So here's my take on the "next big thing" in the little world of user research for product design. Measurement of physical activity is typically tedious (e.g. time and motion studies), highly expensive, or inaccurate (participant self-reporting). Despite these limitations, it has the potential to be very valuable in quantifying user behavior, such as level of exertion, or rest/motion periodicity in shifts. For example, the ROI for a new system or product may depend on measuring before and after differences in user physical effort or movement.
I recently learned of the soon-to-be launched Fitbit, what one of my colleagues described as a "pedometer on steriods". And it is marketed towards the health/fitness marktet. But what makes its particularly useful to user research are its accuracy, battery life (claimed at 10+ days) and reporting features. According to the Fitbit web site:
"The Fitbit Tracker contains a motion sensor like the ones found in the Nintendo Wii. The Tracker senses your motion in three dimensions and converts this into useful information about your daily activities. The Tracker measures the intensity and duration of your physical activities, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, how long it took you to fall asleep, the number of times you woke up throughout the night and how long you were actually asleep vs just lying in bed. You can wear the Tracker loosely in your pocket or clipped to your clothing, even bras."
Here's a screenshot of the tracking web interface...
