Danish Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Science (DRIVEN), Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Aug 12;24(1):2182. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19549-9.
Most adults fail to meet the moderate to vigorous physical activity-based recommendations needed to maintain or improve health. Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity (VILPA) refers to short (1-2 min) high-intensity activities that are integrated into activities of daily living. VILPA has shown strong potential to improve health and addresses commonly reported barriers to physical activity. However, it is unknown how VILPA can best be promoted among the adult population. This study aimed to evaluate the usability, user engagement, and satisfaction of a mobile application (MovSnax) designed to promote VILPA.
A concurrent mixed methods design was used. It comprised four parts. Part A was a survey with n = 8 mHealth and physical activity experts who had used the app over 7-10 days. Part B was think-aloud interviews with n = 5 end-users aged 40-65 years old. Part C was a survey with a new group of 40-65-year-old end-users (n = 35) who had used the MovSnax app over 7-10 days. Part D was semi-structured interviews with n = 18 participants who took part in Part C. Directed content analysis was used to analyze the results from Parts A, B, and D, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze findings from Part C.
Participants reported positive views on the MovSnax app for promoting VILPA but also identified usability issues such as unclear purpose, difficulties in manual data entry, and limited customization options. Across the different data collections, they consistently emphasized the need for more motivational features, clearer feedback, and gamification elements to enhance engagement. Quantitative assessment showed satisfactory scores on objective measures but lower ratings on subjective aspects, possibly due to unfamiliarity with the VILPA concept and/or technical barriers.
The MovSnax app, tested in the present study, is the world's first digital tool aimed specifically at increasing VILPA. The findings of the present study underscore the need for further app refinement, focusing on clarifying its purpose and instructions, boosting user engagement through personalization and added motivational elements, enhancing accuracy in detecting VILPA bouts, implementing clearer feedback mechanisms, expanding customization choices (such as font size and comparative data), and ensuring transparent and meaningful activity tracking.
大多数成年人无法满足维持或改善健康所需的中等至剧烈体力活动建议。剧烈间歇生活方式体力活动（VILPA）是指短时间（1-2 分钟）的高强度活动，这些活动被整合到日常生活活动中。VILPA 已显示出改善健康的巨大潜力，并解决了人们普遍报告的体力活动障碍。然而，目前尚不清楚如何在成年人群中最好地推广 VILPA。本研究旨在评估一款旨在促进 VILPA 的移动应用程序（MovSnax）的可用性、用户参与度和满意度。
采用并行混合方法设计。它由四部分组成。第 A 部分是一项调查，n = 8 名移动健康和体力活动专家，他们使用该应用程序超过 7-10 天。第 B 部分是对 40-65 岁的 5 名最终用户进行的出声思维访谈。第 C 部分是对另一组 40-65 岁的最终用户（n = 35）进行的调查，他们使用 MovSnax 应用程序超过 7-10 天。第 D 部分是对参与第 C 部分的 18 名参与者进行的半结构化访谈。对第 A、B 和 D 部分的结果进行定向内容分析，对第 C 部分的结果进行描述性统计分析。
参与者对 MovSnax 应用程序促进 VILPA 的积极看法，但也指出了一些可用性问题，例如目的不明确、手动数据输入困难以及定制选项有限。在不同的数据收集过程中，他们始终强调需要更多的激励功能、更清晰的反馈和游戏化元素来提高参与度。定量评估显示，客观测量的得分令人满意，但主观方面的评分较低，这可能是由于不熟悉 VILPA 概念和/或技术障碍。
本研究中测试的 MovSnax 应用程序是世界上第一个专门用于增加 VILPA 的数字工具。本研究的结果强调需要进一步改进应用程序，重点是明确其目的和说明，通过个性化和添加激励元素来提高用户参与度，提高检测 VILPA 回合的准确性，实施更清晰的反馈机制，扩大定制选择（如字体大小和比较数据），并确保活动跟踪透明且有意义。
