Cognitive Accessibility in User Experience Assessment of Mobile Health: A Review

With an increasingly aging population, cognitive impairment (CI) prevalence is a major concern in healthcare. The international standard for health technologies specifies requirements to design cognitively accessible products aimed to support people with CI regardless of age. While User Experience (UX) design frameworks like the Honeycomb define accessibility as a dimension to be considered, little is known about how cognitive accessibility (CA) is being regarded in the UX assessment of mobile health (mHealth). We conducted a secondary analysis from a broader review on UX assessment of interactive mHealth technologies focusing on CA consideration in those targeted to people with, or at risk of CI. Nine papers were analyzed. Most common adaptations of the UX assessment procedure were to involve caregivers, conducting interviews in person and in naturalistic settings and time considerations. Only one study utilized an adapted validated version of mHealth technology questionnaire. Considerations of CA included means of motivation, simple design considerations and means of representation and understanding. While some guidelines of CA are being regarded, results of the assessments show a gap between what is important for patients and what was considered in the evaluation instruments. Developing mHealth specific UX questionnaires could help in understanding the needs of people with CI and guide the design of accessible technologies.