Evaluation of the User Experience on Mobile Fitness Applications

This paper presents an evaluation of the quality of experience of use and the resources provided by the Mobile Fitness Applications (MFAs) Nike+Running and RunKeeper (MFAs). In this study, we used analytic and empirical evaluation methods, exploring usability, and user experience to verify if they supply the users' needs. Initial results show the relation between motivational and emotional aspects and MFAs resources, as well as the quality of its resources. We present the first part of a research whose final objective is to identify what characteristics are necessary for designing MFAs capable of motivating users to engage and evolve on physical activity.

[1]  James A. Landay,et al.  Design requirements for technologies that encourage physical activity , 2006, CHI.

[2]  Arthur P. Bochner,et al.  Autoethnography, Personal Narrative, Reflexivity: Researcher as Subject , 2000 .

[3]  Janni Nielsen,et al.  Getting access to what goes on in people's heads?: reflections on the think-aloud technique , 2002, NordiCHI '02.

[4]  Peter Mechant,et al.  Mobile fitness apps for promoting physical activity on Twitter: the #RunKeeper case , 2013 .

[5]  Sri Hastuti Kurniawan,et al.  Review of Interaction design , 2003 .

[6]  J. West,et al.  There ’ s an App for That : Content Analysis of Paid Health and Fitness Apps , 2018 .

[7]  Rong Zheng,et al.  Toward automated categorization of mobile health and fitness applications , 2014, MobileHealth '14.

[8]  Louis B. Rosenfeld,et al.  Information architecture for the world wide web - designing large-scale web sites , 1998 .

[9]  Marshall W. Fishwick,et al.  Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things , 2004 .

[10]  Pearl Pu,et al.  HealthyTogether: exploring social incentives for mobile fitness applications , 2014, Chinese CHI '14.

[11]  D. Norman.  Emotional design : why we love (or hate) everyday things , 2004 .

[12]  Yvonne Rogers,et al.  Interaction Design - Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, 3rd Edition , 2012 .

[13]  Linda Hasman,et al.  An Introduction to Consumer Health Apps for the iPhone , 2011 .

[14]  Jakob Nielsen,et al.  Usability engineering , 1997, The Computer Science and Engineering Handbook.

[15]  Joseph ‘ Jofish’Kaye.  What Does Science Know about Experience ? Alternatives Approaches to Evaluating User Experience , 2006 .

[16]  Austin Henderson,et al.  Interaction design: beyond human-computer interaction , 2002, UBIQ.

[17]  Jon D. Morris.  Observations: SAM: The Self-Assessment Manikin An Efficient Cross-Cultural Measurement Of Emotional Response 1 , 1995 .

[18]  D. Ingledew,et al.  Exercise Motives and Stages of Change , 1998, Journal of health psychology.

[19]  Yvonne Rogers,et al.  Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction , 2002 .

[20]  Patrick Olivier,et al.  The mobile fitness coach: Towards individualized skill assessment using personalized mobile devices , 2013, Pervasive Mob. Comput..

[21]  Fabrizio Bert,et al.  Smartphones and Health Promotion: A Review of the Evidence , 2013, Journal of Medical Systems.

[22]  Phillip Jordan,et al.  Towards a List of Heuristics to Evaluate Smartphone Apps Targeted at Older Adults: A Study with Apps that Aim at Promoting Health and Well-Being , 2015, 2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.