Usability Testing of a mHealth App to Support Self-Management of HIV-Associated Non-AIDS Related Symptoms

Mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) are uniquely poised to offer the information that persons living with HIV (PLWH) need to manage the symptoms associated with their chronic condition. The purpose of this study was to assess the usability of a mHealth app designed to help PL WH self-manage the symptoms associated with their HIV and HIV-associated non-AIDS (HANA) conditions. We conducted a heuristic evaluation with five experts in informatics and end-user testing with 20 PLWH. End-users completed the PSSUQ and Health-ITUES validated measures of system usability. Mean severity scores for the 10-item heuristic checklist completed by experts ranged from 0.4–2.4. End-users gave the system high scores on the PSSUQ and Health-ITUES usability measures (mean 2.23±0.83 and 4.24±0.62 respectively). Results indicated the system is usable and will be ready for future efficacy testing after incorporation of recommended feedback.