Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study
BackgroundThe use of information and communication technologies is transforming the lives of millions of people including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the process of developing a user-friendly and effective mobile app needs to follow a complex standa...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2021-08-01
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| Series: | JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting |
| Online Access: | https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2021/3/e21471 |
| _version_ | 1797735756384436224 |
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| author | Theoneste Ntalindwa Mathias Nduwingoma Evariste Karangwa Tanjir Rashid Soron Alphonse Uworwabayeho Annette Uwineza |
| author_facet | Theoneste Ntalindwa Mathias Nduwingoma Evariste Karangwa Tanjir Rashid Soron Alphonse Uworwabayeho Annette Uwineza |
| author_sort | Theoneste Ntalindwa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundThe use of information and communication technologies is transforming the lives of millions of people including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the process of developing a user-friendly and effective mobile app needs to follow a complex standard protocol and culture-sensitive customization, and involves multiple sectors. This complex work becomes even more challenging when considering children with ASD in low- and middle-income countries as the users.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to design and develop a more intuitive mobile app to improve numeracy skills of children with ASD in Rwanda and evaluate the usability of the app.
MethodsA participatory design approach was utilized in this study in which 40 children with ASD, 5 teachers, and 10 parents of children with ASD participated in focus group discussions (FGDs) and usability testing. A narrative literature review was performed to explore existing mobile apps and compare previous studies to design the questions for FGD and facilitate a framework for designing the app. The agile methodology was used to develop the mobile app, and the heuristics evaluation method was used to test and evaluate the usability of the initial version of the app to improve its functionalities. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following the guidelines of the qualitative narrative analysis (QNA) method.
ResultsDuring the FGDs the respondents shared their need for a mobile app in teaching and learning numeracy for children with ASD and pointed to possibilities of integrating the mobile app into existing curriculum. Ten themes emerged from the FGDs and exercise of developing the mobile app. The themes were related to (1) teaching and learning numeracy for children with ASD, (2) planning and development of a mobile app for a person with ASD, (3) testing a mobile app, (4) strength of the developed app against the existing ones, (5) behavioral maintenance and relapse prevention, (6) possibilities to integrate the mobile app into the existing curriculum, (7) data protection for users, (8) social implications, (9) challenges in Rwanda, and (10) focus on future.
ConclusionsThe community plays an important role in the planning, development, and evaluation of a mobile app for children with ASD. In this study, inputs from teachers and parents resulted in an optimally designed mobile app that can improve numeracy skills in children diagnosed with ASD to support the implementation of competency-based curriculum in Rwanda. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:03:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a83229b4520f4a9da9fc44520cabd40b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2561-6722 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:03:42Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting |
| spelling | doaj.art-a83229b4520f4a9da9fc44520cabd40b2023-08-28T18:42:26ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Pediatrics and Parenting2561-67222021-08-0143e2147110.2196/21471Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability StudyTheoneste Ntalindwahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5798-9580Mathias Nduwingomahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2054-3518Evariste Karangwahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2168-4881Tanjir Rashid Soronhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9810-5000Alphonse Uworwabayehohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2651-1848Annette Uwinezahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1749-0395 BackgroundThe use of information and communication technologies is transforming the lives of millions of people including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the process of developing a user-friendly and effective mobile app needs to follow a complex standard protocol and culture-sensitive customization, and involves multiple sectors. This complex work becomes even more challenging when considering children with ASD in low- and middle-income countries as the users. ObjectiveThis study aimed to design and develop a more intuitive mobile app to improve numeracy skills of children with ASD in Rwanda and evaluate the usability of the app. MethodsA participatory design approach was utilized in this study in which 40 children with ASD, 5 teachers, and 10 parents of children with ASD participated in focus group discussions (FGDs) and usability testing. A narrative literature review was performed to explore existing mobile apps and compare previous studies to design the questions for FGD and facilitate a framework for designing the app. The agile methodology was used to develop the mobile app, and the heuristics evaluation method was used to test and evaluate the usability of the initial version of the app to improve its functionalities. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following the guidelines of the qualitative narrative analysis (QNA) method. ResultsDuring the FGDs the respondents shared their need for a mobile app in teaching and learning numeracy for children with ASD and pointed to possibilities of integrating the mobile app into existing curriculum. Ten themes emerged from the FGDs and exercise of developing the mobile app. The themes were related to (1) teaching and learning numeracy for children with ASD, (2) planning and development of a mobile app for a person with ASD, (3) testing a mobile app, (4) strength of the developed app against the existing ones, (5) behavioral maintenance and relapse prevention, (6) possibilities to integrate the mobile app into the existing curriculum, (7) data protection for users, (8) social implications, (9) challenges in Rwanda, and (10) focus on future. ConclusionsThe community plays an important role in the planning, development, and evaluation of a mobile app for children with ASD. In this study, inputs from teachers and parents resulted in an optimally designed mobile app that can improve numeracy skills in children diagnosed with ASD to support the implementation of competency-based curriculum in Rwanda.https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2021/3/e21471 |
| spellingShingle | Theoneste Ntalindwa Mathias Nduwingoma Evariste Karangwa Tanjir Rashid Soron Alphonse Uworwabayeho Annette Uwineza Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting |
| title | Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study |
| title_full | Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study |
| title_fullStr | Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study |
| title_short | Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study |
| title_sort | development of a mobile app to improve numeracy skills of children with autism spectrum disorder participatory design and usability study |
| url | https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2021/3/e21471 |
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