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.
StudyMe is a phone app that helps people test how different things affect their health goals. The app is easy to use and was made with feedback from lots of people. People can use the app to improve different parts of their health like their body, mind, and overall well-being. Everyone who tried using the app said it was easy to use.
Definitions
- Open-source: A type of software that anyone can see and change for free.
- N-of-1 trial: A type of study where one person tests something on themselves.
- Interventions: Things people do or take to try to improve their health.
- Usability: How easy something is to use.
- Empirical evaluation: A way of testing if something works by doing experiments.
StudyMe: A User-Centric Mobile Application for N-of-1 Trials
Personalized health interventions and behavior modifications are becoming increasingly popular as individuals take control of their own health goals. However, it can be difficult to know what works best for each individual without a scientific approach. This is where StudyMe comes in – an open source mobile application that enables users to conduct their own user-centric N-of-1 trials.
N-of 1 trials are multi crossover self experiments designed to evaluate the effect of interventions on personal health goals. They involve testing different interventions one at a time, while controlling for other factors such as diet, exercise and sleep habits. 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.
Survey Results
An initial survey with 272 participants informed the development of StudyMe by identifying the health topics users were 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 and overall well being/maintaining health/preventing disease.
Empirical Evaluation
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
N-of-1 trials are multi-crossover self-experiments that allow individuals to systematically evaluate the effect of interventions on their personal health goals. Although several tools for N-of-1 trials exist, none support non-experts in conducting their own user-centric trials. In this study we present StudyMe, an open-source mobile application that is freely available from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=health.studyu.me and offers users flexibility and guidance in configuring every component of their trials. We also present research that informed the development of StudyMe. Through an initial survey with 272 participants, we learned that individuals are interested in a variety of personal health aspects and have unique ideas on how to improve them. In an iterative, user-centered development process with intermediate user tests we developed StudyMe that also features an educational part to communicate N-of-1 trial concepts. A final empirical evaluation of StudyMe showed that all participants were able to create their own trials successfully using StudyMe and the app achieved a very good usability rating. Our findings suggest that 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.
