Değerli, M. (2020). A Mobile Health Application for Healthy Living: HWOW (Healthier Work for Office Workers). 14th Turkish National Software Engineering Symposium. (UYMS 2020). 10.1109/UYMS50627.2020.9247024 - https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/9247008/proceeding

1. 978-1-7281-8541-5/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE
A Mobile Health Application for Healthy Living:
HWOW (Healthier Work for Office Workers)
Mustafa Degerli
Graduate School of Informatics
Middle East Technical University
Ankara, Turkey
mustafa.degerli@metu.edu.tr
Abstract—In this paper, the author shares the knowledge
and experiences about a mobile health application named
HWOW (Healthier Work for Office Workers) which is designed
as a means to support a healthier work for office workers (gold
or white-collar employees working relatively inactive at the
computer or the desk all day). In this scope, initially, some
important definitions and concepts related to electronic health
(e-health), mobile health (m-health), and relevant applications
are provided. What’s more, all-inclusive specifics are provided
on the subjects of the answers for the questions of what, how,
and why regarding HWOW, the information about HWOW’s
development process, the results of the polls to decide on the
minimum viable product, the differences of HWOW from
related applications, and the features of HWOW. Lastly, the
current status and plans for HWOW are presented. In the
contexts of software engineering for health and mobile health,
the author thinks this paper is going to be beneficial for both
product developers and relevant researchers.
Keywords—e-health, m-health, HWOW, healthier work for
office workers, healthy living, health informatics
I. INTRODUCTION
Even though there are many, fairly more than 50, different
definitions for e-health (electronic health) with no clear
compromise about the meticulous denotation, it can be
concluded that most of the definitions highlight two focal
components which are health and technology [1]. Besides, e-
health can be interpreted as the properties, possibilities, and
consequences of integrated-healthcare-systems, where this
amalgamation is more than the sum of the single-component
consequences [2]. Naturally, there are some prominent
challenges regarding m-health and these can be itemized as
continuous monitoring, full involvement, interoperability, and
disappearing interaction [3]. Moreover, the prominence of
interoperability for e-health applications is underlined [4].
m-Health (mobile health) is an element of e-health, and it
is the practice of mobile and wireless technologies to support
the accomplishment of health objectives. Provided that it is
executed purposefully and methodically, m-health has the
potential to remarkably transform results regarding health [5].
Big data analytics and machine learning are going to be
popular for new perspectives of mobile health (m-Health 2.0)
[6]. Besides, the quality of m-health evidence is shielded by
three major mechanisms, and these are content, context, and
technical features [7]. Thanks to m-health technologies, so
many facets of healthcare can be altered and refined with
improved results and remarkably reduced expenses [8]. For
success [9] offered five main design suggestions for m-health
applications, such as predictive, personalized, preventive,
participatory, and the psycho-cognitive. Additionally, for this
context, scholars [10] highlighted the significance of reliable
system operation through extremely low power consumption.
In their work [11], scholars identified the six e-health and m-
health activities. From the most common to the least common,
these are health tutorials and health information seeking,
recording/monitoring and medical services, and reminders
and sharing. Additionally, owing to the prevalent adoption of
smartphones, there is a noteworthy prospect for influencing
health behaviors universally through apps [12]. Body sensor
networks which are a relevant fragment of m-health are
promising as they are greatly altering the human-machine
interactions and enhancing the excellence of people’s
experiences [13]. Besides, there are prominent community-led
and co-designed m-health interventions [14].
There are several different categories of mobile health
applications. For example, [15] developed an app to improve
health literacy and they concluded that mobile apps should be
developed with the drive of attaining a high coverage of user
access. Moreover, for instance, [16] developed and pilot-
tested a health care application for pregnant and toddlers based
especially on user experience. Specifically, they developed an
app fairly meeting the usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning,
satisfaction, and usability. Other researchers [17] developed
and verified an m-health solution aimed at remote monitoring
of physiological parameters, and they succeeded in lessening
the hospitalization rate and increasing the empowerment of
the patient in self-management. In another prominent study
[18], researchers developed a framework assembled based on
mobile health and including a component responsible for
making diagnoses. Still other scholars developed a novel fall
detection system based on a wearable device [19]. Besides,
there is a “sit less, move more” workplace intervention which
successfully reduced a range of indications of lost workday
productivity [20].
II. PROBLEM AND VALUE DEFINITION
Nowadays, there is a noteworthy amount of people who do
office work and these people sit at a computer all day and/or
have a desk job. Clearly, they usually spend most of their time
in front of computers and/or in offices. These people are
typically gold-collar and white-collar people. Such people
habitually interact with other people or computers on a regular
working day with not that much activeness (physical activity
and/or exercise). Nonetheless, it is known that to pursue a
healthy or healthier life, people need to have “active” days.
The more active people are, the healthier they are going to be.
For office workers, being active is remarkably imperative
since they by and large do stressful work and they spend most
of their time with a very limited amount of activeness. In
addition to ensuring and/or promoting the activeness, there is
a necessity to remind these people a couple of tips and tricks
to safeguard healthier work and routine. Consequently, there
is a need for a product and solution to help people regulate
times in office workspaces in a healthier fashion.
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2. III. SOLUTION / PRODUCT - HWOW
A mobile health application called HWOW (Fig. 1) is
being created to help office workers to attain and sustain a
healthier work. HWOW is going to be there to let office
workers enjoy a very active and healthier work life. Owing to
tight schedules and much stress and competition, office
workers need a “help” to arrange and manage their times in
the office workplace to ensure and enjoy a healthier context.
WHY: To attain and sustain a healthier office work.
HOW: By using a mobile application which works on
iPhone and Apple Watch
WHAT: HWOW
For the process, the Lean Startup methodology is being
applied. The Swift is being used for the development. In this
context, a novel questionnaire was prepared and applied to
decide on the minimum viable product (MVP). At the
beginning of the questionnaire, the author asked the “Do you
want to enjoy an application like HWOW to regulate your
times in office workspaces in a healthier fashion?” question
and 86% of the participants (N = 100) said “Yes”.
Additionally, Table 1 shows the results of the polls.
TABLE I. RESULTS OF THE POLLS FOR THE MINIMUM VIABLE
PRODUCT
Functions and benefits
User Characterizations
Must-
Have
Nice to
Have
No
Need
Reminders to take breaks 77% 23% 0%
Quick tips 75% 21% 4%
Burned calories 86% 12% 2%
Water reminder 80% 19% 1%
Stand reminder 91% 6% 3%
Breathe reminder 86% 9% 5%
Well-refined diet lists 66% 25% 9%
Scheduling meetings with walking 56% 31% 13%
Wash hands reminder 77% 12% 11%
Activity details 81% 13% 6%
Gamification among coworkers 7% 77% 16%
Creating groups to share results 19% 54% 27%
Green checker 35% 35% 30%
Light analyzer 20% 54% 26%
Crowd and tidy analyzer 19% 47% 34%
High five coworkers reminder 11% 45% 44%
Reminder for calling your love 27% 32% 41%
A. Competitors
At the outset, the author resolutely needs to underline that
HWOW will be the first of its kind owing to that it will be
specially designed for office workers and it will be a combined
(all in one) solution. On the other hand, there are comparable
applications available in Apple’s App Store. Table 2 provides
noteworthy particulars on the subject of certain dimensions to
comprehensively compare HWOW to other relevant
applications.
TABLE II. COMPARISON OF COMPETITORS
Product
Dimension
FitWell
Water
Minder
Activity HWOW
Name
Your
Mobile
Coach
Water
Hydration
Reminder
and Tracker
Move,
Exercise,
and
Stand
Tracker
Healthier
Work for
Office
Workers
Developer /
Organization
FitWell
Funn
Media
Apple MD
Works on iPhone
Works with
Apple Watch
Price
Free &
Paid
Free Free Free
Ads Available
How Makes
Money
Paid
Option
Unknown Apple Ads
Customization
Pre-Defined
(Standard /
Regular) Mode
Gamification
Notifications on
both iPhone and
Apple Watch
Burned Calories
Water Reminder
Stand Reminder
Activity Track
Breathe
Reminder
Diet Lists
Creating Groups
to Share Results
Tips of the Day
Fresh Air
Reminder
“Green” Checker
Light Analyzer
Crowd and Tidy
Analyzer
Break Reminder
Heart Rate
Schedule
Meetings with
Walking
Wash your
Hands Reminder
High five
Coworkers
Reminder
Exercise
Programs
Analytics
B. HWOW Requirements
• The HWOW shall have two modes (“Advanced” and
“Regular”).
• The User shall be able to select modes at the start of
the HWOW.
• The HWOW, in advanced mode, shall let users adjust
the parameters.
• The HWOW, in regular mode, shall notify users in
every hour to take breaks, between 8:00 a.m. – 06:00
p.m.
• The HWOW, in regular mode, shall randomly show
quick tips to the users in every three hours, between
8:00 a.m. – 06:00 p.m.
• The HWOW shall let users measure heartbeats.
• The User shall be able to see burned calories.
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3. • The HWOW, in regular mode, shall notify in every
hour to drink water, between 8:30 a.m. – 06:30 p.m.
• The HWOW, in regular mode, shall notify users in
every hour to stand, between 8:55 a.m. – 05:55 p.m.
• The HWOW, in regular mode, shall notify users in
every hour to a deep breath, between 8:00 a.m. –
06:00 p.m.
• The HWOW, in regular mode, shall notify users in
every 6-hour to wash hands, between 10:00 a.m. –
06:00 p.m.
• The HWOW shall let users schedule meetings with
walking.
• The HWOW shall show users well-refined diet lists
for each day.
• The HWOW, in regular mode, shall remind the users
to call their love once randomly between 10:00 a.m. –
06:00 p.m.
• The HWOW shall let the user when the scheduled
meeting duration is over.
C. HWOW Main Functions
• Reminders & Notifications
o Breaks, Water, Stand, Breathe, Wash hands
• Notifications on both iPhone and Apple Watch
• Tips
o Use the stairs, not the elevator. Take the long
way. Recharge with a lunchtime nap. Take
breaks and get out in the sun and fresh air. Eat
breakfast. Eat a healthy lunch.
• Well-refined diet lists
• Scheduling meetings with walking
• Fat burning walk
D. Descoped Items
The following items are descoped owing to resource
constraints and these will be reevaluated after the first launch.
• Features of gamification among coworkers
• Activity details
• Creating groups to share results
• “Green” checker (based on the taken photo)
• Light analyzer (determine the density)
• Advanced mode (parameters set by users)
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the author shared the knowledge and
experiences about HWOW (Healthier Work for Office
Workers), a mobile health application to support a healthier
work for office workers. For HWOW, the fundamentals
(analysis, requirements, design, and first development and
tests) have been completed, yet still a great effort and
dedication are required for success. Currently, HWOW is
nearly ready for the first release to the App Store. After the
first launch, HWOW will be refined and improved with regard
to feedbacks and product development & management plan.
m-Health applications have very high potential both to
improve people’s lives and moneymaking, and the author
believes HWOW has a quite potential to succeed. Product
developers might take advantage of this paper in developing
and refining their similar products and services with respect to
the implemented process, distilled results, and applied
practices. Relevant researchers may benefit from this paper to
analyze different notable efforts in the context of e-health and
m-health.
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