Barriers to and Facilitators of Using a One Button Tracker and Web-Based Data Analytics Tool for Personal Science: Exploratory Study

Tom H van de Belt; Aimee de Croon; Faye Freriks; Thomas Blomseth Christiansen; Jakob Eg Larsen; Martijn de Groot

doi:10.2196/32704

Barriers to and Facilitators of Using a One Button Tracker and Web-Based Data Analytics Tool for Personal Science: Exploratory Study

JMIR Form Res. 2022 Mar 1;6(3):e32704. doi: 10.2196/32704.

Authors

Tom H van de Belt¹, Aimee de Croon¹, Faye Freriks¹, Thomas Blomseth Christiansen², Jakob Eg Larsen³, Martijn de Groot¹

Affiliations

¹ Health Innovation Labs, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
² Konsulent Blomseth, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³ Danmarks Tekniske Universitet Compute (DTU), Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.

PMID: 35230247
PMCID: PMC8924778
DOI: 10.2196/32704

Abstract

Background: Individuals' self-tracking of subjectively experienced phenomena related to health can be challenging, as current options for instrumentation often involve too much effort in the moment or rely on retrospective self-reporting, which is likely to impair accuracy and compliance.

Objective: This study aims to assess the usability and perceived usefulness of low-effort, in-the-moment self-tracking using simple instrumentation and to establish the amount of support needed when using this approach.

Methods: In this exploratory study, the One Button Tracker-a press-button device that records time stamps and durations of button presses-was used for self-tracking. A total of 13 employees of an academic medical center chose a personal research question and used the One Button Tracker to actively track specific subjectively experienced phenomena for 2 to 4 weeks. To assess usability and usefulness, we combined qualitative data from semistructured interviews with quantitative results from the System Usability Scale.

Results: In total, 29 barriers and 15 facilitators for using the One Button Tracker were found. Ease of use was the most frequently mentioned facilitator. The One Button Tracker's usability received a median System Usability Scale score of 75.0 (IQR 42.50), which is considered as good usability. Participants experienced effects such as an increased awareness of the tracked phenomenon, a confirmation of personal knowledge, a gain of insight, and behavior change. Support and guidance during all stages of the self-tracking process were judged as valuable.

Conclusions: The low-effort, in-the-moment self-tracking of subjectively experienced phenomena has been shown to support personal knowledge gain and health behavior change for people with an interest in health promotion. After addressing barriers and formally validating the collected data, self-tracking devices may well be helpful for additional user types or health questions.

Keywords: One Button Tracker; barriers; button tracker; facilitators; health promotion; health technology; one-button-tracker; personal science; quantified self; self-tracking; system usability; usability testing.

©Tom H van de Belt, Aimee de Croon, Faye Freriks, Thomas Blomseth Christiansen, Jakob Eg Larsen, Martijn de Groot. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 01.03.2022.