Reflecting on reflection

Designing for reflection is becoming of increasing interest to HCI researchers, especially as digital technologies move to supporting broader professional and quality of life issues. However, the term 'reflection' is being used and designed for in diverse ways and often with little reference to vast amount of literature on the topic outside of HCI. Here we synthesize this literature into a framework, consisting of aspects such as purposes of reflection, conditions for reflection and levels of reflection (where the levels capture the behaviours and activities associated with reflection). We then show how technologies can support these different aspects and conclude with open questions that can guide a more systematic approach to how we understand and design for support of reflection.