{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T18:47:06Z","timestamp":1776106026141,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,31]],"date-time":"2020-08-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1598832000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.acm.org\/publications\/policies\/copyright_policy#Background"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["dl.acm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,31]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Present day ideals of good parenting are socio-technical constructs formed at the intersection of medical best practices, cultural norms, and technical innovation. These ideals take shape in relation to the fundamental uncertainty that parents\/mothers face, an uncertainty that comes from not knowing how to do what is best for one's children, families, and selves. The growing body of parent-focused smart devices and data-tracking platforms emerging from this intersection frame the responsible parent as one who evaluates, analyzes, and mitigates data-defined risks for their children and family. As these devices and platforms proliferate, whether from respected medical institutions or commercial interests, they place new demands on families and add an implicit emphasis on how humans (often mothers) can be augmented and improved by data-rich technology. This is expressed both in the actions they support (e.g., breastfeeding, monitoring food intake), as well as in the emotions they render marginal (e.g., rage, struggle, loss, and regret). In this article, we turn away from optimization and self-improvement narratives to attend to our own felt experiences as mothers and designers. Through an embodied practice of creating Design Memoirs, we speak directly to the HCI community from our position as both users and subjects of optimized parenting tools. Our goal in this work is to bring nuance to a domain that is often rendered in simplistic terms or frames mothers as figures who could endlessly do more for the sake of their families. Our Design Memoirs emphasize the conflicting and often negative emotions we experienced while navigating these tools and medical systems. They depict our feelings of being at once powerful and powerless, expressing rage and love simultaneously, and struggling between expressing pride and humility. The Design Memoirs serve us in advocating that designers should use caution when considering a problem\/solution focus to the experiences of parents. We conclude by reflecting on how our shared practice of making memoirs, as well as other approaches within feminist and queer theory, suggest strategies that trouble these optimization and improvement narratives. Overall, we present a case for designing for mothers who feel like they are just making do or falling short, in order to provide relief from the anxiety of constantly seeking improvement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/3397177","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,7]],"date-time":"2020-07-07T12:34:24Z","timestamp":1594125264000},"page":"1-24","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":32,"title":["The Fundamental Uncertainties of Mothering"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Laura","family":"Devendorf","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder CO, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kristina","family":"Andersen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aisling","family":"Kelliher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3170427.3188400"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","volume-title":"Retrieved","author":"Ahmed Sara","year":"2010"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2858036.2858187"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2858036.2858119"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","first-page":"148","article-title":"Worn technology: Altering social spaces","volume":"11","author":"Andersen Kristina","year":"2006","journal-title":"Open. Hybrid Space"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3025453.3025869"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","volume-title":"Retrieved","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3290605.3300832"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_1","volume-title":"Karen Barad: What Is the Measure of Nothingness: Infinity, Virtuality, Justice: 100 Notes, 100 Thoughts: Documenta Series 099 (Bilingual edition). Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern.","author":"Barad Karen","year":"2012"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_1","first-page":"2","article-title":"Babyveillance? Expecting parents, online surveillance and the cultural specificity of pregnancy apps","volume":"3","author":"Barassi Veronica","year":"2017","journal-title":"Soc. Media Soc."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2702123.2702400"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3290605.3300345"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_13_1","volume-title":"Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity","author":"Beck Ulrich","year":"1992","edition":"1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI\u201919)","author":"Bennett Cynthia L."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","volume-title":"Another Way of Telling (Reissue edition)","author":"Berger John"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_1","volume-title":"On Immunity: An Inoculation (Reprint edition)","author":"Biss Eula","year":"2015"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_17_1","volume-title":"Bloomlife. Retrieved","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_18_1","unstructured":"Gunhild Borggreen and Rune Gade. 2013. Performing Archives\/Archives of Performance. Museum Tusculanum Press.  Gunhild Borggreen and Rune Gade. 2013. Performing Archives\/Archives of Performance. Museum Tusculanum Press."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/DESI_a_00308"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.286.15.1897"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_21_1","volume-title":"Vox. Retrieved","author":"Summers Chelsea G.","year":"2016"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_22_1","volume-title":"LENKA CLAYTON. Retrieved","author":"Clayton Lenka","year":"2016"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3134671"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1367549415584857"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3196709.3196781"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3313831.3376345"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3294109.3295625"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_28_1","volume-title":"Cross Border Differences in Indigenous Women's Uses of Wearable Health Monitors. 4S","author":"Duarte Marisa","year":"2017"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_29_1","first-page":"30","article-title":"Maintaining, repairing and caring for the multiple subject","volume":"6","author":"Forlano Laura","year":"2017","journal-title":"Continent."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_30_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS\u201918)","author":"Fox Sarah E.","year":"1967"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_31_1","volume-title":"The Queer Art of Failure","author":"Halberstam Jack"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_32_1","volume-title":"How Like a Leaf: An Interview with Donna Haraway","author":"Haraway Donna","edition":"1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_33_1","volume-title":"The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study","author":"Harney Stefano","year":"2013","edition":"1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_34_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3290607.3310430"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_35_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3064663.3064726"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_36_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444816629468"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_37_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","volume-title":"The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition","author":"Kleinman Arthur","DOI":"10.1097\/ACM.0000000000001864"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_38_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)31620-3"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_39_1","volume-title":"Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving: A Handbook & A Call to Action. AC4D","author":"Kolko Jon","year":"2012"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_40_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3290605.3300710"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_41_1","unstructured":"Maya Livio. 2018. Music for Eggs. Retrieved from https:\/\/mayalivio.com\/music-for-eggs.  Maya Livio. 2018. Music for Eggs. Retrieved from https:\/\/mayalivio.com\/music-for-eggs."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_42_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00461520.2012.667064"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_43_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference Companion Publication on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS\u201918 Companion). ACM","author":"McDonald Joselyn","year":"1973"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_44_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","volume-title":"The Medium is the Message","author":"McLuhan Marshall","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315080918-31"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_45_1","volume-title":"Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo","author":"de Monchaux Nicholas","year":"2011"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_46_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2470654.2466248"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_47_1","volume-title":"The Atlantic. Retrieved","author":"Oneill Therese","year":"2013"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_48_1","volume-title":"Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool","author":"Oster Emily","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_49_1","volume-title":"The New York Times. Retrieved","author":"Qin Amy","year":"2015"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_50_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01405730"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_51_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/11035.001.0001"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_52_1","volume-title":"The Mother and Her Child","author":"Sadler William Samuel"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_53_1","volume-title":"The Sciences of the Artificial","author":"Simon Herbert A.","edition":"3"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_54_1","volume-title":"A Field Guide to Getting Lost (Reprint edition)","author":"Solnit Rebecca"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_55_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2971485.2996748"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_56_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marilyn Strathern. 2011. Enabling Identity? Biology choice and the new reproductive technologies. SAGE. DOI:https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4135\/9781446221907.n3  Marilyn Strathern. 2011. Enabling Identity? Biology choice and the new reproductive technologies. SAGE. DOI:https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4135\/9781446221907.n3","DOI":"10.4135\/9781446221907.n3"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_57_1","volume-title":"Monster stories: Women charged with perinatal endangerment","author":"Tsing Anna"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_58_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3998\/3336451.0019.205"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_59_1","volume-title":"Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain","author":"Vertosick Dr Frank T.","edition":"1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_60_1","volume-title":"Addie Wagenknecht. Retrieved","author":"Wagenknecht Addie","year":"2012"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_61_1","volume-title":"TechnoFeminism","author":"Wajcman Judy","edition":"1"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_62_1","volume-title":"Fred Moten's radical critique of the present. The New Yorker. Retrieved","author":"Wallace David","year":"2020"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_63_1","volume-title":"Numbered Lives: Life and Death in Quantum Media","author":"Wernimont Jacqueline","year":"2018"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_64_1","volume-title":"Retrieved","author":"Widdicombe Lizzie","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_65_1","volume-title":"Design and Violence. Retrieved","author":"Grosz Elizabeth","year":"2014"}],"container-title":["ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3397177","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1145\/3397177","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,17]],"date-time":"2025-06-17T21:31:37Z","timestamp":1750195897000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3397177"}},"subtitle":["Finding Ways to Honor Endurance, Struggle, and Contradiction"],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,31]]},"references-count":65,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,31]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1145\/3397177"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3397177","relation":{},"ISSN":["1073-0516","1557-7325"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1073-0516","type":"print"},{"value":"1557-7325","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,31]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2019-06-01","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2020-04-01","order":1,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2020-09-12","order":2,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}