Objectively assessing and comparing the user experience of two thousand digital health apps

Maciej Hyzy*, Raymond Bond, Maurice D. Mulvenna, Lu Bai, Robert Daly, Simon Leigh

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

There are more than 350,000 digital health apps in the app stores today. There is an average of around 250 digital health apps being added daily to the app stores. This indicates a public appetite to consume digital health apps, and a potential to decrease the pressure on healthcare providers by promoting digital technology. However, for this to be a viable option, digital health apps must be effective and safe to use. The quality, defined as “compliance with best practice standards”, of such apps must be of the highest standard for these to be recommended by healthcare professionals. One crucially important aspect of the quality of an app is user experience (UX). The UX of digital health apps is important to assure that the technology is being used safely and as intended. The objective of this study was to describe common practices related to the UX for digital health app design. This study analysed a sample of 2,053 digital health apps with a focus on the UX practices in the digital health app design. The data included in this study was collected using the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications (ORCHA) assessment tool. ORCHA is a United Kingdom (UK) based digital health compliance company that specialises in assessing the quality of digital health apps, which includes UX. The ORCHA UX assessment consists of 15 polar questions (Yes/No) and 3 multiple selection questions. A score of 65 is considered a ‘threshold score’ and a starting point, based on answers this score will increase, decrease, or stay the same.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDesign, User Experience, and Usability - 12th International Conference, DUXU 2023, Held as Part of the 25th HCI International Conference, HCII 2023, Proceedings
EditorsAaron Marcus, Elizabeth Rosenzweig, Marcelo M. Soares
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages335-343
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9783031357053
ISBN (Print)9783031357046
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 09 Jul 2023
Externally publishedYes
Event12th International Conference Design, User Experience, and Usability Conference, DUXU 2023, held as part of the 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2023 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 23 Jul 202328 Jul 2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume14034 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference12th International Conference Design, User Experience, and Usability Conference, DUXU 2023, held as part of the 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2023
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period23/07/202328/07/2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research is done in partnership with ORCHA, a UK-based digital health compliance company. This work is supported by a Northern Ireland DfE CAST award / PhD scholarship. We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the many digital health app reviewers and developers who worked with ORCHA that allowed for the review of digital health apps and consented for their data to be used for the purposes of research. Without their contribution and consent this research would not have been possible.. Conflicts of Interest. This study is funded by a DfE Cast award and ORCHA. Simon Leigh and Robert Daly are employees at ORCHA.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Keywords

  • Digital health
  • mHealth
  • User experience

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Objectively assessing and comparing the user experience of two thousand digital health apps'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this