Investigating usability issues of mHealth apps for elderly people : A case study approach

Context. The evolution of information communication technology (ICT) has led to rapidly increasing integration of smartphones in the daily routine of individuals. Due to their support and enhancement of mobility and connectivity as well as local adaptability and personalization, applications developed for smartphones are able to address more specifically the needs of patients, doctors or healthcare providers in the healthcare domain, a development which is termed as mHealth. The purpose of mHealth applications is to deliver healthcare services to the patients irrespective of the place. Objectives. In this thesis, usability issues in mHealth applications are explored and identified by studying and testing an application intended for elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods. For this purpose, the author has conducted a literature review and a case study with a prototype application from an ongoing research project, the Health in Hand project. Usability evaluation for that prototype application was conducted. The main source for evaluating the usability of the mobile application is users and their interaction with the mHealth application. In this thesis, two categories of user were taken i.e. elderly people and younger people and both their perspectives on usability issues were investigated and compared. Results. The results showed overall satisfaction with the application but some usability issues were identified. Functionality and services provided via the mHealth application’s interface were evaluated by using think-aloud technique which is a common usability testing method. Moreover, recommendations for improvement of the mHealth application concerning usability aspects have been collected during the case study and are presented in the thesis. Conclusions. Usability problems were identified when the participants interacted with the user interface of the selected mHealth application. The observed usability problems provide input for the Health in Hand project where they will be helpful for designing efficient mobile applications in the future.

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