Co-Designing a Digital Brain Health Intervention for Chinese Older Adults: A User-Centred Approach

This study aimed to co-design, with key stakeholders, a digital dementia risk reduction application (app) for Chinese older migrant adults and carers residing in Australia, and to address the challenges of this proposed intervention.

A four-stage co-design process was conducted, followed by one usability testing session. Each workshop focussed on core domains of healthy ageing and included guided discussions, interactive app testing and structured feedback activities. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes. The app prototype was refined between sessions and changes were guided by participant feedback.

A total of 20 end-users and 18 usability testers participated in this study (mean age = 74.8 years, SD = 8.2, range = 61-89). Participants expressed strong preferences for culturally tailored, interactive and visually clear app features. Eight themes emerged: health prioritisation in later life, designing for simplicity, functional needs in brain health testing, goal setting and motivation, brain training preferences, dietary preferences, preventive health monitoring and trusted medical information, and iterative design feedback. Older adults demonstrated high receptivity to health tracking and goal setting features when framed as personally relevant and adjustable. Feedback informed design features such as icon clarity, font size, navigation simplicity, motivational rewards and culturally specific content.

This study highlighted the importance of co-design in developing effective digital tools for older adults. The active involvement of Chinese older adults in shaping the app supported cultural sensitivity, usability and individual motivational alignment. The final prototype reflected both sociotechnical responsiveness and real-world relevance and offers a potential, scalable model for culturally-tailored digital health interventions.