Design of an innovative digital application to facilitate access to healthy foods in low-income urban settings

Emma C Lewis; Siyao Zhu; Ayoyemi T Oladimeji; Takeru Igusa; Nina M Martin; Lisa Poirier; Antonio J Trujillo; Melissa M Reznar; Joel Gittelsohn

doi:10.21037/mhealth-23-30

Design of an innovative digital application to facilitate access to healthy foods in low-income urban settings

Mhealth. 2023 Nov 3:10:2. doi: 10.21037/mhealth-23-30. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Emma C Lewis¹, Siyao Zhu², Ayoyemi T Oladimeji², Takeru Igusa², Nina M Martin¹, Lisa Poirier¹, Antonio J Trujillo¹, Melissa M Reznar³, Joel Gittelsohn¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, Baltimore, MD, USA.
³ Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, Oakland University School of Health Sciences, Rochester, MI, USA.

Abstract

Background: Under-resourced urban minority communities in the United States are characterized by food environments with low access to healthy foods, high food insecurity, and high rates of diet-related chronic disease. In Baltimore, Maryland, low access to healthy food largely results from a distribution gap between small food sources (retailers) and their suppliers. Digital interventions have the potential to address this gap, while keeping costs low.

Methods: In this paper, we describe the technical (I) front-end design and (II) back-end development process of the Baltimore Urban food Distribution (BUD) application (app). We identify and detail four main phases of the process: (I) information architecture; (II) low and high-fidelity wireframes; (III) prototype; and (IV) back-end components, while considering formative research and a pre-pilot test of a preliminary version of the BUD app.

Results: Our lessons learned provide valuable insight into developing a stable app with a user-friendly experience and interface, and accessible cloud computing services for advanced technical features.

Conclusions: Next steps will involve a pilot trial of the app in Baltimore, and eventually, other urban and rural settings nationwide. Once iterative feedback is incorporated into the app, all code will be made publicly available via an open source repository to encourage adaptation for desired communities.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05010018.

Keywords: Baltimore; app development; food access; mHealth; user experience/user interface (UX/UI).

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT05010018

Abstract

Associated data

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