Co-design Tensions Between Parents, Children, and Researchers Regarding Mobile Health Technology Design Needs and...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Health Behavior

Background:

• Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) offer dynamic, context-aware behavior change support via mobile health.
• Limited research explores end-user involvement in JITAI development, especially from marginalized families.
• Understanding value tensions in co-design is crucial for public health researchers and designers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the inclusion of historically marginalized families in JITAI co-design from a public health viewpoint.
• To investigate co-design processes for JITAIs focused on improving sun protection behaviors in Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) children and adults.
• To analyze value tensions between parents' and children's needs in mobile health technology development.

Main Methods:

• Examined co-design data from local and web-based sessions with predominantly Latinx and multiracial families in Los Angeles.
• Conducted stakeholder analysis, assessing perceptions of harms, benefits, views, and values.
• Utilized a value-sensitive design framework with open coding to analyze qualitative data and identify value tensions.

Main Results:

• Identified three key themes: differing sun exposure experiences, misconceptions about sun protection, and technology design expectations.
• Categorized subthemes as value flow, value dam, or hybrid problems, linking them to design decisions.
• Documented specific design decisions made in response to observed value tensions between stakeholders.

Conclusions:

• Provided empirical insights into co-designing with BIPOC families, including children and adults.
• Demonstrated the utility of the value tension framework for organizing co-design responses into actionable design guidelines.
• Offered design implications for developing effective JITAI mobile interventions tailored for BIPOC families.