Designing Software for Online Randomized Controlled Trials.

Researchers in psychosocial care paid an increasing interest in providing treatment online, e.g., self-help and cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with different conditions. Consequently, they need to design both complex interventions and conduct research online. There is little research on how to design appropriate support for complex online randomized controlled trials (RCTs) – a prevalent approach for investigating the effectiveness of psychological treatment. In this paper, we report from a decade-long design science research initiative conducted within an eHealth research environment. Drawing from the design experiences and literature, we present design reflections and conceptual models supporting the design of software for online RCTs. We evaluate the ideas by accounting for the long-term use of the system by various research groups, signaling proof-of-concept, proof-of-use, and proof-of-value. Our results contribute to designers of online RCT solutions and add to the discourse on tool support for design science research.