Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Oct 29;8(10):e17999. doi: 10.2196/17999.
Mobile electronic platforms provide exciting possibilities for health behavior promotion. For instance, they can promote smoking cessation, moderate alcohol consumption, healthy eating, and physical activity. Young adults in Sweden are proficient in the use of technology, having been exposed to computers, smartphones, and the internet from an early age. However, with the high availability of mobile health (mHealth) interventions of varying quality, it is critical to optimize the usability of mHealth interventions to ensure long-term use of these health promotion interventions.
This study aims to investigate the usability of an mHealth intervention (LIFE4YOUth) targeting health behaviors among high school students through heuristic evaluation and usability testing.
A preliminary version of the LIFE4YOUth mHealth intervention, which was aimed at promoting healthy eating, physical activity, smoking cessation, and nonrisky drinking among high school students, was developed in early 2019. We completed a total of 15 heuristic evaluations and 5 usability tests to evaluate the usability of the mHealth intervention prototype to improve its functioning, content, and design.
Heuristic evaluation from a total of 15 experts (10 employees and 5 university students, both women and men, aged 18-25 years) revealed that the major usability problems and the worst ratings, a total of 17 problems termed usability catastrophes, concerned shortcomings in displaying easy-to-understand information to the users or technical errors. The results of the usability testing including 5 high school students (both girls and boys, aged 15-18 years) showed that the design, quality, and quantity of content in the intervention may impact the users' level of engagement. Poor functionality was considered a major barrier to usability. Of the 5 participants, one rated the LIFE4YOUth intervention as poor, 2 rated as average, and 2 assessed it as good, according to the System Usability Scale.
High school students have high expectations of digital products. If an mHealth intervention does not offer optimal functions, they may cease to use it. Optimizing the usability of mHealth interventions is a critical step in the development process. Heuristic evaluation and usability testing in this study provided valuable knowledge about the prototype from a user's perspective. The findings may lead to the development of similar interventions targeting the high school population.
移动电子平台为促进健康行为提供了令人兴奋的可能性。例如，它们可以促进戒烟、适量饮酒、健康饮食和体育锻炼。瑞典的年轻成年人精通技术，从小就接触电脑、智能手机和互联网。然而，由于移动健康 (mHealth) 干预措施的高可用性，质量参差不齐，优化 mHealth 干预措施的可用性对于确保这些健康促进干预措施的长期使用至关重要。
本研究旨在通过启发式评估和可用性测试来调查针对高中生健康行为的 mHealth 干预措施（LIFE4YOUth）的可用性。
2019 年初开发了 LIFE4YOUth mHealth 干预措施的初步版本，旨在促进高中生健康饮食、体育活动、戒烟和非危险饮酒。我们共完成了 15 次启发式评估和 5 次可用性测试，以评估 mHealth 干预措施原型的可用性，以改善其功能、内容和设计。
来自总共 15 名专家（10 名员工和 5 名大学生，男女均为 18-25 岁）的启发式评估显示，主要的可用性问题和最差评分，总共 17 个问题称为可用性灾难，涉及向用户显示易于理解的信息或技术错误方面的缺陷。包括 5 名高中生（男女，年龄 15-18 岁）在内的可用性测试结果表明，干预措施的设计、质量和内容数量可能会影响用户的参与度。功能差被认为是可用性的主要障碍。在 5 名参与者中，1 人对 LIFE4YOUth 干预措施的评价较差，2 人评价一般，2 人评价良好，根据系统可用性量表。
高中生对数字产品有很高的期望。如果 mHealth 干预措施不能提供最佳功能，他们可能会停止使用它。优化 mHealth 干预措施的可用性是开发过程中的关键步骤。本研究中的启发式评估和可用性测试从用户的角度提供了有关原型的宝贵知识。这些发现可能会导致针对高中生人群的类似干预措施的发展。
