Applying User-Centered Design in the Development of a Supportive mHealth App for Women in Substance Use Recovery

Abstract

Purpose and Approach Women in recovery describe stigma, negative treatment, and limited support as barriers to achieving their health and parenting goals. Mobile health technologies carefully tailored to support the unique needs of recovery communities can provide less burdensome alternatives to in-person services for women transitioning out of substance use treatment. An iterative design process integrated women’s interests into the structure, content, and interaction flow of a mobile health (mHealth) app. Setting and Participants Participants included women in recovery from opioid, alcohol, and polysubstance use disorders in a comprehensive housing program in urban Arizona. Methods Five focus groups with 3–7 participants each (n = 27 total) informed creation of the mHealth app. Informed by theoretical models of usability and person-centered design, development involved an iterative series of focus groups in which we asked women to comment on interest in using each feature. This provided a qualitative priority framework for feature development. We then modified the app and repeated the process to gauge consensus and continually refine our prototype. Results Women were interested in access to resources, such as housing, counseling, and parenting advice in settings known to treat women in recovery with respect. They also asked for positive messages, chatting with peers, and access to expert answers. They were less interested in points-based learning modules and “scored” activities, leading us to develop a “daily challenges” concept that builds good habits, but does not feel like “classwork”. Women’s recommendations shaped an mHealth app tailored to maximize utility, access, and safety for this at-risk population. Conclusion Integration of user-centered design with applied ethnographic techniques guided the development of a custom-tailored mHealth app responsive to lived experiences and needs of women in recovery. Future research should evaluate the potential for user-centered apps to increase self-efficacy, perceived social support, and to reduce risk of relapse.

Mapping Factors That Affect the Uptake of Digital Therapeutics Within Health Systems: Scoping Review

“…They should also be easy and straightforward to understand and use [ 1 , 4 , 13 , 19 , 40 , 42 , 117 , 135 , 141 , 150 , 193 , 194 , 203 , 208 , 217 , 250 , 252 , 265 , 266 , 273 ], as well as have the ability to be personalized according to patient needs and preferences [ 4 , 13 , 62 , 117 , 208 , 216 , 217 , 220 , 246 ]. Finally, a key property and enabler of the reimbursement of digital therapeutics is their interaction with the target population: they should be co-designed and coimplemented with patients and health professionals to maximize the likelihood of their uptake by the relevant stakeholders, with the recognition of the fact that engagement might differ across population groups in different countries [ 4 , 13 , 19 , 40 , 47 , 56 , 57 , 89 , 129 , 166 , 174 , 189 , 190 , 200 , 214 , 215 , 220 , 230 , 250 ].…”

Development of an Electronic Screening and Brief Intervention to Address Perinatal Substance Use in Home Visiting: Qualitative User-Centered Approach

“…The goal of the coding process was to extract themes that could be incorporated into the intervention design. A similar analytical approach has been used in other studies in which the purpose of the interviews was to inform intervention development and refinement [ 61 ].…”

“…We used a user-centered design process that involved iterative cycles of qualitative data collection and intervention design to align the elements of the intervention with themes extracted from the qualitative data. This approach has been used in other studies [ 61 ] and yields a final product that is reflective of users’ experiences and therefore more relevant and acceptable to users. The following are the specific objectives of this paper: (1) to describe the 2-phase user-centered intervention development process that informed the adaptation of the original e-SBI into the e–SBI-HV, (2) to present specific themes extracted from the user-centered design process that directly informed the e–SBI-HV prototype, and (3) to describe the e–SBI-HV prototype.…”

MyTrack+: Human-centered design of an mHealth app to support long-term weight loss maintenance

“…Previous research has emphasized the importance of user-centered design 1 processes in developing effective mHealth apps for various health domains, such as self-management of chronic conditions ( 21 , 22 ), mental health ( 23 ), persons living with HIV ( 24 , 25 ), women in substance use recovery ( 26 ), and participants with fall risk ( 27 ). Schnall et al ( 24 ) conducted formative research, which included focus groups, participatory design sessions, and usability evaluations, to guide the development of a health management app for individuals living with HIV.…”

“…Their findings demonstrated that a user-centered approach offered a deeper understanding of their target users’ specific requirements and facilitated the creation of an mHealth app that better aligned with user needs. Additionally, Eaves et al ( 26 ) applied user-centered design in developing an mHealth app to support women in substance use recovery. Through an iterative design process, the authors showed that users’ feedback helped tailor an mHealth app to maximize usability, access, and safety for this at-risk population.…”