JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Intake24, an online 24-hour dietary recall tool developed in the United Kingdom, was adapted for use in New Zealand (Intake24-NZ) through addition of a New Zealand food list, portion size images, and food composition database. Due to the customisations made, a thorough evaluation of the tool’s usability was required. Detailed qualitative usability studies are well-suited to investigate any challenges encountered while completing an online 24-hour recall and provide meaningful data to inform enhancements to the tool.

Objective:

To evaluate the usability of Intake24-NZ and identify improvements to enhance both the user experience and the quality of dietary intake data collected.

Methods:

We employed a mixed method approach comprising two components: 1) completion of a single 24-hour dietary recall using Intake24-NZ with both screen observation recordings and collation of verbal participant feedback on their experience, and 2) an online survey.

Results:

Thirty-seven participants aged 11 years or older self-completed the dietary recall and usability survey (male n=14, female n=23; Māori n=10, non-Māori n=27). Although most reported that Intake24-NZ was easy to use and navigate (n=31, 74%), data from the recorded observations and usability survey revealed challenges related to correct use of search terms, search results obtained (eg, type and order of foods displayed), portion size estimation, and associated food prompts (eg, did you add milk to your tea?).

Conclusions:

This comprehensive usability study identified challenges experienced by users in completing a dietary recall in Intake24-NZ. The results will inform a series of improvements to enhance user experience and the quality of dietary data collected with Intake24-NZ, including adding new foods to the food list, optimising the search function and ordering of search results, creating new portion size images, and providing clearer instructions to the users.