Timeframe
July 2022 - August 2022

Project Type
Master’s Project

Project Overview

Monitoring personal health information through health apps like MyFitnessPal, Noom and Sleep Cycle presents several challenges for users. Here are some of the primary topics and challenges users encounter while monitoring their personal health information in apps:

1. Data Accuracy and Consistency: Users may struggle with accurately inputting data such as calorie counts, exercise durations, or food portions. This can lead to inconsistencies in data quality, affecting the reliability of insights derived from the app.

2. User Engagement and Longevity: Many users start out enthusiastically but may lose motivation over time, leading to incomplete or sporadic data entries. This undermines the app's ability to provide meaningful, long-term health insights.

3. Privacy Concerns: Apps handling sensitive health information must prioritize data security and user privacy. Users may be reluctant to share personal health data due to concerns about data breaches or unauthorized access.

4. Integration and Interoperability: Integrating data from various sources (e.g., wearables, other health apps) into a single platform like MyFitnessPal can be complex. Incompatibilities between devices or apps may result in incomplete or inaccurate data aggregation.

5. User Interface Design: The usability of health monitoring apps is crucial. Complex interfaces or unintuitive design can discourage regular use and hinder effective data recording.

6. Behavioral and Psychological Factors: Recording personal health information requires consistent effort and behavior change. Users may face psychological barriers such as forgetfulness, procrastination, or discomfort with confronting health metrics.

7. Data Overload and Interpretation: Users may struggle with interpreting the data presented by the app, especially if it's presented in a complex or overwhelming manner. Clear, actionable insights are crucial for motivating behavior change.

This research project aimed to uncover how users currently approach personal health monitoring, identifying opportunities for improvement. Additionally, the study aimed to provide insights into users' perspectives on health in the context of personal health monitoring as well as which essential health conditions that should be integrated into the personal health monitoring workflow.

Problem Statement

Users face significant challenges in monitoring their health data effectively: they desire more comprehensive tracking capabilities for multiple health conditions, prefer customizable features in health apps, struggle with time constraints and motivation, and often bypass primary care appointments in favor of specialist consultations tailored to their specific health needs.

User Pain Points

Users encounter several pain points when monitoring their health data:

• Users lack sufficient tools for comprehensive tracking of multiple health conditions.

• They seek more customizable features in health apps than what is currently offered.

• Users face time constraints and motivational barriers when recording and continuing to record health data.

• They prefer specialized consultations over primary care appointments for managing specific health concerns.

User Research

The research focused on three main themes:

• Identifying the health conditions people monitor and which to include in personal health monitoring workflows

• Examining current technology and user practices used for health monitoring and its application to uncover improvement opportunities

• Understanding the perceived value individuals attribute to their health and fitness goals within the context of personal health monitoring

These groups contributed to the development of three distinct personas following interview sessions. Initially, participants expressed a desire to monitor their health more extensively if they had additional health conditions to track. Subsequent follow-up sessions focused on three participants dealing with acid reflux specifically, exploring their attitudes towards monitoring personal health data related to their condition. Participants were segmented into three interview groups based on age and gender: 30-37-year-old females (n = 4), 57-year-old females (n = 2), and 29-56-year-old males (n = 3).

Implementation

After conducting user interviews, I developed personas to encapsulate the challenges, needs, and desires expressed by participants. Each persona was crafted to define their specific jobs-to-be-done. Additionally, I constructed a user journey to visually map the steps individuals take when monitoring and recording their personal health information. This approach helped to synthesize insights and identify key touchpoints where improvements could be made in the personal health monitoring experience.

I addressed the challenges identified through user research by leveraging the personas and user journey to develop targeted solutions. By aligning these insights with user needs and behaviors, I aimed to design interventions that enhance user engagement, streamline health data management, and provide personalized experiences in health monitoring apps. This approach ensures that the solutions directly address the identified pain points and improve overall user satisfaction and effectiveness.

Outcome

The research yielded several key outcomes and corresponding recommendations to enhance the user experience in health monitoring apps. Firstly, small prompting touch points were successfully implemented in the app and through text messaging to facilitate easy information input, thereby reducing cognitive load. Efforts were made to simplify data entry by integrating a database of common medicine, food, and exercises, and introducing features like remembering past inputs and bulk adding commonly used items. The app was enhanced to allow users to manage multiple health conditions flexibly by toggling them on and off as needed. Additionally, an integrated calendar view was developed to display past health episodes and upcoming appointments, with filtering options and reminders for convenience. The user interface was made more customizable, enabling users to add multiple conditions to their dashboard for a tailored experience. Interactive input queries via text entry were introduced to enrich data collection by prompting users with relevant questions. Moreover, behavioral reinforcement programs were implemented within the app to support users in developing and maintaining healthy habits specific to their health conditions. Integration with voice assistants (Siri, Google Home, Alexa) and smart technology further streamlined logging and notifications. Recommendations include optimizing text message marketing, continuously refining the app based on user feedback, enhancing user education through tutorials, prioritizing robust data security measures, and exploring collaborative features for improved health management between users and healthcare providers. These initiatives aim to ensure ongoing usability, satisfaction, and effectiveness in health monitoring apps. The table below presents the findings from participants and my corresponding recommendations.

Findings & Recommendations