Our appBy Shauna Monaghan, Aoife Gannon, Ashleigh

Merrin & Aoife Bell Brew

An app for stress monitoring

Concept – an app that monitors a persons stress levels and gives advice on relaxation

Self tracking – a band/bracelet is used in conjunction with the app. Heart rate & sweat is monitored by Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) Data is graphed simply on app

How it will work - stress is monitored by GSR bracelet Data is displayed on simple graphs Traffic light system used to warn about stress levels Data is graphed on the app so individual can see their stress

levels, graphs must be simple & easy to understand Health advice given relation to stress levels

Stress App – Chosen Idea

The galvanic skin response bracelet/ring may be unappealing to people may not want it to be visible or on show.

People may not understand the graphs & data.

Stress App - Problems

Stress is often defined as a mismatch between the demands placed on us and our ability to cope with these demands.

("Stress and heart," )

According to the Small Firms Association Report 2006 stress is replacing back pain as a key cause of absenteeism from work in Ireland

What is stress?

Proudfoot,Parker,Pavlovic, Manicavasagar,Adler & Whitton(2010) carried out research to explore community attitudes toward the appropriation of mobile phones for mental health monitoring and management.

Of those who completed the online survey, the

majority (399/525 or 76%) reported that they would be interested in using their mobile phone for mental health monitoring and self-management if the service were free. 

Research Papers

It shows us that people are interested in using their mobile phone for mental health monitoring. Therefore there is a potential market for out app.

Why is this research important for us?

Maddern-Leserer (2012) carried out a study which investigated the relationship between awareness of stress—as a result of monitoring stress levels multiple times a day and its impact on relapse to addiction

Research paper 2

Results of this study showed that participants were twice as likely to remain in treatment compared to nonparticipants. Data analysis showed that participants' actual moment-to-moment stress remained fairly constant, however, participants reported a decrease in the perception of their stress. Furthermore, participants reported that they found it useful to participate and 100% of the participants reported that they would use this form of data collection again

Results from this report show us that people found it useful and would be inclined to use this form of data collection. Which again suggests that the app would be used if created.

The fact that data analysis showed that participants reported a decrease in the perception of their stress would suggest that having knowledge of ones self can be of benefit to ones health

Why does this impact us?

EmWave2 Heart Rate Variability Monitor 

emWave technology collects pulse data through a pulse sensor and translates the information from your heart rhythms into graphics on your computer or into easy to

follow lights on the portable emWave Personal Stress Reliever.

Product related research (what products already available)

Stress Check app

To use Stress Check, you hold your index finger over the iPhone's camera flash for two minutes, long enough for the app to measure the blood flowing through your finger for patterns that would indicate elevated stress hormones. It does so by using the light from the flash to gauge subtle changes in colour on the skin's surface that reflect blood flow patterns.

When performing tests back to back, I was given stress levels on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. In one case, Stress Doctor said my stress level was at 54%, however when I ran the test again, my stress level was at 14%. 

Appearance and aesthetics of the app are dull and lifeless, making the app less attractive than it could potentially be

Flaws :

Mark 37 years old Full Time employed in a fast moving company Owns his own house with a mortgage, bills and car to pay for Working for a promotion

Background Mark has been working in his company for five years. He is currently working a lot of

overtime in order to achieve a promotion. He recently bought his own house and is in the process of refurbishing it, this along with the added cost of the mortgage is creating stress in his life. He’s struggling to find time for his work and his renovations. He also can’ts manage to find the time to exercise. Mark is under a lot of stress and needs help managing it.

Technology Mark is surrounded by technology in his work and has top range smart phones for both

his work and personal phones. He manages as many aspects of his life as possible through his phones such as his banking, his work schedule, personal schedule, social networking etc.

Persona

Anne 28 years old Stay at home mother with two kids Husband works full time in a well paid job

Background Anne is a stay at home mother with two children. She loves being a stay at

home mother and relishes in the time she gets to spend with her children. She feels the stresses that any mother feels but she doesn’t get overwhelmed by it. Her husband works full time in a well paid position and therefore can finance all their expenses and some additional luxuries.

Technology Anne does not own a smart phone as she has no time for the use of apps.

As the mother of two small children she fears owning an expensive phone in case any damage were to befall it at the hands of her children.

John 23 years old Lives at home with his parents Unemployed and claims welfare No bills, mortgage to pay for

Background John currently has no stressors in his life as everything he needs is

provided for him by his home or the State. His lack of bills or rent to pay for means his welfare can be spent on luxury items hence he has no desire to work as he views it as unnecessary stress.

Technology John is extremely tech savvie as a member of the younger generationi he

grew up with modern technology. He owns a mid range smartphone and indulges in the purchase of apps on a regular basis.

Talking to User Without clearance from the Ethics committee, we were unable to carryout field research. We filled in an A form and have submitted it to the board. We plan on speaking to 20 participants between the

ages of 20 and 60, during lunch hour, on a busy city centre street. We will ask them their age, gender, profession, to rate their stress levels on a scale of 1-10 (1 being very little stress), and whether or not they would use a stress monitor if it was available to them.

Field Research

We have decided to undertake quantitative research in order to quantify and be able to generalize our results from the sample to the population. We plan on using a questionnaire to begin with to gather data, and later interview participants after presenting our prototype, in order to get feedback.

Proposed Research methods

We chose to undertake brainstorming to begin with to run through potential ideas, and potential problems that may arise over the course of the project.

We will then move on to questionnaires as a method of data gathering as we felt it was the most appropriate and reliable method for what we are attempting to gather. We then plan on creating prototype to present to participants, and then conduct interviews to gather feedback and opinions on any issues or recommendations participants may have

  We had planned on carrying out focus groups instead of interviews,

but were worried that, as research suggests (Mansell et al., 2003); people may be inclined to be swayed by other people’s point of views

 

Requirements Gathering Techniques

Due to our issue with ethics, we were unable to carry out our research, however, our back round research suggests that people would be interested in an app to help them monitor their stress levels, and therefore we predict a positive feedback to both our questionnaire and our prototype.

Research Findings and implications for design

Maddern-Leserer, D. (2012). Stopping the downward spiral: Real-time monitoring of stress with cell phones as a self-help tool for relapse prevention. Dissertation Abstracts International, 72,

Mansell, I., Bennett, G., Northway, R., Mead, D., & Moseley, L. (2003). The learning curve: the advantages and disadvantages in the use of focus groups as a method of data collection. Nurse Researcher, 11(4), 79-88.

Proudfoot, J., Parker, G., Pavlovic, D., Manicavasagar, V., Adler, E., & Whitton, A. (2010). Community attitudes to the appropriation of mobile phones for monitoring and managing depression, anxiety, and stress. Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 12(5), 111-122. doi:10.2196/jmir.1475

Stress and heart disease . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.irishheart.ie/media/pub/factsheets/stress_and_heart_disease.pdf

References