Darcy Ummels

(Re)design of a user ‐ friendly interface andevaluation of experiences in daily life | 71 4 Introduction Smart health has become increasingly popular in recent years as a method of monitoring physical activity, as well as health ‐ and lifestyle ‐ related variables. 1 The term smart health refers to mobile applications (apps), wearables, and smartwatches. 1 Although activity trackers are mainly used by a young and physically fit population, the elderly could also benefit from the use of an activity tracker. In the Netherlands, 53% of elderly individuals (65 + ) do not meet the Dutch physical activity guideline 2,3 even though there is ample evidence that sufficient physical activity can prevent several chronic diseases, reduce the risk of premature death, and decrease the risk of fractures and falls in the elderly. 4,5 Barriers that inhibit elderly individuals ’ physical activity noted in the literature include a lack of motivation and self ‐ discipline, the assumption that they are already sufficiently active, limited knowledge about the positive effects of physical activity, and a lack of habits. 6,7 Studies show that incorporating the use of an activity tracker into one ’ s healthcare can motivate elderly individuals to become more physically active. The primary explanations for this phenomenon are that trackers provide insight into an elderly individual ’ s amount of physical activity and increase their awareness of their physical activity. 8 ‐ 13 The user ‐ friendliness of an activity tracker is an important feature to start and continue using an activity tracker. Several studies concluded that the elderly do not achieve a meaningful user ‐ experience with existing activity trackers because there is a disparity between tracker features and the skills and needs of the elderly. 10 ‐ 16 Frequently mentioned problems include an imbalance between technical skills and the perceived complexity of the activity tracker, the lack of a clear manual, complex interpretation of feedback, excessively high standards for daily activity goals (e.g., 10,000 steps), and reduced wearing comfort. 10 - 16 Consequently, there is a need for an activity tracker that meets the needs and skills of the elderly. In this study, we wanted to examine whether the user ‐ interface of an existing activity tracker could be adapted in order to facilitate a (more) meaningful experience for the elderly. An example of an activity tracker whose user ‐ interface can be adapted is the MOX Activity Monitor (MOX 17 , Box 4.1). Since the algorithm settings of the MOX (including the optimized parameter settings of MOX MissActivity ) have been validated for an elderly population 18 , we wanted to examine whether the user ‐ interface of the MOX could be adapted for this target group as well. In this article, the user ‐ interface refers to (1) the design of the tracker ’ s hardware, (2) the feedback system and display of the activity tracker, and (3) the feedback provided by a mobile application.