Assessing the usability and user engagement of Thought Spot - A digital mental health help-seeking solution for transition-aged youth

Internet Interventions

Aristotle Voineskos¹  Janine Robb²  Howard W. Wong³  Marcos Sanches⁴  Gloria Chaim⁴  Quynh Pham⁵  Elisa Hollenberg⁶  Andrea Levinson⁷  David Wiljer⁷  Joanna Henderson⁸  Kristin Cleverley⁹  Jenny Shi⁹  Brian Lo⁹  Alexxa Abi-Jaoudé⁹  Andrew Johnson⁹ 

[1] Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression, Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON M5J 1H4, Canada;Family Mental Health, Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, 80 Workman Way, Toronto, ON M5J 1H4, Canada;Information Management Group, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 100 Stokes Street, Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada;Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, 425-155 College St, Toronto, ON M5T 1P8, Canada;;Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth &UHN Digital, University Health Network, 200 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G 2C4, Canada;Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th floor, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada;Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, 250 College St, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada;Office of Education, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 1025 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada;

关键词: Engagement;    User experience;    Telemedicine;    Transition-aged youth;    Help-seeking;    Mobile app;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Objective: To evaluate the perceived usability of and user engagement with a digital platform (Thought Spot) designed to enhance mental health and wellness help-seeking among transition-aged youth (TAY; 17–29-years old). Materials and methods: Survey responses and usage patterns were collected as part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of Thought Spot. Participants given Thought Spot completed an adapted Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of Use (USE) Questionnaire to measure perceived usability of the platform. User engagement patterns on Thought Spot were examined using analytics data collected throughout the study (March 2018–June 2019). Results: A total of 131 transition-aged participants completed the USE questionnaire and logged on to Thought Spot at least once. Ease of learning scored higher than ease of use, usefulness and satisfaction. Participants identified numerous strengths and challenges related to usability, visual appeal, functionality and usefulness of the content. In terms of user engagement, most participants stopped using the platform after 3 weeks. Participants searched and were interested in a variety of resources, including mental health, counselling and social services. Discussion: Participants reported mixed experiences while using Thought Spot and exhibited low levels of long-term user engagement. User satisfaction, the willingness to recommend Thought Spot to others, and the willingness for future use appeared to be influenced by content relevance, ease of learning, available features, and other contextual factors. Analysis of the types of resources viewed and searches conducted by TAY end-users provided insight into their behaviour and needs. Conclusion: Users had mixed perceptions about the usability of Thought Spot, which may have contributed to the high attrition rate. User satisfaction and engagement appears to be influenced by content relevance, ease of learning, and the types of features available. Further investigation to understand the contextual factors that affect TAYs' adoption and engagement with digital mental health tools is required.

【 授权许可】

Unknown