Participant Tip Sheet

Develop a Syncing Strategy

It is important for you to develop a strategy for syncing devices. Typically we recommend you encourage participants to sync devices by using their own mobile phone, tablet, or personal computer and the apps provided by Fitbit. Long periods of time between syncs will cause higher resolution data to be lost due to device memory limits.

Develop a Battery Charging Strategy

Fitbit devices have a rechargeable battery and include a USB charging cable (the Fitbit Zip has a replaceable coin-cell battery). Battery life is typically between 5-7 days, depending on usage. It is important to keep devices charged as very low battery will affect the device’s ability to record higher resolution data.

Develop a Compliance Check Strategy

Your Fitabase project dashboard includes information on device battery life and syncing behavior. We recommend project coordinators/managers to log into the project dashboard on a regular basis to check participant compliance regarding device charging (battery) and syncing. Device battery level is represented by a colored icon:

• Green: High
• Yellow: Medium
• Orange: Low
• Red: Empty

Your dashboard is automatically sorted in order of most recent device sync. Clicking the “Last Sync” header will reverse the sort order.

Be prepared for lost devices

Occasionally, a participant will lose their device during the duration of your study. This is an easy fix as long as you have a backup device you can connect to the platform. First, you'll want to follow the below instructions: 

1. Find the User ID in your study's home screen
2. Click on Connected Devices in the top navigation panel 
3. Find the correct User ID in the list (a ctrl+F search is a quick, easy way to do this!) 
4. Click the Device Connect Page link
5. Click the "Delete this invitation" button 

Then, you can follow the steps to reconnect the participant's new device to Fitabase.