Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jul 2, 2020
Date Accepted: Feb 8, 2021
A Uniquely Targeted HIV Prevention Intervention for Young Transgender Women: Mobile Adaptation and Usability Testing
ABSTRACT
Background:
Young transgender women are a key population to reach for HIV-related risk reduction, yet very few interventions have been developed to meet their needs. Mobile health interventions, with the potential for both efficacy and wide reach, are a promising strategy to reduce HIV risk among young transgender women.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to adapt an efficacious group-based intervention to mobile app, Project LifeSkills, to reduce HIV risk among young transgender women, and then test its acceptability and usability.
Methods:
The group-based intervention was adapted to a mobile app, LifeSkills Mobile, with input from an expert advisory group and feedback from young transgender women collected during user-centered design sessions. A beta version of the app was then tested in a usability evaluation using a think-aloud protocol with de-briefing interview, recording of screen activity, and assessment of usability on the Post Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ) and the Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Scale (Health-ITUES).
Results:
Young transgender women (N=8; mean age 24.1, 87.5% racial/ethnic minority), provided feedback on the app prototype in design sessions and then tested a beta version of the app in a usability trial (N=10; mean age 24.5, 80% racial/ethnic minority). Usability ratings were in the good to excellent range (mean Health-ITUES=4.59, SD=0.86, scale range 1-5) as were ratings for satisfaction/accessibility (mean PSSUQ=4.64, DS=0.90, scale range 1-5). There were no functional bugs identified and all mobile activities deployed as expected. Participant feedback in usability interviews indicates very good salience of the intervention content for the target population. Participant suggestions to further increase app engagement include: animation, audio, and reduced text.
Conclusions:
We conclude that LifeSkills Mobile app is a highly usable and engaging mobile app for HIV prevention among young transgender women. Clinical Trial: N/A
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.