Evaluating User Experience and Satisfaction in a Concussion Rehabilitation App: #usability Study
Background: Evidence-based guidelines support the use of structured exercise to facilitate concussion recovery. However, despite the growing number of mobile health (mHealth) applications aimed at managing concussion, few focus on delivering exercise rehabilitation protocols. Thus, a mobile application (app) was developed to provide personalized rehabilitation programs based on evidence-based exercise principles designed to cater to individuals recovering from concussions. Objective: To evaluate the #usability and user experience of a mobile app in delivering an evidence-based rehabilitation program to individuals recovering from concussions. Methods: A 2-week prospective single-arm pilot study was conducted on adults with a physician-diagnosed concussion. Participants engaged in home-based rehabilitation exercises through a mobile app. #usability was assessed using a combination of the mHealth App #usability Questionnaire (MAUQ) and five custom questions targeting confidence in recommendations, flow of exercises, clarity of voice commands, and #usability of the exercise report feature. Following the 2-week period, participants rated each question on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Results: Twenty-six participants consented and enrolled into the study with 23 participants (82%) completing all study components at the end of 2 weeks. Most participants were female (n=18, 78%), were between the ages of 26 and 38, and on average, were approximately three months post-concussion. Responses to both the MAUQ and additional custom questions were overwhelmingly positive. Overall, seven of the MAUQ questions received 100% positive responses, with no single question receiving below 83% positive responses. Under the ‘ease of use and satisfaction’ category, 100% of users responded positively to questions on ease of learning, #usability, interface likeness, and comfort in social settings, while 83–96% responded positively to the remaining four questions. In the ‘system information arrangement’ category, 100% of users rated screen navigation, function #usability, and healthcare service acceptability positively, with 87–96% approving action acknowledgment, error recovery, and expected functions. Under ‘usefulness’, 96% found the app beneficial for health and well-being, and 91% felt it effectively managed their health. For the five custom questions, 100% responded positively to voice command clarity, exercise awareness, ease of following exercises, and report understandability, with a single unfavourable response noted for confidence in app recommendations. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that the mobile app is a user-friendly platform for delivering evidence-based exercise rehabilitation to individuals recovering from concussions. Positive user feedback, particularly in the areas of recommendation confidence, ease of exercise flow, and clarity of voice commands, highlights the app’s potential to support concussion recovery. Moving forward, future iterations of the app will aim to improve time efficiency and streamline error recovery processes to further enhance the user experience.
