Article,
Facilitating In-House Mobile App Development Within Psychiatric Outpatient Services for Patients Diagnosed With Borderline Personality Disorder: Rapid Application Development Approach
Affiliations
- [1] Reg Zealand Psychiat, Psychiat Dept, Psychiat Res Unit, Faelledvej 6,Bygning 3,4 Sal, DK-4200 Slagelse, Denmark [NORA names: Region Zealand; Hospital; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [2] Copenhagen Univ Hosp Psychiat Reg Zealand, Mental Hlth Serv East, Roskilde, Denmark [NORA names: KU University of Copenhagen; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [3] Univ Southern Denmark, Fac Hlth Sci, Dept Psychol, Odense, Denmark [NORA names: SDU University of Southern Denmark; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [4] Tech Univ Denmark, Dept Engn Technol & Didact, Res Unit AI Math & Software, Ballerup, Denmark [NORA names: DTU Technical University of Denmark; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [5] Psychiat Reg Zealand, Mental Hlth Serv South, Maribo, Denmark [NORA names: Region Zealand; Hospital; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD]
Abstract
Background: Mobile app development within mental health is often time-and resource-consuming, challenging the development of mobile apps for psychiatry. There is a continuum of software development methods ranging from linear (waterfall model) to continuous adaption (Scrum). Rapid application development (RAD) is a model that so far has not been applied to psychiatric settings and may have some advantages over other models. Objective: This study aims to explore the utility of the RAD model in developing a mobile app for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a psychiatric outpatient setting.Methods: The 4 phases of the RAD model: (1) requirements planning, (2) user design, (3) construction, and (4) cutover, were applied to develop a mobile app within psychiatric outpatient services for patients diagnosed with BPD.Results: For the requirements planning phase, a short time frame was selected to minimize the time between product conceptualization and access within a clinical setting. Evidenced-based interactive content already developed was provided by current staff to enhance usability and trustworthiness. For the user design phase, activity with video themes and a discrete number of functions were used to improve the app functionality and graphical user interface. For the construction phase, close collaboration between clinicians, researchers, and software developers yielded a fully functional, in-house-developed app ready to be tested in clinical practice. For the cutover phase, the mobile app was tested successfully with a small number (n=5) of patients with a BPD. Conclusions: The RAD model could be meaningfully applied in a psychiatric setting to develop an app for BPD within a relatively short time period from conceptualization to implementation in the clinic. Short time frames and identifying a limited number of stakeholders with relevant skills in-house facilitated the use of this model. Despite some limitations, RAD could be a useful model in the development of apps for clinical populations to enable development and access to evidence-based technology.