Development and delivery of a mobile application for the promotion of physical activity in young adults

PURPOSE: To articulate the process of developing a smartphone application (app) for physical activity behaviour change, describe its delivery as part of a multi--‐component intervention trial aimed at weight management in young adults, and identify the issues for researchers to consider in these development and delivery processes. METHOD: Development required decisions about the behaviour change strategies, relevant guidelines, graphic design, potential data collection, platform and programming design. The physical activity mobile app will be trialled as part of a multi--‐component intervention (TXT2BFiT), which includes three other mobile apps, text messages, emails, electronic resources, and regular phone counselling. RESULT(S): It took 18 months to develop four apps, three for dietary behaviours and one for physical activity behaviour. Development of the physical activity app involved the fields of marketing, physical activity and information technology. Qualitative feedback revealed the slow running speed (due to a reliance on internet connection), and requirement to login, were issues for young adults. The developed apps are web--‐based and will be delivered online via a custom designed website to young adults participating in the TXT2BFiT trial. Process evaluation will include the number of logins to each app during the study. CONCLUSION(S): Smartphone apps are a novel technology to facilitate behaviour change, but alone are unlikely to provide sufficient intervention for changing physical activity behaviour. This method of intervention delivery is likely to become necessary for reaching generations accustomed to communicating with mobile technologies, and as such, presents a challenge for researchers working with younger generations