Journaling Documentation & Customization Practices

An investigation on analog journaling practices to inform how digital tools can better support user personalization & customization.

Barnard Design Tools Lab


Project Summary

During fall and winter of 2024, I conducted formative research alongside 3 other human-computer interaction researchers to generate foundational knowledge of analog (physical) journaling practices and customizations. Our goal for this research was to better understand why journalers journal, what tools they use, and what motivates them to create their spreads to create a framework to inform design of tools to support creatives within the journaling space and beyond. 

In order to answer this question, I first collected and conducted thematic analysis of public content from YouTube and Instagram. I then led participant recruitment, participant scheduling, and moderation of 11 semi structured interviews, performing additional thematic analysis and synthesis with public data using affinity diagramming and qualitative coding to identify key themes and insights.

Outcome

As a result of this research on analog journaling practices, we identified and defined a journaling ecosystem that contributes to how journalers shape their journaling practices. This ecosystem we defined was composed of 3 main components:

  1. Materials: stationary and digital tools

  2. Personal context: personal circumstances that influence their journaling content and routines

  3. Community: people and and communities that act as inspiration for their journals

Through these findings, we identified a greater need for future digital tools to accommodate evolving user needs and preferences, foster mindful practices, and have flexibility to support navigation and integration of larger ecosystems.

Team

Tiffany Tseng (P.I.), Juna Kawai-Yue, Sarah Sterman

Role

Research Assistant

Key Skills and Methods

Research Design, Participant Recruitment, Interview Moderation, Thematic Analysis, Content Analysis, Qualitative Coding, Affinity Diagramming

Timeline

September 2024 - February 2025

Tools

Miro, Google Forms

This project is currently under submission and review for ACM Creativity & Cognition 2025

More Coming Soon

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More Coming Soon 〰️