Mobile Health Solution for College Student Mental Health: Interview Study and Design Requirement Analysis

TL;DR

This study identifies key features and requirements for a student-centered mental health self-management mobile app through interviews with 153 college students, focusing on usability, privacy, and functional needs.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of college students' preferences and needs for mental health self-management tools, informing future design and development.

Findings

Students want coping techniques, AI features, and tracking capabilities.

Privacy and usability are top priorities for students.

Key functional requirements were derived from student interviews.

Abstract

Background: Mental health problems are prevalent in college students. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the problems, and created a surge in the popularity of telehealth and mobile health solutions. Despite that mobile health is a promising approach to help students with mental health needs, few studies exist in investigating key features students need in a mental health self-management tool. Objective: The objective of our study was to identified key requirements and features for the design of a student-centered mental health self-management tool. Methods: An interview study was first conducted to understand college students' needs and preferences on a mental health self-management tool. Functional information requirement analysis was then conducted to translate the needs into design implications. Results: A total of 153 university students were recruited for the semi-structured interview. The participants mentioned several features including coping techniques, artificial intelligence, time management, tracking, and communication with others. Participant's preferences on usability and privacy settings were also collected. The desired functions were analyzed and turned into design-agnostic information requirements. Conclusions: This study documents findings from interviews with university students to understand their needs and preferences for a tool to help with self-management of mental health.