:10.1177/0961463x20908079 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Discovering Personal Behavioral Rules in a Health Management System
Kobsa, A., Chen, Y., & Wang, T. (2012) · International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare · doi:10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2012.248695 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationLiving Well with Diabetes: Rethinking Digital Diabetes Management Systems
Gerstenberg, R., Neuhaus, R., Vitt, M., & Hassenzahl, M. (2025) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3715336.3735726 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Connections Among Daily Occupational Participation, Diabetes Self-Management, and Quality of Life
Segev‐Jacubovski, O., Mirza, M. P., & Rozen, D. (2025) · American Journal of Occupational Therapy · doi:10.5014/ajot.2025.050947 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Evolving requirements in patient-centered software
Winbladh, K., Ziv, H., & Richardson, D. J. (2011) · doi:10.1145/1987993.1987995 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Soubutts, E., Ayobi, A., Eardley, R., Cater, K. F., & O’Kane, A. A. (2021) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3476061 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Peer Influence on the Engagement of Fitness Tracker Usage: A Diabetic and Obesity Study
Chen, Y., Chen, Y., Randriambelonoro, M., Geissbühler, A., & Pu, P. (2016) · IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics (ICHI) · doi:10.1109/ichi.2016.28 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationStudying the Acceptance of a Digital Diabetes Diaries
Valdez, A. S. C., & Ziefle, M. (2019) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-15736-4_8
The outcomes and influencing factors of telecare managing patients with type 2 diabetes
Cheng, Y.-R. (2015) · Chinese Nursing Research · doi:10.1016/j.cnre.2015.09.002 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Systems-Based Patient Work Analyses of Older Adults with Heart Failure
Mickelson, R. S. (2017)
Barth, C.-M., Fedosov, A., Wacharamanotham, C., Bernard, J., & Huang, E. M. (2026) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3800645.3813059
- Authors
- Chen, Y.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Yunan
- ORCID
- Chen, Yunan
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2010-08-16
- Pages
- 252-261
- OpenAlex
- W2038284941
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 20.97
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Designing Interactive Systems Conference (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of California, Irvine
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
- Keywords
- type 2 diabetes, diabetes self-management, health information use, patient experience, patient expectations, patient involvement, individual differences
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
