Design, development and evaluation of a mobile-based self-care application for patients with COVID-19 not requiring hospitalization; a study of Northwest of Iran

One of the challenges facing resource-constrained environments is the proliferation of smartphones, the lack of skills to develop mobile apps, the high cost of professional mobile app development and the fact that there are no interventions to change the tide. Both communities and businesses, particularly the small- to medium-scale businesses have had two options: a) to use generic apps which are often not customisable, or b) not to use the technology. Globally, there are two emerging phenomena: the citizen developers and the mobile app development platform (MADP) with little or no programming code. Neither the citizen developer nor MADP are new but they have reached levels of maturity at which their potential in resource constrained contexts makes logical sense. The potential lies in empowering ordinary citizens to design and develop mobile applications that address their specific needs without being constrained by the lack of technical skills. This chapter presents a model to empower citizen developers to acquire mobile app design and development skills to develop mobile apps with few or no code development platforms. The chapter explores an empathy-driven mobile app development (empathy-driven MAD). MADs are safe and fun, they are called ‘digital sandpits’. The empathy-driven MAD without code has been shown to enhance creativity within multi-disciplinary teams and allow members of such teams to act as citizen developers who rapidly build apps, obtain feedback from ‘clients’ (peers) thereby shifting the dispositions of both the citizen developer and their community (world). This chapter uses Gidden’s structuration theory and an empathy map to exploit both tacit and discursive knowledge in the design of mobile apps and then using low-cost no-code MADPs learn quickly about user needs and build useable apps for communities.

Diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika and chikungunya remain endemic in many countries. Setting and deploying traps to capture the host/vector species are fundamental to understand their density and distributions. Human effort to manage the trap data accurately and timely is an exhaustive endeavour when the study area expands and period prolongs. One stop mobile app to manage and monitor the process of targeted species trapping, from field to laboratory level is still scarce. Toward this end, we developed a new mobile app named "PesTrapp" to acquire the vector density index based on the mobile updates of ovitraps and species information in field and laboratory. This study aimed to highlight the mobile app's development and design, elucidate the practical user experiences of using the app and evaluate the preliminary user assessment of the mobile app. The mobile app was developed using mobile framework and database. User evaluation of the mobile app was based on the adjusted Mobile App Rating Scale and Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire. The process flows of system design and detailed screen layouts were described. The user experiences with and without the app in a project to study Aedes surveillance in six study sites in Selangor, Malaysia were elucidated. The overall mean user evaluation score of the mobile app was 4.0 out of 5 (SD=0.6), reflects its acceptability of the users. The PesTrapp, a one-stop solution, is anticipated to improve the entomological surveillance work processes. This new mobile app can contribute as a tool in the vector control countermeasure strategies.

BackgroundMobile phones and tablets currently represent a significant presence in people’s everyday lives. They enable access to different information and services independent of current place and time. Such widespread connectivity offers significant potential in different app areas including health care.ObjectiveOur goal was to evaluate the usability of the Connect Mobile app. The mobile app enables mobile access to the Connect system, an online system that supports cancer patients in managing health-related issues. Along with symptom management, the system promotes better patient-provider communication, collaboration, and shared decision making. The Connect Mobile app enables access to the Connect system over both mobile phones and tablets.MethodsThe study consisted of usability tests of a high fidelity prototype with 7 cancer patients where the objectives were to identify existing design and functionality issues and to provide patients with a real look-and-feel of the mobile system. In addition, we conducted semistructured interviews to obtain participants’ feedback about app usefulness, identify the need for new system features and design requirements, and measure the acceptance of the mobile app and its features within everyday health management.ResultsThe study revealed a total of 27 design issues (13 for mobile apps and 14 for tablet apps), which were mapped to source events (ie, errors, requests for help, participants' concurrent feedback, and moderator observation). We also applied usability heuristics to identify violations of usability principles. The majority of violations were related to enabling ease of input, screen readability, and glanceability (15 issues), as well as supporting an appropriate match between systems and the real world (7 issues) and consistent mapping of system functions and interactions (4 issues). Feedback from participants also showed the cancer patients’ requirements for support systems and how these needs are influenced by different context-related factors, such as type of access terminal (eg, desktop computer, tablet, mobile phone) and phases of illness. Based on the observed results, we proposed design and functionality recommendations that can be used for the development of mobile apps for cancer patients to support their health management process.ConclusionsUnderstanding and addressing users’ requirements is one of the main prerequisites for developing useful and effective technology-based health interventions. The results of this study outline different user requirements related to the design of the mobile patient support app for cancer patients. The results will be used in the iterative development of the Connect Mobile app and can also inform other developers and researchers in development, integration, and evaluation of mobile health apps and services that support cancer patients in managing their health-related issues.

Mobile apps designed with cultural sensitivity have demonstrated higher user acceptability and greater effectiveness in enhancing self-care skills. However, a significant gap exists in developing such apps for specific populations, such as Portuguese Americans living in southern Massachusetts, home to the second-largest Portuguese community in the United States. This group possesses unique cultural traditions, particularly in dietary practices, including a tendency toward high carbohydrate intake. Tailoring diabetes self-care apps to address these specific cultural requirements could substantially improve diabetes management within this population. The aim of this app development project was to develop a prototype diabetes management app for Portuguese Americans with type 2 diabetes mellitus using the design thinking methodology, incorporating user-centered design principles and cultural sensitivity. This paper describes the phase-2 results, focusing on app design and development. Phase 2 of this app development project adhered to the design thinking methodology delineated by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University, focusing on 2 critical steps: ideation and prototyping. This phase started in March 2022 and continued until April 2024. The project was driven by a multidisciplinary team consisting of 2 nurse educators; an app development specialist; and 2 graduate research assistants from the university's Computer and Information Sciences Department, both well-versed in mobile app development. Data collected during phase 1, which will be published separately, informed the app design and development process. The prototype of the DiaFriend app (version 1) was designed and developed. The app comprises five features: (1) blood glucose monitoring, (2) weight tracking, (3) carbohydrate tracking, (4) exercise log, and (5) medication reminder. The carbohydrate tracking feature was explicitly tailored to correspond to Portuguese food culture. This paper presents the front-end interface flowchart, demonstrating how the user navigates through each screen. It also discusses the challenges faced during the backend development, such as data not being able to be stored and retrieved. The DiaFriend app (version 1) distinguishes itself from conventional diabetes self-care apps through its emphasis on cultural sensitivity. The development of this app underscores the importance of cultural considerations in health informatics. It establishes a foundation for future research in developing and evaluating culturally sensitive mobile health apps. The adaptation of such technologies has the potential to enhance self-care practices among Portuguese Americans with type 2 diabetes mellitus, with improved glycated hemoglobin levels as a potential outcome. The last step of the design thinking methodology, testing the app, will be conducted in phase 3 and the results will be published elsewhere.

BackgroundA personal health record (PHR) system encourages patients to engage with their own health care by giving them the ability to manage and keep track of their own health data. Of the numerous PHR systems available in the market, many are Web-based patient portals and a few are mobile apps. They have mainly been created by hospitals and electronic health record (EHR) vendors. One major limitation of these hospital-created PHR systems is that patients can only view specific health data extracted from their EHR. Patients do not have the freedom to add important personal health data they collect in their daily lives into their PHR. Therefore, there is an information gap between clinical visits.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a new mobile PHR app that can be easily used to manage various types of personal health data to fill the information gap.MethodsA user-centered approach was used to guide the development and evaluation of the new mobile PHR app. There were three steps in this study: needs assessment, app design and development, and conducting a usability study. First, a large-scale questionnaire study was conducted with the general population to gain an understanding of their needs and expectations with regard to a mobile PHR app. A mobile PHR app for personal medical data tracking and management was then created based on the results of the questionnaire study. End users were actively involved in all stages of the app development. Finally, a usability study was performed with participants to evaluate the usability of the mobile PHR app, which involved asking participants to finish a set of tasks and to respond to a usability questionnaire.ResultsIn the questionnaire study for needs assessment, there were 609 participants in total. The answers from these participants revealed that they wanted to manage various types of personal health data in a mobile PHR app. Participants also reported some features they desired to have in the app. On the basis of the needs assessment findings, a new mobile PHR app (PittPHR) was created with 6 major modules: health records, history, trackers, contacts, appointments, and resources. This app allows users to customize the trackers according to their needs. In the usability study, there were 15 participants. The usability study participants expressed satisfaction with the app and provided comments and suggestions for further development.ConclusionsThis new mobile PHR app provides options for users to manage a wide range of personal health data conveniently in one place. The app fills the information gap between clinical visits. The study results indicated that this new mobile PHR app meets the need of users and that users welcome this app.

This research is about the development, testing and application of mobile app for optimum location spot of a single facility. The approach is to use Center of Gravity Method to locate the central locations of the facility. This equality would reflect balance and minimum time and cost. The main variables to be considered in the systems are customer's distance, customer's demands and transportation rates. In general, firms which apply technologies will perform significantly better than those that do not. This leads to the development of a mobile app to identify best location for a single facility which will serve several demand centers. After the development of a mobile app, this undergoes testing which includes verification whether the mobile app will provide the same result in theoretical computations. The study confirms that the mobile app is consistent with the theoretical computations for location planning. This mobile app becomes a decision support system suggesting that they can access this mobile app to improve the firm's performance on decision making. A faster and effective decision making since instead of manual computation which will take time, the computation will be in a few seconds plus you could visualize the geographic areas being investigated. Moreover, the mobile app is practical to implement because it is flexible and easy to use. The data needed is easy to gather. The mobile app can generate up to 100 iterations to ensure that global maxima is obtained.

Mobile Applications Development with Android: Technologies and Algorithms presents advanced techniques for mobile app development, and addresses recent developments in mobile technologies and wireless networks. The book covers advanced algorithms, embedded systems, novel mobile app architecture, and mobile cloud computing paradigms. Divided into three sections, the book explores three major dimensions in the current mobile app development domain. The first section describes mobile app design and development skills, including a quick start on using Java to run an Android application on a real phone. It also introduces 2D graphics and UI design, as well as multimedia in Android mobile apps. The second part of the book delves into advanced mobile app optimization, including an overview of mobile embedded systems and architecture. Data storage in Android, mobile optimization by dynamic programming, and mobile optimization by loop scheduling are also covered. The last section of the book looks at emerging technologies, including mobile cloud computing, advanced techniques using Big Data, and mobile Big Data storage. About the Authors Meikang Qiu is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Pace University, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He is an IEEE/ACM Senior Member, as well as Chair of the IEEE STC (Special Technical Community) on Smart Computing. He is an Associate Editor of a dozen of journals including IEEE Transactions on Computers and IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing. He has published 320+ peer-reviewed journal/conference papers and won 10+ Best Paper Awards. Wenyun Dai is pursuing his PhD at Pace University. His research interests include high performance computing, mobile data privacy, resource management optimization, cloud computing, and mobile networking. His paper about mobile app privacy has been published in IEEE Transactions on Computers. Keke Gai is pursuing his PhD at Pace University. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal or conference papers, and has received three IEEE Best Paper Awards. His research interests include cloud computing, cyber security, combinatorial optimization, business process modeling, enterprise architecture, and Internet computing. .

This article describes how the mobile app market is growing day by day. Mobile app stores have created the opportunity for the users to publicly provide feedback on mobile apps that they have installed or used. In this way, users are involved in the design and development of mobile apps, which was done by designers and developers before. Online user reviews are a useful source to know the user's perception about mobile apps and thus provide a way of co-value creation. This article is conducted to investigate the factors affecting the acceptability of mobile Apps. Main purpose of this article is to use online reviews for construction of a model instead of using existing acceptance theories. The model proposed in this research is based on the analysis of reviews and app information extracted from the Google Play Store. The ratings and number of installs are two key indicators of the popularity of an app. Other characteristics like price, category and size also influence the user's selection of an app. The findings showed the appropriateness of the proposed model and hypotheses for evaluating mobile apps acceptability and popularity. This article provides mobile app developers and marketers with an insight into the mobile app popularity and acceptability dynamics.

BackgroundAbout 99% of global maternal mortality occur in developing countries and Nigeria accounts for 20% of all maternal mortality. Major contributory factors include poverty, distance, cultural and religious beliefs, and...

The implementation of system development methodologies (SDMs) in mobile applications (mobile apps) development has a positive effect on companies and their respective software projects. SDMs provide a framework for planning, executing, and managing the process of developing software systems. In this paper, we investigate the worthiness of using of SDMs in the development of mobile applications. A survey was conducted among software developers in various organizations. The organizations included software development companies, financial institutions, telecommunication companies, engineering companies and educational institutions. A total of 152 out of 392 questionnaires distributed, were returned, giving a response rate of 38.8%. Furthermore, the responses were categorized into two groups (users/non-users of SDMs) and T-test analysis was performed to determine the differences between the means of the two groups. The findings indicate that SDMs are effectively used in developing mobile apps and there are significant practical differences between the users and non-users of SDMs in mobile apps development in areas of organizational size, the number of developers in the organization, years of experience, the number of applications developed and application success. The users (companies and individuals) are larger, more experienced and more productive. Furthermore, the use of SDMs in mobile apps development leads to more successful mobile apps. We conclude that SDMs are indeed worthy of use in mobile apps development.

The increasing demand for mobile apps is out the current capability of mobile app developers. In addition, the growing trend in smartphone ownership and the time people spend on mobile apps has raised several opportunities and risks for users and developers. The average time everyday a user spend on smartphones to use mobile apps is more than two hours. The worldwide mobile app revenue increase is estimated to grow 33%, $19 billion. Three quarter of the time used on mobile apps is solely for using game and social networking apps. To provide more customized services and function to users, mobile apps need to access to personal information. However, 80% of mobile apps put people's information privacy at risk. There is a major gap in the literature about the privacy concerns of mobile device users in the context of mobile apps. This dissertation addresses one fundamental research question: how does individuals' privacy change in the context of mobile apps? More precisely, the focus of this dissertation is on information privacy role in individuals' and mobile app developers' protective behaviors. We investigate the information sensitivity level influence on mobile app developers' emphasis on privacy across mobile app categories. The results show information sensitivity level has a significant impact on developers' emphasis on secondary usage of information. Moreover, we analyze the privacy trade-off dynamism in using a new social networking app and how it could result in emotional attachment. Results show initial use and initial disclosure influence the privacy trade-off from pre-use to initial-use period. Finally, the effect of privacy concern and engagement on emotional attachment is demonstrated. This dissertation addresses one fundamental research question: how does individuals' privacy change in the context of mobile apps? More precisely, the focus of this dissertation is on information privacy role in individuals' and mobile app developers' protective behaviors. We investigate the information sensitivity level influence on mobile app developers' emphasis on privacy across mobile app categories. The results show information sensitivity level has a significant impact on developers' emphasis on secondary usage of information. Moreover, we analyze the privacy trade-off dynamism in using a new social networking app and how it could result in emotional attachment. Results show initial use and initial disclosure influence the privacy trade-off from pre-use to initial-use period. Finally, the effect of privacy concern and engagement on emotional attachment is demonstrated.

Mobile-based applications play a leading role in changes in life-style, improve medication adherence, and provide a unique opportunity to aid patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) elevate their healthcare level. Therefore, we aim to design and develop a mobile-based self-care application for patients with T2DM. The present study was an applied and developmental study to design and develop a mobile-based self-care application for people living with T2DM conducted in 2020. The design and development of the T2DM self-care application were done in 2 main phases of determining the key features and capabilities, and design and development of the T2DM self-care mobile app. We identified the main model and a set of capabilities and features for the T2DM self-care application. By content analysis on 32 different applications and a previous study by the author, 18 features were extracted for the T2DM self-care mobile app. JAVA programming languages were used to design T2DM applications. Moreover, because of the cost-effectiveness, the Android operating system (AOS) was selected as a platform, and because of the widespread use of smartphones; these phones were chosen as the format of T2DM self-care application. In this study, we design and develop a mobile-based self-care application for patients with type 2 diabetes that shows potential in solving the shortcomings of mobile apps for diabetes care. By utilizing the T2DM self-care mobile app we are able to deploy a self-care application with a wide range of functionality such as text messaging, blood glucose monitoring, insulin dose suggestions, educational messaging, metabolic management, pedometer counts, and reporting. Future studies are needed to develop self-care applications for a different type of diabetes with different functions of diabetes care.

Leptospirosis is the most common zoonotic cause of mortality, with most of its burden occurring in tropical regions and low-income countries. It is endemic in Southeast and South Asian nations. Leptospirosis outbreaks occur after natural disasters. In Malaysia, the e-notification system of the Communicable Diseases Control Information System recorded 5217 leptospirosis cases in 2019 with 32 fatalities. The incidence rate was 15.61 per 100,000 people. Male individuals comprised 67% of leptospirosis cases, while people aged 25 to 55 years accounted for 45% of the cases. Information and perception are crucial in influencing positive behavior. Nonetheless, information on urban and rural people's knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding the incidence of leptospirosis is limited. We aimed to develop a mobile app with information on leptospirosis and measure its effectiveness in improving KAP regarding leptospirosis among wet market workers in Selangor, Malaysia. A 3-phase study will be conducted and includes development of a mobile app containing information about leptospirosis, analysis of its acceptability, and application of the intervention. Participants will be recruited based on specific inclusion criteria by using purposive sampling. Four wet markets in Hulu Langat district, Selangor, will be selected according to a list provided by local municipal councils. The respondents from each selected wet market will be workers aged 18 years and older. Mobile app development will begin with an idea description, storyboard creation, and content approval through the nominal group technique. The mobile app content will be constructed using the Health Belief Model theory. Subsequently, the usability of the mobile app prototype will be evaluated using the validated Malay version of the System Usability Scale questionnaire for the evaluation of mobile apps. This protocol entails a 12-week intervention stage, in which the baseline assessment is regarded as a pretest evaluation and the follow-up assessment as a posttest evaluation. Participant selection will be based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. This study will incorporate a set of validated questionnaires created by a group of leptospirosis experts. The validated questionnaire will comprise 9 sections with open-ended questions on sociodemographic data, KAP, and mobile app requirements. Mobile app development and usability testing were completed between January 2024 and March 2025. Participant recruitment is scheduled in April to May 2025 after submission of this manuscript, with the 12-week intervention and data collection running from May to July 2025. As of manuscript submission, recruitment, data collection, and data analysis have not yet begun. Data analysis is expected to be completed by September 2025, and results are anticipated for publication in late 2025. Due to the high number of reported leptospirosis cases in the Hulu Langat district, Selangor, this intervention study will be conducted there. The development of the mobile app may contribute to improving wet market workers' KAP regarding leptospirosis. PRR1-10.2196/75809.

Mobile apps can be used in various environments and at any time. People used them for learning, communications, and entertainment. Because of the ease use of mobile devices interface (like smartphone and tablet), then everyone, including the children with special needs, can have used them. In recent years, there has been an increase in the efforts of educational institutions and of scientists to support children in their daily life. Ongoing developments in communication and information technologies contribute to this process. The main goal of this study is to present the basic functional requirements for the mobile apps for children with special needs. The current state of the scientific research related to the design and development of mobile apps is discussed. This issue became very important in the last years because of an increase in the number of children with special needs on a worldwide scale is observed. And the same time the increase in the use of mobile technologies of them. The proposed model for the evaluation of potential utility provides for the classification of the mobile applications designed for children with special needs about their functionality features. This model is based on our studies of the state-of-art scientific works of many authors. Whit the model for the evaluation of potential utility, the 27 mobile applications for children with special needs, downloaded from the mobile application stores: Apple Store, Google Play and Store Windows Phone Apps, were classified and analyzed. The results showed that despite the variety of mobile applications, those that are suitable for children with special needs are too few. Most of the applications cover only half of the evaluation criteria, which means they have functionalities only for individual needs. Therefore, the proposed utility function metrics of the evaluation can be used as a basis for interface developing for mobile apps, appropriate for children with special needs.

The development of mobile apps, which are either suitably adapted or especially designed for use by sensory-deprived people, have contributed significantly to the continuously increasing adoption of digital assistive technologies by people with disabilities. Throughout the design of two assistive navigation mobile apps for blind and visually impaired people (BVI), a set of everyday practices and psychological features of the BVIs with respect to the use of mobile technology was identified. Specifically, interviews with BVIs were held at the first stage of the design process. The analysis of the responses revealed that appropriate training of a BVI on how to use these apps plays significant role on the anticipated app adoption and use rate. This study presents the everyday practices and psychological features of the BVIs, as they were inferred from the analysis of the interviews. It is argued that these psychological features and practices must be considered in the development of training practices concerning the use of the proposed technology. Towards this direction, a framework for the adequate training of BVIs on the use of assistive mobile apps is presented. Consideration of this framework during the development of assistive mobile apps for BVIs could contribute towards higher adoption rates.