PersonalAnalytics is a self-monitoring software developed by the Human Aspects of Software Engineering Lab of the University of Zurich to non-intrusively collect computer interaction data and user’s self-reports, store it locally on the user’s machine, and allow users to voluntarily share a user-defined and potentially obfuscated subset of the data with researchers for scientific purposes.

The monitoring component captures computer interaction data including user input and app & website usage data. Every now and then, a self-reflection question asks the user a question, e.g. about the current stress level or perceived productivity. Since all data is stored locally only (and not automatically uploaded to a server to avoid privacy concerns)

Key Features

  • Local, privacy-aware Data Collection: The monitoring component captures computer interaction data including user input and app & website usage data. All data is stored only locally (and not sent to a server).

  • Continuous Quick Self-Reflection: Once an hour, a self-reflection question asks the user a question, e.g. about how well the user thinks they are currently spending their time pr perceived productivity. The interval and feature can be customized in the settings.

     

  • Retrospection: The monitored data is aggregated, correlated and visualized in the retrospection- to provide users with personalized insights into their work, factors that impact their productivity and blockers to productive work.

 

“I did not realize before I am as productive in the afternoons. I always thought my mornings were more productive but looks like I just think that because I spend more time on email.” - F14

“The hourly reflection helps to do a quick triage of whether you are stuck with some task or problem and should consider asking for help or taking a different approach.” - F11

“One thing I like about PersonalAnalytics a lot is that it lets me judge if my time was productive or not. So just because I was in a browser or VisualStudio doesn’t necessarily mean I was being productive or not.” - F42

What the Research says

  • Evaluated in a multi-week field experiment (mixed methods approach) with 43 participants (professional software developers)
  • PersonalAnalytics users…
    • 85% learned something about time spent at work
    • 63% learned about (un)productive activities
    • 43% identified and acted on opportunities for self-improvement
    • the continuous quick self-reflection allowed users to quickly reflect on whether they are stuck and spending their time well
  • Learn more about the research here.

Download:

(free use under a research preview license; Installation Guide)

Learn more:

It is an open-source self-monitoring software that non-intrusively collects computer interaction data and self-reports from users in order to help them reflect on their work habits, productivity, and time-use.

It captures things like application usage, website usage, user input (mouse/keyboard), and occasionally prompts the user with self-reflection questions (e.g., “Was I spending my time well in the past hour?”).

All raw data is stored locally on the user’s machine (not automatically uploaded to a server).

PersonalAnalytics is available for Windows and macOS.

To increase awareness among knowledge workers about how they spend their time, their work habits, and productivity — ultimately enabling positive behavior change.