Improving User Experience of Virtual Health Assistants: Scoping Review

Background Virtual assistants can be used to deliver innovative health programs that provide appealing, personalized, and convenient health advice and support at scale and low cost. Design characteristics that influence the look and feel of the virtual assistant, such as visual appearance or language features, may significantly influence users’ experience and engagement with the assistant. Objective This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, summarize research findings of experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, and provide recommendations for the design of virtual health assistants if sufficient evidence exists. Methods We searched 5 electronic databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and ACM Digital Library) to identify the studies that used an experimental design to compare the effects of design characteristics between 2 or more versions of an interactive virtual health assistant on user experience among adults. Data were synthesized descriptively. Health domains, design characteristics, and outcomes were categorized, and descriptive statistics were used to summarize the body of research. Results for each study were categorized as positive, negative, or no effect, and a matrix of the design characteristics and outcome categories was constructed to summarize the findings. Results The database searches identified 6879 articles after the removal of duplicates. We included 48 articles representing 45 unique studies in the review. The most common health domains were mental health and physical activity. Studies most commonly examined design characteristics in the categories of visual design or conversational style and relational behavior and assessed outcomes in the categories of personality, satisfaction, relationship, or use intention. Over half of the design characteristics were examined by only 1 study. Results suggest that empathy and relational behavior and self-disclosure are related to more positive user experience. Results also suggest that if a human-like avatar is used, realistic rendering and medical attire may potentially be related to more positive user experience; however, more research is needed to confirm this. Conclusions There is a growing body of scientific evidence examining the impact of virtual health assistants’ design characteristics on user experience. Taken together, data suggest that the look and feel of a virtual health assistant does affect user experience. Virtual health assistants that show empathy, display nonverbal relational behaviors, and disclose personal information about themselves achieve better user experience. At present, the evidence base is broad, and the studies are typically small in scale and highly heterogeneous. Further research, particularly using longitudinal research designs with repeated user interactions, is needed to inform the optimal design of virtual health assistants.

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Improving User Experience of Virtual Health Assistants: Scoping Review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.31737 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rachel G Curtis ◽

Bethany Bartel ◽

Ty Ferguson ◽

Henry T Blake ◽

Celine Northcott ◽

...

Keyword(s):

User Experience ◽

Experimental Research ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Sufficient Evidence ◽

Health Domains ◽

Relational Behavior ◽

Design Characteristics ◽

Health Assistant ◽

The Look ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND Virtual assistants can be used to deliver innovative health programs that provide appealing, personalized, and convenient health advice and support at scale and low cost. Design characteristics that influence the look and feel of the virtual assistant, such as visual appearance or language features, may significantly influence users’ experience and engagement with the assistant. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, summarize research findings of experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, and provide recommendations for the design of virtual health assistants if sufficient evidence exists. METHODS We searched 5 electronic databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and ACM Digital Library) to identify the studies that used an experimental design to compare the effects of design characteristics between 2 or more versions of an interactive virtual health assistant on user experience among adults. Data were synthesized descriptively. Health domains, design characteristics, and outcomes were categorized, and descriptive statistics were used to summarize the body of research. Results for each study were categorized as positive, negative, or no effect, and a matrix of the design characteristics and outcome categories was constructed to summarize the findings. RESULTS The database searches identified 6879 articles after the removal of duplicates. We included 48 articles representing 45 unique studies in the review. The most common health domains were mental health and physical activity. Studies most commonly examined design characteristics in the categories of visual design or conversational style and relational behavior and assessed outcomes in the categories of personality, satisfaction, relationship, or use intention. Over half of the design characteristics were examined by only 1 study. Results suggest that empathy and relational behavior and self-disclosure are related to more positive user experience. Results also suggest that if a human-like avatar is used, realistic rendering and medical attire may potentially be related to more positive user experience; however, more research is needed to confirm this. CONCLUSIONS There is a growing body of scientific evidence examining the impact of virtual health assistants’ design characteristics on user experience. Taken together, data suggest that the look and feel of a virtual health assistant does affect user experience. Virtual health assistants that show empathy, display nonverbal relational behaviors, and disclose personal information about themselves achieve better user experience. At present, the evidence base is broad, and the studies are typically small in scale and highly heterogeneous. Further research, particularly using longitudinal research designs with repeated user interactions, is needed to inform the optimal design of virtual health assistants.

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Exploring the cost of eLearning within the field of health professions education: key findings from a Systematic Scoping Review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13681 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Edward Meinert ◽

Scott Reeves ◽

Jesse Eerens ◽

Christina Banks ◽

Stephen Maloney ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Scoping Review ◽

Health Professions ◽

Health Professions Education ◽

Sufficient Evidence ◽

Cost Calculation ◽

Publication Date ◽

Face To Face ◽

Mesh Terms ◽

Face To Face Instruction ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND Existing research on the costs of delivering courses online courses is limited. The way in which these learning platforms compare in cost to face-to-face learning is also poorly understood. This lack of data has made it difficult to evaluate whether the investments spent by organisations on online learning are effective in comparison to face-to-face instruction. OBJECTIVE The key aim of this scoping literature review is to better understand the state of evidence about whether eLearning demonstrates cost advantages over face-to-face instruction and report the results of a research question centred on: What data exists to define cost calculations related to eLearning? Specifically, we investigate the extent to which the literature can provide details for calculation of the costs for eLearning design, development, and delivery. METHODS Scoping review using a search strategy of MeSH terms and related keywords centred on eLearning and cost calculation with a population scope of health professionals in all countries. The search was limited to English language studies. No restriction was placed on literature publication date. RESULTS In total, 7344 articles were returned from the original search of the literature. Of these, 232 were relevant to associated keywords or abstract references to cost following screening. Full-text review resulted in 168 studies being excluded, with 42 studies providing data and analysis of the impact of cost and value in health professions education. A further 22 studies provided details of costing approaches for the production and delivery of eLearning. CONCLUSIONS There is an emerging body of studies capturing costs in eLearning. However, costs in these studies were collected inconsistently and in relation to a wide variety of factors or had an alternate study-related focus. Although there is a perception that eLearning is more cost-effective than face-to-face instruction, there is not yet sufficient evidence to assert this conclusively. A rigorous, repeatable and data capture method is needed, in addition to a means to leverage existing economic evaluation methods that can then test whether eLearning cost-effectiveness and how to implement with cost benefits and advantages over traditional instruction. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

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THE EFFECT OF METACOGNITIVE INSTRUCTION ON MAXIMIZING EFL LEARNERS’ METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN LISTENING

Malaysian Journal of Languages and Linguistics (MJLL) ◽

10.24200/mjll.vol7iss1pp8-17 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 8-17

Author(s):

Mahsa Assadi

Keyword(s):

Experimental Research ◽

Listening Comprehension ◽

Intervention Program ◽

Metacognitive Awareness ◽

Listening Test ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Metacognitive Instruction ◽

Before And After ◽

Comprehension Ability ◽

The Impact

This study reports a pre-experimental research on the impact of metacognitive instruction on EFL learners’ metacognitive awareness and their listening performance. To obtain the goal of the study, a group of 30 Iranian intermediate EFL learners, including 14 males and 16 females, were selected randomly. Their ages range from 20 to 24. The participants took part in 16 weeks’ intervention program based on metacognitive pedagogical sequence consisted of five stages. The metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire (MALQ), and a listening test were also used to find changes in metacognitive awareness and listening performance before and after the treatment. The results of comparing pre and posttests scores revealed that metacognitive instruction raised the learners’ metacognitive awareness and helped them improve their listening comprehension ability.

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Designing preclinical perceptibility measures to evaluate topical vaginal gel formulations relating user sensory perceptions and experiences to formulation properties

10.31234/osf.io/d4egv ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lungwani Muungo

Keyword(s):

User Experience ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Paradigm Shift ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Preliminary Evidence ◽

Biomedical Prevention ◽

Product Effectiveness ◽

Willingness To Use ◽

The Impact ◽

Gel Formulations

The effectiveness of any biomedical prevention technology relies on both biological efficacy and behavioraladherence. Microbicide trials have been hampered by low adherence, limiting the ability to draw meaningfulconclusions about product effectiveness. Central to this problem may be an inadequate conceptualization of howproduct properties themselves impact user experience and adherence. Our goal is to expand the current microbicidedevelopment framework to include product ‘‘perceptibility,’’ the objective measurement of user sensoryperceptions (i.e., sensations) and experiences of formulation performance during use. For vaginal gels, a setof biophysical properties, including rheological properties and measures of spreading and retention, may criticallyimpact user experiences. Project LINK sought to characterize the user experience in this regard, and tovalidate measures of user sensory perceptions and experiences (USPEs) using four prototype topical vaginal gelformulations designed for pericoital use. Perceptibility scales captured a range of USPEs during the productapplication process (five scales), ambulation after product insertion (six scales), and during sexual activity (eightscales). Comparative statistical analyses provided empirical support for hypothesized relationships between gelproperties, spreading performance, and the user experience. Project LINK provides preliminary evidence for theutility of evaluating USPEs, introducing a paradigm shift in the field of microbicide formulation design. Wepropose that these user sensory perceptions and experiences initiate cognitive processes in users resulting inproduct choice and willingness-to-use. By understanding the impact of USPEs on that process, formulationdevelopment can optimize both drug delivery and adherence.

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The Impact of the Industrial Processing of Oil on the Rainfall Water Quality

Revista de Chimie ◽

10.37358/rc.17.1.5414 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 68 (1) ◽

pp. 175-179

Author(s):

Oana Roxana Chivu ◽

Augustin Semenescu ◽

Claudiu Babis ◽

Catalin Amza ◽

Gabriel Iacobescu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Sulfuric Acid ◽

Experimental Research ◽

Air Purification ◽

High Toxicity ◽

Industrial Processing ◽

Mobile Sources ◽

Specific Activities ◽

The Impact ◽

The Ideal

Rainfall is a major component of the environment and the main source of the air purification becouse of many pollutants increases who have the most varied sources: various human activities including industry and agriculture, and some household duties. Air purification by means of precipitation is achieved by numerous highly complex mechanisms. The final products of degradation of the pollutant in the air, which are generally harmless, can be reacted with each other in the presence of water, giving rise to the final compounds with a high toxicity. Thus, exhaust, mobile sources of noxious almost identical to those specific activities in the industrial processing of oil, contain lead which is the ideal catalyst for converting SO2 to sulfuric acid in the presence of rainwater, with all the disadvantages that they create. This paper will present an experimental research oabout how rainfall water quality is influenced by the activity of the industrial processing of oil, in a chemical plant in Constanta County.

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The Relationship Between Highly Visual Social Media and Young People’s Mental Health: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.18177 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alanna McCrory

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Young People ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Published Evidence ◽

The Impact

UNSTRUCTURED Users of highly visual social media (HVSM), such as Snapchat and Instagram, share their messages through images, rather than relying on words. A significant proportion of people that use these platforms are adolescents. Previous research reveals mixed evidence regarding the impact of online social technologies on this age group’s mental wellbeing, but it is uncertain whether the psychological effects of visual content alone differ from text-driven social media. This scoping review maps existing literature that has published evidence about highly visual social media, specifically its psychological impact on young people. Nine electronic databases and grey literature from 2010 until March 2019 were reviewed for articles describing any aspect of visual social media, young people and their mental health. The screening process retrieved 239 articles. With the application of eligibility criteria, this figure was reduced to 25 articles for analysis. Results indicate a paucity of data that exclusively examines HVSM. The predominance of literature relies on quantitative methods to achieve its objectives. Many findings are inconsistent and lack the richness that qualitative data may provide to explore the reasons for theses mixed findings.

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MHealth Applications for People with Cognitive Impairment and Their Caregivers: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.22474 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Qing Zhao ◽

Pei Chen ◽

Yu Zhang ◽

Haining Liu ◽

Xianwen Li

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Sample Size ◽

Research Design ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Life Support ◽

Small Sample ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Control Group ◽

Caregiver Support ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND Mobile health application has become an important tool for healthcare systems. One such tool is the delivery of assisting in people with cognitive impairment and their caregivers. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aims to explore and evaluate the existing evidence and challenges on the use of mHealth applications that assisting in people with cognitive impairment and their caregivers. METHODS Nine databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, PsycARTICLES, CINAHL, Web of Science, Applied Science & Technology Source, IEEE Xplore and the ACM Digital Library were searched from inception through June 2020 for the studies of mHealth applications on people with cognitive impairment and their caregivers. Two reviewers independently extracted, checked synthesized data independently. RESULTS Of the 6101 studies retrieved, 64 studies met the inclusion criteria. Three categories emerged from this scoping review. These categories are ‘application functionality’, ‘evaluation strategies’, ‘barriers and challenges’. All the included studies were categorized into 7 groups based on functionality: (1) cognitive assessment; (2) cognitive training; (3) life support; (4) caregiver support; (5) symptom management; (6) reminiscence therapy; (7) exercise intervention. The included studies were broadly categorized into four types: (1) Usability testing; (2) Pilot and feasibility studies; (3) Validation studies; and (4) Efficacy or Effectiveness design. These studies had many defects in research design such as: (1) small sample size; (2) deficiency in active control group; (3) deficiency in analyzing the effectiveness of intervention components; (4) lack of adverse reactions and economic evaluation; (5) lack of consideration about the education level, electronic health literacy and smartphone proficiency of the participants; (6) deficiency in assessment tool; (7) lack of rating the quality of mHealth application. Some progress should be improved in the design of smartphone application functionality, such as: (1) the design of cognitive measurements and training game need to be differentiated; (2) reduce the impact of the learning effect. Besides this, few studies used health behavior theory and performed with standardized reporting. CONCLUSIONS Preliminary results show that mobile technologies facilitate the assistance in people with cognitive impairment and their caregivers. The majority of mHealth application interventions incorporated usability outcome and health outcomes. However, these studies have many defects in research design that limit the extrapolation of research. The content of mHealth application is urgently improved to adapt to demonstrate the real effect. In addition, further research with strong methodological rigor and adequate sample size are needed to examine the feasibility, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of mHealth applications for people with cognitive impairment and their caregivers.

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Establishing a Working Definition of User Experience for eHealth Interventions: A Scoping Review of Self-Reported User Experience Measures and Delphi Consultation with eHealth Researchers and Adolescents (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25012 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Amanda S Newton ◽

Sonja March ◽

Nicole D Gehring ◽

Arlen K Rowe ◽

Ashley D Radomski

Keyword(s):

User Experience ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Descriptive Analysis ◽

Intervention Development ◽

Health Condition ◽

Working Definition ◽

Perceived Impact ◽

Behavioural Factors ◽

Definition Of ◽

Ehealth Intervention

BACKGROUND Across eHealth intervention studies involving children, adolescents, and their parents, researchers have measured users’ experiences to assist with intervention development, refinement, and evaluation. To date, there are no widely agreed-on definitions or measures of ‘user experience’ to support a standardized approach for evaluation and comparison within or across interventions. OBJECTIVE We conducted a scoping review with subsequent Delphi consultation to (1) identify how user experience is defined and measured in eHealth research studies, (2) characterize the measurement tools used, and (3) establish working definitions for domains of user experience that could be used in future eHealth evaluations. METHODS We systematically searched electronic databases for published and gray literature available from January 1, 2005 to April 11, 2019. Studies assessing an eHealth intervention that targeted any health condition and was designed for use by children, adolescents, and their parents were eligible for inclusion. eHealth interventions needed to be web-, computer-, or mobile-based, mediated by the internet with some degree of interactivity. Studies were also required to report the measurement of ‘user experience’ as first-person experiences, involving cognitive and behavioural factors, reported by intervention users. Two reviewers independently screened studies for relevance and appraised the quality of user experience measures using published criteria: ‘well-established’, ‘approaching well-established’, ‘promising’, or ‘not yet established’. We conducted a descriptive analysis of how user experience was defined and measured in each study. Review findings subsequently informed the survey questions used in the Delphi consultations with eHealth researchers and adolescent users for how user experience should be defined and measured. RESULTS Of the 8,634 articles screened for eligibility, 129 and one erratum were included in the review. Thirty eHealth researchers and 27 adolescents participated in the Delphi consultations. Based on the literature and consultations, we proposed working definitions for six main user experience domains: acceptability, satisfaction, credibility, usability, user-reported adherence, and perceived impact. While most studies incorporated a study-specific measure, we identified ten well-established measures to quantify five of the six domains of user experience (all except for self-reported adherence). Our adolescent and researcher participants ranked perceived impact as one of the most important domains of user experience and usability as one of the least important domains. Rankings between adolescents and researchers diverged for other domains. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight the various ways user experience has been defined and measured across studies and what aspects are most valued by researchers and adolescent users. We propose incorporating the working definitions and available measures of user experience to support consistent evaluation and reporting of outcomes across studies. Future studies can refine the definitions and measurement of user experience, explore how user experience relates to other eHealth outcomes, and inform the design and use of human-centred eHealth interventions.

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