The co-creative development of the QoL-ME : A visual and personalised quality of life assessment app for people with severe mental health problems

Background Quality of Life (QoL) is a prominent outcome measure in mental health. Conventional methods for QoL assessment, however, rely heavily on language‐based communication, and may therefore not be optimal for all individuals with severe mental health problems. Additionally, QoL assessment is usually based on a fixed number of life domains. This approach conflicts with the notion that QoL is influenced by individual values and preferences. A digital assessment app facilitates both the accessibility and personalisation of QoL assessment and may therefore help to further advance QoL assessment among individuals with severe mental health problems. Objective This study focuses on the development of an innovative, visual and personalised QoL assessment app for people with severe mental health problems: the QoL-ME. Methods A group of 59 participants contributed to the six iterations of the co-creative development of the QoL-ME. In the brainstorm stage, consisting of the first iteration, participants’ previous experiences with questionnaires and smartphone applications (apps) were explored. Participants gave their feedback on initial designs and wireframes in the second to fourth iterations that made up the design stage. In the usability stage that comprised the final two iterations, the usability of the QoL-ME was evaluated. Results In the brainstorm stage, participants stressed the importance of privacy and data security, and of receiving feedback when answering questionnaires. Participants in the design stage indicated a preference for paging over scrolling, linear navigation, a clean and minimalist layout, the use of touchscreen functionality in various modes of interaction, and the use of Visual Analogue Scales (VAS). The usability evaluation in the usability stage revealed good to excellent usability. Conclusions The co-creative development of the QoL-ME resulted in an app that corresponds to the preferences of participants and that has strong usability. Further research is needed to evaluate the psychometric quality of the QoL-ME, and to investigate its usefulness in practice.