Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jan 28, 2020
Date Accepted: Sep 13, 2020
Development of a multiple health behavior intervention targeting high school students: results from a participatory design study using heuristic evaluation and usability testing
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mobile electronic platforms provide exciting possibilities for health behavior promotion, for instance to promote smoking cessation, moderate drinking of alcohol, healthy eating and physical activity. Young adults in Sweden are proficient in technology use, having been exposed to computers, smartphones and the internet from an early age. However, with a high availability of mHealth interventions of varying quality, it is critical to optimize the usability of mHealth interventions targeting this age group; if users do not enjoy the program they may quickly disengage.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to investigate the usability of an mHealth intervention targeting risky lifestyle behaviors among young adults (LIFE4YOUth) through heuristic evaluation and usability testing.
Methods:
A preliminary version of the LIFE4YOUth mHealth intervention, aiming to promote healthy eating, physical activity, smoking cessation and non-risky drinking among high school students, was developed in early 2019. A total of 15 heuristic evaluations and five usability tests were completed to evaluate usability of the prototype of the mHealth intervention to improve its functioning, content, and design.
Results:
The heuristic evaluation revealed that the major usability problems and the worst ratings (termed ‘usability catastrophes’) concerned shortcomings in displaying easy-to-understand information to the users or technical errors. Results from usability testing showed that the design, quality and quantity of content in the intervention may impact users’ level of engagement. Poor functionality was considered a major barrier to usability.
Conclusions:
Young adults have high expectations of digital products. If a mHealth intervention does not function as they want it to, they may cease to use it. Optimizing the usability of mHealth interventions is a critical step in the development process. The heuristic evaluation and usability testing in this study provided valuable knowledge about the prototype from a user perspective.
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