User experience and acceptance of patients and healthy adults testing a personalized self-management app for depression: A non-randomized mixed-methods feasibility study.

Objective: Previous studies have shown positive treatment outcomes of e-mental health applications targeting depression. However, few applications provide personalized features. The aim of the present study is to ask for the user experience and acceptance of patients with depression and healthy adults, who tested the self-management app Self-administered Psycho Therapy SystemS over a period of 5 days. The results serve as a source for evidence-based recommendations for developers and clinicians. Methods: A total of 110 participants (41 patients and 69 healthy controls) tested the app Self-administered Psycho Therapy SystemS over a period of 5 days and completed evaluation sheets developed for the purpose of this study. Quantitative measures were asked with 5-point Likert-scaled items (range: -2 to + 2) for the perceived quality of the programme and its components, its practicality (both referred to as user experience) and its acceptance. Student's Results: The perceived quality of the total programme was rated with M = 0.96 (SD = 0.82), the practicality was M = 0.84 (SD = 0.08) and the acceptance was M = 0.25 (SD = 1.04). Patients rated perceived quality of the total programme and acceptance higher than healthy adults, while there was no difference in practicality. Acceptance was associated with increased depression scores (r = 0.33, Conclusions: Patients with depression accepted the app Self-administered Psycho Therapy SystemS more than healthy adults and gave higher ratings in quality. User experience of all users shows a need for features of guidance, choice and personalization that clinicians and developers of future apps should pay attention to.