# StudyMe: A New Mobile App for User-Centric N-of-1 Trials

**Authors:** Alexander M. Zenner, Erwin Böttinger, Stefan Konigorski  
**arXiv:** [2108.00320](https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.00320)  
**Date:** 2021-07-31  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/arxiv-id/2108.00320v1/

## Key points

- StudyMe is an open-source mobile application for conducting user-centric N-of-1 trials
- Multi-crossover self-experiments help evaluate the effect of interventions on personal health goals
- The app offers flexibility and guidance for non-experts to apply personalized health-related interventions and behavior modifications
- StudyMe was developed based on a user-centered approach with usability as the main focus
- An initial survey with 272 participants informed the development of StudyMe by identifying health topics users are interested in improving and what kind of guidance they might need
- Participants were interested in improving various aspects of their health including lifestyle changes, physical symptoms/concerns, mental health issues, overall well-being/maintaining health/preventing disease
- A final empirical evaluation showed that all participants were able to create their own trials successfully using the app with very good usability ratings achieved
- StudyMe enables individuals to apply a systematic science-oriented approach to personalize health-related interventions and behavior modifications in their everyday lives.

## Summary

StudyMe is an open-source mobile application that enables individuals to conduct their own user-centric N-of-1 trials. These multi-crossover self-experiments allow individuals to systematically evaluate the effect of interventions on their personal health goals. The app offers users flexibility and guidance in configuring every component of their trials, making it easy for non-experts to apply personalized health-related interventions and behavior modifications in their everyday lives. The development process of StudyMe was based on a user-centered approach with usability as the main focus. It features an educational part that communicates N-of-1 trial concepts and underwent multiple iterations involving research, design, development, and user testing to ensure its effectiveness. An initial survey with 272 participants informed the development of StudyMe by identifying the health topics users are interested in improving and what kind of guidance they might need. Responses were manually coded based on themes derived from an iterative process using inductive thematic analysis. The survey results showed that participants were interested in improving various aspects of their health including lifestyle changes, physical symptoms/concerns, mental health issues, overall well-being/maintaining health/preventing disease. A final empirical evaluation of StudyMe showed that all participants were able to create their own trials successfully using the app with very good usability ratings achieved. Overall, StudyMe provides a significant step towards enabling individuals to apply a systematic science-oriented approach to personalize health related interventions and behavior modifications in their everyday lives. With its availability on Github for source code access and continuous refinement through design and development processes focused on user experience enhancement, StudyMe has great potential for enabling more people to take control of their personal health goals through N-of 1 trials.