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Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults
BACKGROUND: Most older Americans do not exercise regularly and many have chronic conditions. Among an increasing number of fitness mobile and Web apps, few are designed for older adults with chronic conditions despite high ownership rates of mobile tools and Internet access in this population. We de...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Gunther Eysenbach
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4797672/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27025254 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/humanfactors.3787 |
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author | Hong, Yan Goldberg, Daniel Dahlke, Deborah Vollmer Ory, Marcia G Cargill, Jessica S Coughlin, Rachel Hernandez, Edgar Kellstedt, Debra K Peres, S Camille |
author_facet | Hong, Yan Goldberg, Daniel Dahlke, Deborah Vollmer Ory, Marcia G Cargill, Jessica S Coughlin, Rachel Hernandez, Edgar Kellstedt, Debra K Peres, S Camille |
author_sort | Hong, Yan |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Most older Americans do not exercise regularly and many have chronic conditions. Among an increasing number of fitness mobile and Web apps, few are designed for older adults with chronic conditions despite high ownership rates of mobile tools and Internet access in this population. We designed a mobile-enabled Web app, iCanFit, to promote physical activity in this population. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test the usability and acceptability of iCanFit among older adults in a community setting. METHODS: A total of 33 older adults (aged 60 to 82 years) were recruited from communities to test iCanFit. Of these 33, 10 participants completed the usability testing in a computer room of a senior community center. A research assistant timed each Web application task and observed user navigation behavior using usability metrics. The other 23 participants used the website on their own devices at home and provided feedback after 2-3 weeks by completing a user-experience survey assessing ease of use, helpfulness, and satisfaction with iCanFit. RESULTS: Participants completed all 15 tasks on the iCanFit site in an average of 31 (SD 6.9) minutes; some tasks required more time or needed assistance. Participants’ comments were addressed to improve the site’s senior friendliness and ease of use. In the user-experience survey, participants reported high levels of usefulness and satisfaction. More than 56% (13/23) of participants indicated they would continue using the program and recommend it to their families or friends. CONCLUSIONS: Testing usability and acceptability is a very important step in developing age-appropriate and user-friendly Web apps, especially for older adults. Testing usability and acceptability in a community setting can help reveal users’ experiences and feedback in a real-life setting. Our study suggested that older adults had a high degree of acceptance of iCanFit and could use it easily. The efficacy trial of iCanFit is currently underway. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4797672 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Gunther Eysenbach |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-47976722016-03-23 Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults Hong, Yan Goldberg, Daniel Dahlke, Deborah Vollmer Ory, Marcia G Cargill, Jessica S Coughlin, Rachel Hernandez, Edgar Kellstedt, Debra K Peres, S Camille JMIR Hum Factors Original Paper BACKGROUND: Most older Americans do not exercise regularly and many have chronic conditions. Among an increasing number of fitness mobile and Web apps, few are designed for older adults with chronic conditions despite high ownership rates of mobile tools and Internet access in this population. We designed a mobile-enabled Web app, iCanFit, to promote physical activity in this population. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test the usability and acceptability of iCanFit among older adults in a community setting. METHODS: A total of 33 older adults (aged 60 to 82 years) were recruited from communities to test iCanFit. Of these 33, 10 participants completed the usability testing in a computer room of a senior community center. A research assistant timed each Web application task and observed user navigation behavior using usability metrics. The other 23 participants used the website on their own devices at home and provided feedback after 2-3 weeks by completing a user-experience survey assessing ease of use, helpfulness, and satisfaction with iCanFit. RESULTS: Participants completed all 15 tasks on the iCanFit site in an average of 31 (SD 6.9) minutes; some tasks required more time or needed assistance. Participants’ comments were addressed to improve the site’s senior friendliness and ease of use. In the user-experience survey, participants reported high levels of usefulness and satisfaction. More than 56% (13/23) of participants indicated they would continue using the program and recommend it to their families or friends. CONCLUSIONS: Testing usability and acceptability is a very important step in developing age-appropriate and user-friendly Web apps, especially for older adults. Testing usability and acceptability in a community setting can help reveal users’ experiences and feedback in a real-life setting. Our study suggested that older adults had a high degree of acceptance of iCanFit and could use it easily. The efficacy trial of iCanFit is currently underway. Gunther Eysenbach 2014-10-13 /pmc/articles/PMC4797672/ /pubmed/27025254 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/humanfactors.3787 Text en ©Yan Hong, Daniel Goldberg, Deborah Vollmer Dahlke, Marcia G Ory, Jessica S Cargill, Rachel Coughlin, Edgar Hernandez, Debra K Kellstedt, S Camille Peres. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (http://humanfactors.jmir.org), 13.10.2014. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. |
spellingShingle | Original Paper Hong, Yan Goldberg, Daniel Dahlke, Deborah Vollmer Ory, Marcia G Cargill, Jessica S Coughlin, Rachel Hernandez, Edgar Kellstedt, Debra K Peres, S Camille Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults |
title | Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults |
title_full | Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults |
title_fullStr | Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults |
title_full_unstemmed | Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults |
title_short | Testing Usability and Acceptability of a Web Application to Promote Physical Activity (iCanFit) Among Older Adults |
title_sort | testing usability and acceptability of a web application to promote physical activity (icanfit) among older adults |
topic | Original Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4797672/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27025254 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/humanfactors.3787 |
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