Exploring the design of mHealth systems for health behavior change using mobile biosensors

A person's health behavior plays a vital role in mitigating their risk of disease and promoting positive health outcomes. In recent years, mHealth systems have emerged to offer novel approaches for encouraging and supporting users in health behavior change. A promising technology in this regard are mobile biosensors, that is, sensors that enable the collection of physiological data (e.g., heart rate, respiration, skin conductance) and that are intended to be worn, carried, or accessed during normal daily activities. Designers of mHealth systems have started to use the health information that can be gained from physiological data for the delivery of behavior change interventions. However, research providing guidance on how mHealth systems can be designed to utilize mobile biosensors for health behavior change is scant. In order to address this research gap, we conducted an exploratory study. Following a hybrid approach that combines deductive and inductive reasoning, we integrated a body of fragmented literature and conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with mHealth stakeholders. Arising from this study, a theoretical framework and six general design guidelines were developed, shedding light on the theoretical pathways for how the mHealth interface can facilitate behavior change and providing practical design considerations.