LooseLeaf, a Mobile-Based Application to Monitor Cannabis Use and Cannabis-Related Experiences for Youth at Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis: Development and User Acceptance Testing

ABSTRACT

The objective of the study is to describe the development and user acceptance testing of a mobile-based application to monitor daily cannabis use of individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis. Through participatory co-design, app development was staggered in two phases. In Phase 1 (app development), two focus groups were run to gather information on a) app content, and b) graphic design Participants named the application LooseLeaf, which comprised five features: home screen, inventory, daily questions, calculators, and stats. The application monitored daily cannabis consumption, cannabis-related experiences, other substances, and the perception of their day. In Phase 2 (user acceptance testing), a prototype of the application was debugged and tested by developers. Participants used the app for 1 week. Usability was measured with quantitative and qualitative data about the app through the Mobile Application Rating Scale user-version (uMARS). LooseLeaf received a good overall score in the MARS with the highest rating in esthetics, information, and functionality. In conclusion, co-design through focus groups with youth provided effective feedback for developing LooseLeaf, demonstrating initial acceptability and usability.

Acknowledgments

The project was financially supported by the Hotchkiss Brain Institute/Mathison Centre Pilot Research Fund Program (PFUN), University of Calgary (Canada).

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

All authors declare no competing financial and/or personal interests.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olga Santesteban Echarri

Olga Santesteban Echarri received her Ph.D. degree in psychology in the Universitat Rovira I Virgili (Spain). She is a postdoctoral fellow in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Calgary in Canada and holds a Canadian Institutes of Health Research fellowship. Her research interest is app development for psychosis-related disorders.

GaHyung Kim

GaHyung Kim graduated in Computer Science from the University of Calgary. She specializes in systems security.

Preston Haffey

Preston Haffey is working to finish their undergraduate degree in computer science at the University of Calgary. They are now on a research term investigating private computations over public networks.

Jacky Tang

Jacky Tang graduated in Computer Science from the University of Calgary. He specializes in human factors, bridging technical development, and user experience design.

Jean Addington

Jean Addington is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and holds the Novartis Chair for Schizophrenia Research at the University of Calgary. Dr. Addington has worked as a researcher, clinician, and educator focusing on psychosis and schizophrenia for over 20 years.