Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Mar 19, 2018
Date Accepted: Jan 25, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Utility and Usability Testing of A Mobile Web-App (ScreenMen) to Improve Health Screening Uptake in Men
ABSTRACT
Background:
ScreenMen, a mobile web-app which aimed to improve health screening uptake in men was developed based on theories, evidence and needs.
Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate ScreenMen for its utility and usability with men from the community.
Methods:
This study used a mixed-method approach. Healthy men who are working in a banking institution were recruited to participant in this study. They were purposively sampled according to job position, age, education level and screening status. Men were asked to use ScreenMen independently while the screen activities are being recorded. Once completed, retrospective think aloud with playback was conducted with men to obtain their feedback. They were asked to answer the System Usability Scale. Intention to undergo screening pre- and post- intervention were also measured. Qualitative data were analysed using a framework approach and followed by thematic analysis. For quantitative data obtained, the mean SUS score and change in intention to screening were calculated and analyses using McNemar test.
Results:
Twenty-four men participated in this study. Based on the qualitative data, men found ScreenMen useful as they could learn more about their health risks and screening. They found ScreenMen convenient to use and might trigger men to undergo screening. In terms of usability, men thought that ScreenMen was user-friendly and easy to understand. The key revision done on utility was the addition of a reminder function while for usability, the revisions done were in terms of attracting and gaining users trust; improving learnability; and making ScreenMen usable to all types of users. To attract men to use it, ScreenMen was introduced to users in terms of ‘improving health’ instead of ‘going for screening’. Another important revision made was emphasising the screening tests the users do not need instead of just informing them the screening tests they need. A ‘Quick Assessment Mode’ was also added for users with limited attention span. The quantitative data showed that eight (34.8%) out of 23 men planned to attend screening earlier than intended after using the ScreenMen. Out of 12 men who were in pre-contemplation stage, 4 (33.3%) changed to either contemplation or preparation stage after using ScreenMen. In terms of usability, the SUS score of 76.4 indicated that ScreenMen had good usability.
Conclusions:
This study showed that ScreenMen was acceptable to men in terms of its utility and usability. The preliminary data suggested that ScreenMen might increase men’s intention to undergo screening. This paper also presented key lessons learnt from the beta testing, which would useful for public health experts and researchers when developing a user-centered mobile web-app. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
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