The Development of a No-code App Design Platform for Mobile Health Research (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND A challenge facing researchers when conducting mobile health (mHealth) research is the resources required to develop mobile apps. This can be a barrier to generating relevant knowledge in a timely manner. The recent rise of “no-code” software development platforms may overcome this challenge and enable researchers to decrease the cost and time required to develop mHealth research apps. OBJECTIVE To describe the development process and the lessons learned to build the no-code mHealth app design platform (Pathverse). METHODS The study took place between November 2019 to December 2021. In phase 1, we used a participatory research frame to gather key platform feature requirements. In phase 2, we used an agile software framework to develop the platform. In phase 3, we gathered user feedback through usability and acceptability testing. In phase 4, we further developed the platforms based on user feedback. RESULTS Our team consulted end-users (i.e. researchers) and utilized behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy and behaviour change models (i.e. multi-process action control framework) to guide the features developed. The first version of the Pathverse platform included features that allowed researchers to 1) design customized multimedia app content (e.g., interactive lessons), 2) set content delivery logic (e.g. only show new lessons when completing the previous lesson), 3) implement customized participant surveys, 4) provide self-monitoring tools 5) set personalized goals 6) customize app notification. Usability and acceptability testing revealed that researchers found the platform easy to navigate, and the features were initiative to use. Potential improvements included the ability to deliver adaptive interventions and add features such as community group chat. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, Pathverse is the first no-code mHealth app design platform for developing behaviour mHealth interventions. We successfully used behaviour change models and the BCT taxonomy to inform the feature requirements of Pathverse. Overall, the use of a participatory framework, combined with the agile and hybrid-agile software development process, enabled our team to successfully develop the Pathverse platform.