Development and pilot application of a visual usability evaluation checklist for mHealth app interfaces among rural users in China

Abstract

Objective To develop and preliminarily assess the usability of a visual usability checklist designed for rural users to evaluate the mHealth interfaces and provide practical feedback to designers. Methods A two-phase research design was adopted: the first phase involved developing checklist items through a literature review, followed by a pilot application with 30 rural users from various regions of China and the Spring Rain Doctor App to assess the checklist’s effectiveness. The results The item checklist identified 6 dimensions and 40 items, with a focus on rural Chinese users. In the pilot application, older users took a median of 13 minutes (IQR: 9.5–16), whereas younger users finished in 3 minutes (IQR: 2–5). The results revealed that older rural users are less familiar with mHealth apps than younger users are. The evaluation results, together with the Mann–Whitney U test results, indicate that the checklist has initial potential for assessing the usability and experiences of Chinese rural mHealth users. Conclusion This study developed a domain-specific checklist for assessing the visual usability of mHealth applications for rural users, providing product designers with a structured visual evaluation tool to better understand the needs of rural users and guide optimization of the mHealth application’s UI.