Donald E. Zimmerman

Randomized Trial of a Smartphone Mobile Application Compared to Text Messaging to Support Smoking Cessation

BACKGROUND Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Young adult smokers 18-30 years old (n = 102) participated in a randomized pretest-posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and quitting behavior (quit attempts, point-prevalence, 30-day point-prevalence, and continued abstinence) were assessed in posttests. RESULTS Overall, 60% of smokers used mobile services (REQ-Mobile, 61%, mean of 128.5 messages received; onQ, 59%, mean of 107.8 messages), and 75% evaluated REQ-Mobile as user-friendly. A majority of smokers reported being abstinent at posttest (6 weeks, 53% of completers; 12 weeks, 66% of completers [44% of all cases]). Also, 37% (25%of all cases) reported 30-day point-prevalence abstinence, and 32% (22% of all cases) reported continuous abstinence at 12 weeks. OnQ produced more abstinence (p<0.05) than REQ-Mobile. Use of both services predicted increased 30-day abstinence at 12 weeks (used, 47%; not used, 20%; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS REQ-Mobile was feasible for delivering cessation support but appeared to not move smokers to quit as quickly as text messaging. Text messaging may work better because it is simple, well known, and delivered to a primary inbox. These advantages may disappear as smokers become more experienced with new handsets. Mobile phones may be promising delivery platforms for cessation services using either smartphone applications or text messaging.

User-friendly web mapping: lessons from a citizen science website

Citizen science websites are emerging as a common way for volunteers to collect and report geographic ecological data. Engaging the public in citizen science is challenging and, when involving online participation, data entry, and map use, becomes even more daunting. Given these new challenges, citizen science websites must be easy to use, result in positive overall satisfaction for many different users, support many different tasks, and ensure data quality. To begin reaching these goals, we built a geospatially enabled citizen science website, evaluated its usability, and gained experience by working with and listening to citizens using the website. We sought to determine general perceptions, discover potential problems, and iteratively improve website features. Although the website was rated positively overall, map-based tasks identified a wide range of problems. Given our results, we redesigned the website, improved the content, enhanced the ease of use, simplified the map interface, and added features. We discuss citizen science websites in relation to online Public Participation Geographic Information Systems, examine the role(s) websites may play in the citizen science research model, discuss how citizen science research advances GIScience, and offer guidelines to improve citizen-based web mapping applications.

Randomized Trial on the 5 a Day, the Rio Grande Way Website, A Web-based Program to Improve Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Rural Communities

The Internet is a new technology for health communication in communities. The 5 a Day, the Rio Grande Way website intended to increase fruits and vegetables (FV) consumption was evaluated in a rural region enrolling 755 adults (65% Hispanic, 9% Native American, 88% female) in a randomized pretest–posttest controlled trial in 2002–2004. A total of 473 (63%) adults completed a 4-month follow-up. The change in daily intake on a food frequency questionnaire (control: mean = − 0.26 servings; intervention: mean = 0.38; estimated difference = 0.64, SD = 0.52, t(df = 416) = 1.22, p = 0.223) and single item (13.9% eating 5 + servings at pretest, 19.8% posttest for intervention; 17.4%, 13.8% for controls; odds ratio (OR) = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.07, 3.17) was in the expected direction but significant only for the single item. Website use was low and variable (logins: M = 3.3, range = 1 to 39.0; total time: M = 22.2 minutes, range = 0 to 322.7), but it was associated positively with fruit and vegetable intake (total time: Spearman r = 0.14, p = 0.004 for food frequency; Spearman r = 0.135, p = 0.004 for single item). A nutrition website may improve FV intake. The comparison on the food frequency measure may have been undermined by its high variability. Websites may be successful in community settings only when they are used enough by adults to influence them.

Descriptions of Web Sites in Search Listings: A Potential Obstacle to Informed Choice of Health Information

The American public increasingly uses the Internet to obtain health information.1–5 Researchers have scrutinized the quality of health Web sites,6–10 but relatively few have studied the Web portals that deliver sites to users.11,12 Health consumers must rely on brief site listings generated by portal searches when deciding which Web site to access. These analyses examine the extent to which such site descriptions provide adequate cues about site sponsors and their intent to sell products on Web sites.

A group card sorting methodology for developing informational Web sites

Problems with users successfully finding information on Web sites abound. Using the card sorting methodologies can help Web site developers structure a Web site closer to how the intended users think about a topic, organize information for the Web site, and label its nodes and branches. The article provides an overview of card sorting, provides a suggested approach to card sorting and verifying the resulting labels and suggested map. To close, the article notes the emerging inconsistencies being reported in usability testing findings and then suggests turning to well-established social science methods to identify ways of enhancing card sorting. The article closes by calling for specific research to enhance card sorting methodologies.

Residence Hall Room Type and Alcohol Use Among College Students Living on Campus

The objectives were to explore the relation between the built environment of residence halls and the alcohol use of college students living on campus from the perspective of the theory of routine activity. This exploratory study examined data from two samples on one college campus. Online surveys assessed alcohol use, attitudes toward alcohol use, perceptions of campus alcohol norms, and individual factors (i.e., gender). Data came from an Alcohol Norms Survey using a random sample (N = 440) and a Resident Assessment Survey using a random sample ( N = 531) in 2006 and 2007. After controlling for other drinking behavior predictors (attitudes, gender, high school drinking, and perceptions of peer drinking), regression analysis showed that students living in suite halls had a higher odds of drinking more frequently, drinking more alcohol when they socialize, heavy episodic drinking, and drinking more often in their residence halls.

Integrating Usability Testing into the Development of a 5 a Day Nutrition Website for At-risk Populations in the American Southwest:

The following article documents an iterative, user-oriented process to develop a nutrition education website for a rural multicultural population. Study participants were purposefully recruited from a six-county region in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico representing the range of ethnic backgrounds, demographics and computer experience of the sites target audience. Three studies are presented. Study one, using a card-sorting process produced a basic shallow and broad structure for the website. Study two, using verbal protocol analysis of the prototype website identified six recurring problems and Study three, using verbal protocol analysis of the nearly completed website identified nine recurring problems. The website was redesigned to eliminate the problems and recommendations were provided for training users.

Exploring the technical communicator's roles: Implications for program design

Technical communication curricula vary because faculty use a variety of approaches to develop them. This essay suggests guidelines for curriculum and program development in technical communication based on a review of the relevant survey literature on the professional roles played by technical communicators, a review of academic literature on technical communication programs, and a review of the relevant demographic data on technical communicators. It then discusses the implications of the above for designing technical communication curricula and programs.

Communicating Forest Management Science and Practices through Visualized and Animated Media Approaches to Community Presentations An Exploration and Assessment

Natural-resource managers have used a variety of computer-mediated presentation methods to communicate management practices to diverse publics. We explored the effects of visualizing and animating predictions from mathematical models in computerized presentations explaining forest succession (forest growth and change through time), fire behavior, and management options. In an experimental design using purposive samples, rural-mountain, town, and student groups gained substantial information from both the visualized, animated presentation and the nonvisualized, nonanimated presentation. Mountain residents gained significantly more information from the visualized and animated presentation than from the nonvisualized and nonanimated presentation.Natural-resource managers have used a variety of computer-mediated presentation methods to communicate management practices to diverse publics. We explored the effects of visualizing and animating predictions from mathematical models in computerized presentations explaining forest succession (forest growth and change through time), fire behavior, and management options. In an experimental design using purposive samples, rural-mountain, town, and student groups gained substantial information from both the visualized, animated presentation and the nonvisualized, nonanimated presentation. Mountain residents gained significantly more information from the visualized and animated presentation than from the nonvisualized and nonanimated presentation.

A formative evaluation method for designing WWW sites

Since 1995, the World Wide Web has grown exponentially, with thousands of individuals, businesses and organizations developing and posting home pages. Some companies and organizations invest thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours developing highly artistic and visually-pleasing pages only to discover that their users become lost when navigating their site, have trouble reading the on-screen text and cannot find the information they seek. Consequently, users never return to their Web site. While numerous authors provide HTML tagging guidelines for developing Web pages, few authors have provided research-based guidelines from information design, interface design, hypertext, legibility and related research. To make Web pages more effective, developers can turn to (1) communication science-based guidelines for enhancing Web site design, and (2) formative evaluation methods. In our presentation, we outline a formative evaluation methodology to help Web page authors improve their Web pages, and illustrate the process with findings from our Web design research that began in 1994.