Agile science: creating useful products for behavior change in the real world

Hekler, Eric B.; Klasnja, Predrag; Riley, William T.; Buman, Matthew P.; Huberty, Jennifer; Rivera, Daniel E.; Martín, César A.

doi:10.1007/s13142-016-0395-7

Cited by 190 publications

(178 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…embodied conversational agents, online support groups, instant messaging, wearable biofeedback and gameification) [68][69][70][71]. From an agile science perspective, SlowMo could be implemented as a module within a broader digital therapy platform for psychosis [42,72] or adapted for a range of other difficulties and settings. Its innovative redesign of a thought record, a widely used cognitive-behavioural therapy tool, could be repurposed for other mental health difficulties.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Inclusive, User-Centered Design Research Can Improve Psychological Therapies for Psychosis: Development of SlowMo

Hardy¹,

Wojdecka²,

West³

et al. 2018

JMIR Ment Health

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Background Real-world implementation of psychological interventions for psychosis is poor.Barriers include therapy being insufficiently usable and useful for a diverse range of people.User-centred, inclusive design approaches could improve the usability of therapy, which may increase uptake, adherence and effectiveness.Objective To optimise the usability of an existing psychological intervention, Thinking Well, which targets reasoning processes in paranoia using a basic digital interface.Methods We conducted inclusive, user-centred design research characterised by purposive sampling of 'extreme' users from the margins of groups, ethnographic investigation of the problem context, and iterative prototyping of solutions. The UK Design Council's Double Diamond method was used. This consisted of 4 phases: discover, including a case series of Thinking Well, stakeholder interviews, desk research, user profiling, system mapping and a mood board; define, consisting of workshops to synthesise findings and generate the design brief; develop, involving concept workshops and prototype testing; and deliver, in which the final minimal viable product was storyboarded and iteratively coded.Results Consistent with our previous work, the Thinking Well case series showed medium/large effects on paranoia and wellbeing, and small effects on reasoning. These were maintained at follow-up despite some participants reporting difficulties with the therapy interface. Insights from the discover phase confirmed that usability was challenged by information complexity and poor accessibility. Participants were generally positive about the potential of technology to be enjoyable, help manage paranoia and provide tailored interpersonal support from therapists and peers, although reported privacy and security concerns. The define phase highlighted that the therapy redesign should support monitoring, simplify information processing, enhance enjoyment and trust, promote personalisation and normalisation, and offer flexible interpersonal support. During the develop phase over 60 concepts were created, with two key concepts of thoughts visualised as bubbles, and therapy as a journey selected for storyboarding. The output of the deliver phase was a minimal viable product of an innovative digital therapy, SlowMo. SlowMo works by helping people to notice their worries and fast thinking habits, and encourages them to slow down for a moment to find ways of feeling safer. A webapp supports the delivery of eight face-to-face sessions, which are synchronised to a native mobile app.Conclusions SlowMo makes use of personalisation, ambient information and visual metaphors to tailor the appeal, engagement and memorability of therapy to a diversity of needs. Feasibility testing has been promising, and the efficacy of SlowMo therapy is now being tested in a multi-centred randomised controlled trial. The study demonstrates that developments in psychological theory and techniques can be enhanced by improving the usability of the therapy interface in order to ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Inclusive, User-Centered Design Research Can Improve Psychological Therapies for Psychosis: Development of SlowMo

Hardy¹,

Wojdecka²,

West³

et al. 2018

JMIR Ment Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Generating direct evidence can be difficult for app makers, as it involves partners with researchers and undertaking the often costly and time-consuming process of clinical research. New research methods and protocols can greatly reduce the cost and shorten the length of app-based studies, meaning the barriers to direct app research are often less than expected (Hekler et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smartphone Apps for Autism Spectrum Disorder—Understanding the Evidence

Kim

Nguyen

Gipson

et al. 2017

J. technol. behav. sci.

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“…The prioritization workshop drew design guidelines from human-centered design [41], agile science [42], and boundary objects [33]. The process included sketching and paper prototyping [43], physical prototyping, participatory design [44] with City of Phoenix staff, and iterative testing and improvements of the orientation, facilitation, and materials.…”

Section: Priortization Workhop Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering Sustainability Transitions by Designing for the Convergence of Policy Windows and Transition Arenas

et al. 2018

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Transition arenas that do not converge with policy windows to achieve structural or institutional change often fail to achieve their stated transformative goals. For their part, policy windows often lead to only incremental change. On their own, transition management and the multiple streams approach seem inadequate to the challenges facing cities. However, in combination, they can be transformative, as exemplified by the Citizens Committee for the Future of Phoenix Transportation. In 2015, this committee in Phoenix, AZ passed a~USD 31.5 billion 2050 transportation plan funded by a sales tax increase from 0.4 to 0.7%. This plan's development realized a policy window in a transition arena through an instrumental boundary object workshop with innovative facilitation. This article sets out to explore, based on this in-depth, applied transition arena process, how to combine transition management and the multiple streams approach to increase the transformative potential of transition arenas. The multiple streams approach and transition management have rarely been used simultaneously or had their integration planned. However, this case from Phoenix, AZ illustrates the potential for boundary objects and facilitation processes in designing for the convergence of policy windows and transition arenas.

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Agile science: creating useful products for behavior change in the real world

Cited by 190 publications

References 52 publications

How Inclusive, User-Centered Design Research Can Improve Psychological Therapies for Psychosis: Development of SlowMo

How Inclusive, User-Centered Design Research Can Improve Psychological Therapies for Psychosis: Development of SlowMo

Smartphone Apps for Autism Spectrum Disorder—Understanding the Evidence

Fostering Sustainability Transitions by Designing for the Convergence of Policy Windows and Transition Arenas

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