In line with health goals
The majority of Americans are working desk jobs, which means they are spending 8-9+ hours each and every day in a seated position staring at a computer screen. And since most of those jobs also require the use of the internet, those desk jockeys are likely opening new tabs on their browsers quite regularly. Tabtics wants to optimize on that momentary undivided attention.
Connects to your wearable
Tabtics is a Chrome extension currently in beta that provides health, productivity, and motivational tips customized to you every time you open a new tab in your browser. Fascinated by the “quantified self” and unimpressed with Fitbit’s dashboard that was less than inspiring and took too long to load, the guys at Grible set out to create their own iteration that connects to your favorite wearable to show you tailored tips on visually appealing backgrounds.
While you don’t have to connect Tabtics to a wearable, the main value of this extension definitely lies in its ability to monitor your wearable and offer highly customized, easily digestible bits of health information. These tidbits include things like how many steps you have taken so far in a day and what time you went to bed.
Some hiccups
Although these tips are likely intended to come across as friendly reminders, the conversational tone used can come across a tad passive-aggressive.
“It’s noon and only 3,351 steps Frank… you might want to take some extra if you’re ready.”
“You went to bed around 01:13. On average, that’s pretty late for a decent daily routine.”
There’s something about the way the health reminders are worded that could begin to feel reminiscent of your mother telling you to wear a sweater because it’s cold out or to turn down your music so you don’t go deaf.
The messages are valuable, but the delivery could run the risk of giving office workers one more reason to want to yell at their computers.
If you can get past the kind-yet-slightly-passive-aggressive tone of the tips, and perhaps even find a bit of humor in them, any reminder to step away from your computer and go for a quick walk or hit the sack is a good thing. But be warned: you may also find yourself muttering “I do what I want” to you computer in the process.
#Tabtics
