Prioritization of Features for Mobile Apps for Families in a Federal Nutrition Program for Low-Income Women, Infants, and Children: User-Centered Design Approach (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND The Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federal nutrition program that provides nutritious foods, education, and healthcare referrals to low income women, infants, and children until age 5 years. Although WIC is associated with positive health outcomes for each participant category, modernization and efficiency are needed at both the clinic and shopping levels to increase program satisfaction and participation rates. New technologies, such as electronic benefits transfer (EBT), online nutrition education, and mobile phone applications (“apps”), for WIC can provide opportunities to improve the WIC experience for participants. OBJECTIVE Using user-centered design principles, this formative study aimed to inform the layout and prioritization of features in mobile apps for low-income families participating in the WIC program. METHODS To identify and give priority to desirable app features, caregivers (n=22) of children enrolled in WIC participated in individual semi-structured interviews with a card sorting activity. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using constant comparative analysis for emerging themes. App features were ranked and placed into natural groupings by each participant. The sum and average of the rankings were calculated to understand which features were a priority to users. Natural groupings of features were labeled according to participant description. RESULTS Natural groupings focused on the following categories: clinic/appointments, shopping/store, education/assessments, location, and recipes/food. Themes from the interviews triangulated the results from the ranking activity. Priority app features were balance, item scanner, and appointment scheduling. Other app features discussed and ranked included: appointment reminders, nutrition training and quizzes, shopping list, clinic and store locators, recipe gallery, produce calculator, and dietary preferences/allergies. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates how a user-centered design process can aid the development of an app for low-income families participating in WIC to inform the effective design of the app features and user interface. CLINICALTRIAL n/a