Usability and Engagement Testing of mHealth Apps in Paediatric Obesity: A Narrative Review of Current Literature

Arthurs, Niamh; Tully, Louise; O’Malley, Grace; Browne, Sarah

doi:10.3390/ijerph19031453

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…A recent review noted that usability is not fixed, and that evaluations of ‘technical usability’ (ie, quantitative assessments, scale-based questionnaires) and qualitative usability insights are only relevant in the context where they are applied. 25 26 Technical usability has been further defined as the capability for a technology to be understood, learnt, used and attractive to the user when used under specified conditions. 27 It has been (boldly) suggested that up to 80% of usability problems can be identified by using as few as five subjects and further, that almost all of high-severity usability problems can be uncovered with usability assessment by only three subjects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Virtual respiratory therapy delivered through a smartphone app: a mixed-methods randomised usability study

et al. 2022

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IntroductionA new smartphone app (QUT Inspire) has been developed to detect inspiratory sound and deliver virtual incentive spirometry (ISy), a respiratory therapy technique used in postoperative recuperation, management of some chronic conditions and with potential applications in SARS-CoV-2 rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to compare the usability of this new app with a clinical ISy device as measured by effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.MethodsIn this mixed-methods randomised usability study, healthy volunteers (aged 39.2±12.2 years, n=24) compared inspirations using the QUT Inspire app and a Triflo II clinical ISy device. A post-test questionnaire and a semi-structured interview explored dimensions of usability regarding the new app.ResultsThe duration of inspirations performed using the QUT Inspire app (7.3±2.0 s) were comparable with use of the Triflo II ISy device (7.5±2.3 s). No artefacts arising from the order of device testing were identified. App users held their phones adjacent but not proximal to their mouths (13.6±6.4 cm), notwithstanding instructions to keep the phone less than 5 cm away for optimal breath sound detection. The use of onscreen text or video instructional materials did not result in a significant reduction in this distance. Participants reported clear preferences for the app (100%, n=24) to motivate persistence with repeated inspirations. App gamification features such as a timer (75%, n=18) and breath counter (83.3%, n=20) were well regarded. Analysis of semi-structured interviews identified four main themes arising from this study: visual reward from responsive app animations, clinical look and feel influencing credibility, perceived effort affecting engagement and selective adoption of gamification features.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that a virtual ISy app can be effective, efficient and have high satisfaction. Improvements informed by this research include use of additional phone sensors to optimise sound detection and minimising the distance that phones are held from the user’s mouth. Further research in randomised controlled trials are needed to evaluate performance of this app in clinical contexts where ISy is currently employed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual respiratory therapy delivered through a smartphone app: a mixed-methods randomised usability study

et al. 2022

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“…Software requirements should meet users' stated requirements in this perspective too, otherwise it may loose users' acceptance. A website exhibiting bad usability is losing its acceptance from potential users [12,13]. Software and technology developers focus heavily on usability testing to assessthe realistic usefulness of their products before the product actually reach commercial users.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Reliability of A Web Portal Based on Testing Profile

Shahid¹,

Sulaiman²,

Al-Sarem³

et al. 2023

Computers, Materials &Amp; Continua

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Conventionally, the reliability of a web portal is validated with generalized conventional methods, but they fail to provide the desired results. Therefore, we need to include other quality factors that affect reliability such as usability for improving the reliability in addition to the conventional reliability testing. Actually, the primary objectives of web portals are to provide interactive integration of multiple functions confirming diverse requirements in an efficient way. In this paper, we employ testing profiles to measure the reliability through software operational profile, input space profile and usability profile along with qualitative measures of reliability and usability. Moreover, the case study used for verification is based on a web application that facilitates information and knowledge sharing among its online members.The proposed scheme is compared with the conventional reliability improvement method in terms of failure detection and reliability. The final results unveil that the computation of reliability by using the traditional method (utilizing failure points with the assistance of Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) becomes ineffective under certain situations. Under such situations, the proposed scheme helps to compute the reliability in an effective way. Moreover, the outcomes of the study provide insight recommendations about the testing and measurement of reliability for Web based software or applications.

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“…In another study, usability testing evaluated mhealth apps in paediatric obesity. The findings of the study identified the importance of thorough evaluation and collection of evidence in mhealth apps for best practice [47].…”

Section: Are Interactions Consistent and Intuitive Across All Screens?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data-based mobile phone app to provide adolescents with sexual reproductive health information: a human-centered design approach

Macharia

Pérez-Navarro

Inwani

et al. 2022

BMC Med Res Methodol

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Background Adolescent pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections continue to impact 15 – 19-year-olds across the globe. The lack of sexual reproductive health information (SRH) in resource-limited settings due to cultural and societal attitudes towards adolescent SRH could be contributing to the negative outcomes. Innovative approaches, including mobile phone technologies, are needed to address the need for reliable adolescent SRH information. Objective The study aimed to co-design a Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) based mobile app prototype to provide confidential adolescent SRH information on-demand and evaluate the mobile app’s usability and user experience. Methods A human-centered design methodology was applied. This practice framework allowed the perspectives and feedback of adolescent users to be included in the iterative design process. To participate, an adolescent must have been 15 to 19 years old, resided in Kibra and would be able to access a mobile phone. Adolescents were enrolled for the alpha and field testing of the app prototype at different time-points. The Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) a multidimensional mobile phone evaluation tool was used to access the functionality, engagement, aesthetics and quality of information in the app. Responses from the MARS were reported as mean scores for each category and a mean of the aggregate scores making the app’s quality score. The MARS data was also evaluated as categorical data, A Chi square test of independence was carried out to show significance of any observed differences using cumulative and inverse cumulative distribution functions. Results During the usability test, 62/109 (54.9%) of the adolescents that were followed-up had used the app at least once, 30/62 (48.4%) of these were male participants and 32/62 (51.6%) female. On engagement, the app had a mean score of 4.3/5 (SD 0.44), 4.6/5 (SD 0.38) on functionality, 4.3/5 (SD 0.57) on aesthetics and 4.4/5 (SD 0.60) on the quality of information. The overall app quality mean score was 4.4/5 (SD 0.31). The app was described as ‘very interesting’ to use by 44/62 (70.9%) of the participants, 20/44 males and 24/44 females. The content was deemed to be either ‘perfectly’ or ‘well targeted’ on sexual reproductive health by 60/62 (96.7%) adolescents, and the app was rated ‘best app’ by 45/62 (72.6%) adolescents, 27/45 females and 18/45 males, with a p-value = 0.011. Conclusions Adolescents need on-demand, accurate and trusted SRH information. A mobile phone app is a feasible and acceptable way to deliver adolescent SRH information in resource-limited settings. The USSD mobile phone technology shows promise in the delivery of much needed adolescent SRH information on-demand..

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Usability and Engagement Testing of mHealth Apps in Paediatric Obesity: A Narrative Review of Current Literature

Cited by 16 publications

References 56 publications

Virtual respiratory therapy delivered through a smartphone app: a mixed-methods randomised usability study

Virtual respiratory therapy delivered through a smartphone app: a mixed-methods randomised usability study

Measuring Reliability of A Web Portal Based on Testing Profile

Developing an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data-based mobile phone app to provide adolescents with sexual reproductive health information: a human-centered design approach

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