User-Centered Design Model for Mobile Health (mHealth) Applications: A Military Case Study in Rapid Assessment Process (RAP)

Abstract

This case study presents our novel user-centered design model for mHealth applications through our experiences developing Battle Buddy, an mHealth app designed to support the physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being of US service members and their families. Our approach combines an Information Systems Research (ISR) framework with the qualitative methodology of Rapid Assessment Process (RAP) to 1) guide app development and 2) include end-users into the design process in a meaningful way. The ISR framework is known in the HCI community but is rarely applied to the domain of mHealth applications, while RAP is a fast, cost-effective process for gaining insight into a situation from an insider’s perspective. This case study mainly focuses on our team’s experience with RAP to explore the mHealth needs and design preferences of members of the military community through a series of end-user interviews conducted by a community “insider”. Findings from our work support the use of combining the ISR framework with RAP as a process for designing future mHealth apps and understanding the unique needs and design preferences of groups of specific end-users.