Designing an app for harmful
drinking young adults: a user
perspective
Centre for Behaviour Change Annual Conference
24TH February 2016
Reducing harmful alcohol consumption in
young people (18-30) who live in South London
 Screening and brief intervention (SBI):
 Questionnaire about drinking
 Advice/information on cutting down alcohol use
 Meta-analyses demonstrate that SBI, delivered both face-to-face
and electronically (eSBI) by computer is effective in reducing
alcohol consumption [1-4].
 eSBI can be delivered discreetly and flexibly, at a competitive cost,
without reliance on the time of healthcare staff [5, 6].
 eSBI is the preferred delivery medium for alcohol SBI in young adults
[7].
However…
Consistent reporting of low engagement rates with online
health behaviour change interventions.
 Only a minority of users revisit an online health intervention more than once [8]
 high rates of dropout and attrition [9,10]
Our objectives:
 To target content and features to young people using a User Centered Design
approach
 In order to maximise engagement rates with the app
Milward, J., Khadjesari, Z., Deluca, P., Fincham-Campbell, S., Watson, R., &
Drummond, C. (2016). User preferences for content, features and style for an
app to reduce harmful drinking in young adults. JMIR mhealth (In press).
1) Active components of alcohol brief interventions:
• Self-monitoring [11]
• Feedback [12]
• Change plan [12]
2) A review of user feedback of existing smartphone apps available on iTunes and
GooglePlay that support a reduction in alcohol consumption.
3) Focus groups with young adults drinking at harmful levels and residing in South
London
Aim of the study
To qualitatively identify through focus groups, the
preferences for content, functionality and
aesthetics for a smartphone app for young adults
who drink harmfully.
Project 2: Methods
 Participants
 Young adults, aged between 18-30
years who lived in South London and
scored 16+ on the alcohol use disorders
identification test (AUDIT)
 Recruitment
 Participants were recruited via paid
online advertisements through
Facebook and Gumtree.
 Data collection
 Participants were asked to download a
specific eSBI app and use it over the
course of a week.
 Focus groups explored what users liked
and disliked about the app, how they
would improve it and which features
they would include if they were
designing an app themselves.
 Data analysis: Thematic analysis organising
the data into themes and sub-themes.
Participant characteristics
• 200 people completed the online screening survey; 117 from an advertisement
placed on Gumtree, 83 via Facebook.
• 81 (40%) had a self-reported score of 16 or more on the AUDIT, were between 18-30,
and, lived in South London.
• 21 participants attended one of four focus groups
• Of the 21 participants, 86% were female, 57% were employed, 33% were students and
10% were unemployed.
• The mean AUDIT score across the participants was 20 (SD=5.0).
Results
Two main themes were identified.
1) ‘Meaningfulness’ theme:
• Apps need to be tailored to the interests and values of young
people.
• Emphasised need for content and feedback around broader
health and wellbeing factors such as exercise, diet and image.
Results Continued
2) ‘Community’ theme:
• Young adults want to be able to engage with other app users, both
in groups of friends and with online users for motivation and support.
Conclusions
• All app components should be developed with the user in-mind, so
that the app is meaningful to the target group.
• Broader lifestyle and wellbeing factors, targeted at short-term health
and image improvement, were most highly rated as providing
motivation for drinking reduction in young people.
• Young adults wanted to be able to draw upon the support of others to
help them drink less via digital technologies.
Next steps…
• Make the app content meaningful, relevant
and engaging – provide tailored content on
broader lifestyle functions associated with
alcohol.
• Incorporate a social element.
• Messages from the
research team,
tailored to users
•
Notification of
other team
members activity
including shared
goals.
•
Reminders of goal
achievement and
progress
• Reminders on an
alcohol free day or
hangover free day
References
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alcohol
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4060043/. PMID: 24892426.
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Alcohol Use
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Acknowledgements
The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research
(NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care
South London at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The views
expressed are those of the authors’ and not necessarily those of the NHS,
the NIHR or the Department of Health. Colin Drummond is partly funded
by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South
London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London
and partly funded by the NIHR Collaborations for Leadership in Applied
Health Research and Care South London at King’s College Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust.