"A lot of the answers come from within you as well": benefits and limitations to utilizing and adapting a virtual platform to enhance social interaction and group learning.

Background: HIV disproportionately impacts Black women in the Southern United States. Interventions that incorporate social support and group learning have been proven effective, but following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health research has become increasingly interested in the usage of mobile health (mHealth) and telehealth to make interventions more accessible. Gathering feedback to ensure a culturally relevant adaptation of mHealth and virtual groups and support platforms is critical, as there is a persistent disparity in mobile device and laptop ownership, which can decrease accessibility of these platforms.

Methods: A formative phase was conducted for a trial of a virtual group and social support platform in addition to an mHealth intervention to promote pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among young Black women in North Carolina aged 18 to 30 years. Focus group discussions were conducted with service providers (n = 12) and the study population (n = 15), followed by pretesting of the virtual platform with members of the study population (n = 7).

Results: Feedback from the focus group discussions and pretesting sessions were overall positive. Participants expressed the importance of a design that is culturally relevant, including customizable avatars that display a diversity of body types, skin tones, and hairstyles. Pretesting participants indicated that utilization of Gather.town on a mobile device was more difficult than on a laptop. Overall, participants valued the privacy mechanisms in place and supported the idea of discussing these critical topics with other young women like themselves.

Conclusions: The importance of this initial step is essential when discussing a new virtual group platform that might address accessibility. Although most feedback was positive, participants also provided important considerations for accessibility of the platform, especially when considering disparities in device ownership.

Trial registration: NCT05753683, first registered 01-06-2023.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44247-025-00204-1.