A Mobile App (MyPeer) Co-Designed With Immigrant Adolescents for Better Sexual and Reproductive Health - Usability Study

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob

Background: Adolescents need comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education to transition successfully into adulthood, yet they face barriers to promoting SRH or accessing services, especially youth from migrant backgrounds shaped by stigma and cultural taboos. Objective: Co-design a culturally relevant, evidence-based mobile app with immigrant adolescents to deliver accurate SRH resources; report usability testing results for MyPeer. Methods: Community-based participatory research with human-centered design; focus groups and interest-holder evaluation using Mobile App Rating Scale. Results: 25 adolescents and 17 interest holders participated; highest scores for functionality and engagement, with technical issues and requests for deeper SRH content. Conclusions: MyPeer shows promising usability and appeal and supports participatory design in youth SRH digital interventions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Adolescent SRH needs and barriers

JMIR FORMATIVE RESEARCH Meherali et al Original Paper A Mobile App (MyPeer) Co-Designed With Immigrant Adolescents for Better Sexual and Reproductive Health: Usability Study | Salima Meherali1*, PhD; Amyna Ismail Rehmani1*, MN; Mariam Ahmad1*, MPH; Piper Scott-Fiddler2, MS; Paula Pinzón-Hernández2, PhD; Zeba Khan2, MSc; Sarah Flicker3, PhD; Philomina Okeke-Ihejirika4, PhD; Bukola Salami5, PhD; Eleni Stroulia6, PhD; Ashley Vandermorris7, PhD; Josephine Pui-Hing Wong8, PhD; Wendy V Norman9, MD, MHSc. ; Shannon D Scott 1, PhD; Sarah Munro10, PhD | | --- | | 1Faculty of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada 3Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
4Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada 5Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada 6Faculty of Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
7Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
8Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, Canada 9Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
10Department of Health Systems and Population Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States *these authors contributed equally
Corresponding Author:
Salima Meherali, PhD Faculty of Nursing College of Health Sciences University of Alberta 11405 87 Ave NW Edmonton, AB, T6G 2V2 Canada
Phone: 1 (780) 248 1401
[Email:](Email: meherali@ualberta.ca)[ ](Email: meherali@ualberta.ca)[meherali@ualberta.ca](Email: meherali@ualberta.ca)
Abstract | Background: Adolescents require comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education to successfully transition from puberty into adulthood. However, they often experience barriers and challenges while trying to promote their SRH or access SRH services. Such challenges are amplified among youth from migrant backgrounds, who may further be constrained by societal stigmas and cultural taboos regarding SRH. Mobile health interventions have the potential to provide culturally relevant, accessible, and evidence-based SRH educational resources; however, few SRH mobile apps in Canada are co-designed with immigrant youth or meaningfully integrate their voices and lived experiences. Objective: We aimed to co-design a culturally relevant and evidence-based mobile app with immigrant adolescents to provide accurate SRH resources. In this paper, we present the findings ofthe usability testing of our SRH mobile app—MyPeer. Methods: Throughout our study, we used a community-based participatory research approach and implemented the principles of human-centered design to co-design our mobile app. For our usability study, we recruited immigrant adolescents and interest holders working with the target population. Adolescents participated in moderated focus group discussions (FGDs) and interest holders evaluated the app’s quality using the standardized Mobile App Rating Scale (rating components on a scale of 1-5) . All FGDs were audio-recorded and later analyzed to implement changes in the app. Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) scores and responses were analyzed descriptively to evaluate the app’s engagement, functionality, aesthetics, quality of information, and subjective app quality. Results: Overall, 25 adolescents and 17 interest holders participated in this usability study. We analyzed the findings from the FGDs and categorized them into four categories: (1) navigation and interface,(2) SRH information quality and learning,(3) [https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e81115](https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e81115) XSL• FO RenderX JMIR Form Res 2025 | vol. 9 | e81115 | p.

FAQs

What was the purpose of the MyPeer app study?

The study aimed to co-design a culturally relevant, evidence-based SRH mobile app with immigrant adolescents and present findings from usability testing to support accurate SRH resources.

How was the app co-designed and evaluated?

Researchers used community-based participatory research and human-centered design. Immigrant adolescents joined moderated focus group discussions, and interest holders assessed the app using the standardized Mobile App Rating Scale.

What usability strengths and weaknesses did participants report?

Adolescents found the app visually appealing and easy to navigate, valuing interactive elements like quizzes and information delivered via videos and infographics. Reported weaknesses included technical issues (e.g., map glitches and navigation inconsistencies) and a request for deeper SRH content.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob