Understanding User Perspectives to Inform Personalized Physical Activity Promotion in a Health Care App: Qualitative Focus Group Interview Study

TL;DR

This study explores how health care app users perceive physical activity, identifying motivators and barriers to help design better personalized features for promoting activity.

Contribution

The study provides user-informed insights for designing personalized physical activity promotion features in health care apps.

Findings

Users recognize the importance of movement but are unfamiliar with the term 'physical activity'.

Motivators include mood improvement, appearance changes, family support, and personalized feedback.

Barriers include time restrictions, fatigue, weather, and social pressures.

Abstract

Health care apps are widely used to support weight loss and lifestyle modification. Many of these apps offer tailored feedback on dietary intake and nutritional behavior. However, most lack personalized features that promote physical activity (PA), which is important for weight management, metabolic health, and chronic disease prevention. To develop future personalized PA promotion functions, it is essential to understand users’ perceptions of PA.

This study aimed to explore health care app users’ perception of PA, including perceived motivators and barriers.

A qualitative study was conducted using focus group interviews with health care app users. Participants were recruited regardless of age, sex, or body mass index. A thematic analysis was conducted using a combination of inductive and deductive approaches. Question 1 (“How do you perceive the importance of physical activity?”) was analyzed inductively, whereas questions 2 (“What are the motivating factors for engaging in physical activity?”) and 3 (“What are the barriers to engaging in physical activity?”) were analyzed deductively based on the social ecological model.

Eleven participants were interviewed and were unfamiliar with the term “physical activity” but recognized the importance of movement and reducing sedentary behavior. The identified motivators included improvements in mood; changes in physical appearance; support from family; alignment with personal routines and conditions (eg, goal setting, feedback, reminders, and praise); and tailoring to physical condition, daily schedules, and weather. The reported barriers included time restrictions due to work, fatigue, weather, remote work, and social pressure in workplace settings.

This study provides user-informed insights that can inform the design of personalized approaches better aligned with daily routines, competing demands, and situational barriers. Future work should evaluate how incorporating such user perspectives into personalized support strategies affects engagement and PA.