A theory-driven user-centered design framework for wellness applications targeting young adults: The MiCARE...

Lifestyle medicine is a rapidly growing field focused on preventing, managing, and, in some cases, reversing chronic diseases. Digital wellness applications offer opportunities to support and scale lifestyle medicine practices. However, most commercially available applications lack evidence-based design and theoretical grounding. Additionally, many compromise personalization and cultural relevance, which leads to poor sustained engagement, especially among young adults. Therefore, input from both end users and domain experts is vital to ensure responsible design and inform the design of user engagement features.

This study outlines the systematic development of a design framework and feature blueprint for an AI-augmented wellness web app to support engagement and understanding among young adults. It also documents the process for digital health researchers and developers.

This formative user experience design study used a three-phase user-centered design process. Phase 1 involved background analysis and conceptualization via systematic literature review, expert consultations, formative research with young adults, and rapid user interface/user experience design review. Phase 2 focused on wireframe development and evaluation through Figma prototypes with iterative expert feedback. Phase 3 covered prototype development. Conducted in Victoria, Australia, from April 2024 to October 2025, the process included an iterative feedback loop.

Phase 1 revealed barriers like high dropout rates, poor personalization, and cultural issues. Feedback from experts and users (60% female (mean age 27.3 years) and 40% male (mean age 28.4 years)) yielded five objectives: empathy-driven interaction, equity-focused accessibility, culturally responsive personalization, incremental goal setting, and intuitive onboarding. Preliminary user preferences for grid layouts (55%), large buttons (65%), and minimalist designs (50%) shaped features. A rationale table maps theory to features.

This study presents a theory-driven, stakeholder-informed method for designing AI-augmented wellness app features guided by inclusive principles, while providing a replicable methodology for developing the design of engagement-oriented digital health solutions for young adults. The functional prototype requires rigorous usability testing to validate these preliminary design specifications.