User’s perception on mental health applications: a qualitative analysis of user reviews

CBT-based mental health apps have been introduced as a promise in helping people to deal with common mental illnesses. Although there is a high number of users, their adherence to the apps is significantly low. Meanwhile, the reasons for this circumstance are not well examined. The question of which features engage users to use and continue using are not well understood. This study will try to address this gap in literature. The study focuses on apps where the core design is primarily based on a CBT approach. The review analysis shows that users highly appreciate the ability to monitor and reflect themselves, and to figure out what is going on in their mood of the apps. Also, the ability to send notifications, prompts or email to remind users to perform related tasks are the helpful way make users stay focused and engaged. Besides, the ability to provide different interactions for patients and clinicians is also got high appreciation. Most of design-related feedback takes careful consideration on ease-of use characteristics and research-based features. By contrast, technical issues are the most common reason making users quit using the interventions. Other aspects that generate complaints also focus on a lack of customer services, clear security measures and privacy policy. Similarly, many users complain when the apps are complicated in design and have a lot of advertisement contents. Therefore, in order to enhance user experience and user adherence, these features should be carefully considered in the design phase during the development process of the apps.