Incorporating Consumers' Needs in Nutrition Apps to Promote and Maintain Use: Mixed Methods Study.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Behavioral Science
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Nutrition apps are tools for healthier eating but often face early user discontinuation.
• Understanding user needs is vital for enhancing app adoption and long-term dietary behavior change.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify essential nutrition app functionalities for initiating and maintaining user engagement from both user and non-user perspectives.
• Investigate primary reasons for early cessation of nutrition app usage.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach combining qualitative (home-use tests, focus group discussions with 40 participants) and quantitative (large-scale survey with 1420 participants) studies.
• Utilized 7-point Likert scales to rate the importance of 46 app functionalities across three phases of app use: start, use, and end.

Main Results:

• Identified 10 user-centric aspects and 46 functionalities crucial for nutrition app success across start, use, and end phases.
• Top-rated functionalities include clear introductions, flexible tracking, comprehensive food databases, easy navigation, limited ads, realistic goal setting, and continuous information provision.
• High time investment emerged as the primary reason for users quitting nutrition apps.

Conclusions:

• Nutrition apps require tailored functionalities for each phase (start, use, end) to foster sustained use and promote dietary behavior change.
• App developers must prioritize features that support users throughout their journey and address the significant barrier of high time commitment.