Exploring the design of mhealth systems for health behavior change using mobile biosensors

Abstract

A person’s health behavior plays a vital role in mitigating their risk of disease and promoting positive health outcomes. In recent years, mHealth systems have emerged to offer novel approaches for encouraging and supporting users in changing their health behavior. Mobile biosensors represent a promising technology in this regard; that is, sensors that collect physiological data (e.g., heart rate, respiration, skin conductance) that individuals wear, carry, or access during their normal daily activities. mHealth system designers have started to use the health information from physiological data to deliver behavior-change interventions. However, little research provides guidance about how one can design mHealth systems to use mobile biosensors for health behavior change. In order to address this research gap, we conducted an exploratory study. Following a hybrid approach that combines deductive and inductive reasoning, we integrated a body of fragmented literature and conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with mHealth stakeholders. From this study, we developed a theoretical framework and six general design guidelines that shed light on the theoretical pathways for how the mHealth interface can facilitate behavior change and provide practical design considerations.