Improving the user experience of the innovative blended care platform m-Path

Mental health problems cause an enormous burden on individuals and society. Obtaining precise insight into these problems and how they occur in an individual’s daily life are crucial for diagnosis and treatment. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) allows to capture and quantify people’s thoughts, feelings and behavior as they unfold in daily life. As such, ESM holds great promise to inform and improve psychotherapeutic treatment. However, existing software tools for ESM are primarily designed for research and are not an easy-to-use instrument for therapists. As a solution, m-Path (www.m-Path.io) was developed, a first of its kind ESM tool for blended mental health care, involving a smartphone app and online feedback system. To successfully engage therapists with limited time and technical expertise, m-Path needs to equiped with a scientifically based workflow (minimizing decision errors), optimize its user experience, and minimize the burden on the part of clients. The goal of this PhD project is to improve the user experience (UX) of m-Path and test the proposed improvements through A/B testing. The project will involve consultation with multiple stakeholders to identify barriers and facilitators for user uptake, iterative improvement of the user experience, and supporting technical development. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team and the developers of m-Path. Together, these improvements will bring evidence-based ESM within reach of actual clinical practice, and as such clear the way for responsible market adoption.