A Dyad of Lenses for the Motivational Design of mHealth: Bridging the Gap between Health Theory and App Design

Abstract

Despite an abundance of literature on health behavior, behavior change, and motivational psychology, it is not always clear for health app designers how to translate these theoretical models and constructs into actionable, motivational app features. To bridge the gap between theories and features, we crafted a dyad of lenses. The lens of features offers designers a description at the implementation level. The lens of theories presents an accessible explanation of the health theory. Essential is that each lens offers cross-links: the lens of features links to the different theoretical concepts that ground the feature. The lens of theories cross-links to the different features that operationalize the theory or construct. The dyadic lenses are accessible via an online platform. In this paper, we first present the development of the dyadic lenses, i.e. the selection of the features and mapping to psychological theories. Next, we present an evaluation of the dyadic lenses by 52 aspirant app designers. Results suggest that the platform facilitates the selection and implementation of motivational features in mHealth applications. By making the platform publicly available (www.lensesof motivationaldesign.com), we aim to provide actionable advice for app creators, and to allow them to integrate motivational features while retaining how these are grounded in theory.