Refinement of a Parent-Child Shared Asthma Management Mobile Health App: Human-Centered Design Study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Asthma Management
• Mobile Health (mHealth) Interventions
• Human-Centered Design (HCD)

Background:

• School-age children (7-11 years) begin taking responsibility for their asthma care.
• A theoretically derived, tailored parent-child shared asthma management mobile app prototype, Improving Asthma Care Together (IMPACT), was previously developed.
• Optimizing user experience and engagement is crucial for effective pediatric asthma self-management tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To iteratively refine the IMPACT app using human-centered design (HCD).
• To optimize the user experience for both parents and children.
• To incorporate evidence-based strategies for longitudinal engagement in asthma management.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods design was employed from December 2019 to April 2021.
• The HCD process involved 6 iterative cycles of research, ideation, design, evaluation, and implementation.
• Evaluation included concept and usability testing with parent-child dyads, analyzed via rapid thematic analysis.

Main Results:

• Twelve parent-child dyads participated in the study.
• The final design prototype incorporated user-selected features, layouts, and gamification concepts.
• Co-design addressed real-world pain points and priorities identified by end-users.

Conclusions:

• A theoretically derived, evidence-based shared asthma management app was successfully co-designed with end-users.
• The co-design process prioritized user experience and engagement.
• A forthcoming pilot study will assess the app's feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy.