Consumer Involvement in the Co-Design of Diabetes Self-Management Smartphone Apps: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Consumer involvement in co-design is vital for developing effective diabetes self-management smartphone applications.
• Existing research lacks a comprehensive understanding of how consumers are involved in these co-design processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the extent and nature of consumer involvement in the co-design of diabetes self-management smartphone apps.
• To identify the methods, approaches, and frameworks guiding consumer involvement in app co-design.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines.
• Literature search across five databases, examining consumer involvement types, co-design approaches, behavioral theories, and frameworks.
• Synthesis of findings using SPSS and Excel.

Main Results:

• 283 articles were included, with most studies from Asia focusing on type 2 diabetes.
• Prototype evaluation (82.3%) and iterative responsiveness (85.2%) were common, but consumer engagement was limited in early design stages.
• Most articles (66.8%) did not report specific methods; user-centered design was the most common (7.4%), and social cognitive theory was rarely used (3.9%).

Conclusions:

• Consumer involvement in diabetes app co-design is often confined to later stages, particularly prototype evaluation.
• There is inconsistent reporting and limited engagement during critical early design phases, impacting app relevance and effectiveness.
• Enhancing consumer engagement across all co-design phases and improving reporting are crucial for developing successful diabetes self-management apps.