How to create a commercially successful mobile app? Which components are the most important ones? How can mobile tech enhance tourism offerings?

1. HEALTH APPS AND
THEIR POTENTIAL
IN THE HEALTH &
WELLBEING
TOURISM
STUDENT: TENA KRANJČIĆ
ID: 151IMC10870
MENTOR:
DR GEORG C. STECKENBAUER

2. THESIS AIM &
MAIN FOCUSES
 Establish the current level of
importance that health apps have in
H&W tourism field
 Extracting success factors in
determining which types of apps
contribute to H&W tourism
(providers/prosumers) the most
 Logical and justified presumptions
about the future synergy of M-tech &
Health and Wellbeing tourism
 Researching the depth that usage of
m-tech has on the overall H&W
tourism offer

3. THE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
Important notions
 The global wellness industry is
a $3.7 trillion market.
 The global wellness industry
grew 10.6% from 2013-2015
 A growth rate more than twice
as fast as overall tourism
expenditures (6.9%)
 2.3 billion smartphone users
(expected growth)
 Market share in m-Health is
$10 billion (expected to double
by the end of 2018)

4. Problem
definition
WHAT IS THE ROC FACTOR?
RESEARCHABLE
ORIGINAL
CONTRIBUTORY
„The Basic Idea is to get an Idea!”
Prof. Dr Georg Christian Steckenbauer

5.  Terminology issues
 Medical apps importance
surpasses health apps
scientific significance
 Unwiligness for deeper
immersion into the
wellness apps sphere
from the academic
perspective
 Distorted perception of the
health apps

6. WHAT ARE THEY
NOW VS. WHAT
CAN THEY BE?
PRESENT USAGE
 Guides
 Booking & Informational Tools
 Promotional apparatuses
 Payment instruments
 Intermediaries

7. FUTURE
 DMO’s promotional tools
(USP’s bolsters)
 Primary & secondary
health tourists' drivers
 Boosters of effectiveness
& efficiency within all
management levels

8. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Primary research question
1. Which is the main function that health
apps can have in the sphere of H&W
tourism?
Secondary research questions
1. What components of the health apps
are the most relevant when
determining its success?
2. Which is the ultimate prerequisite for
the health app?

9. RESEARCH AIMS
What makes a
successful app in the
H&W tourism context?
What makes an app
successful from the
millennial standpoint?

10. MILLENIAL PERSPECTIVE AS AN
ADEQUATE ORIENTATION
REASONS
• Researcher’s age group
(competency factor)
• Highly interested in the usage of the
mobile technology
• Tech-savvy and aware
• Increased interest towards following
healthy life-style
• Dominant economic spending
population in the years to come

11. Contrast
GENERATION LENSES
o Impatient
o Privileged
o Tech-obsessed
o Unaware of our surroundings
o Low-self confidence
CONSUMER LENSES
• Competent
• Skilful
• Informed
• Knowledgeable
• Eco-friendly

12. Important facts to remember
Specifics of this study
 Exploratory character (opposed to the
formal one)
 Multidisciplinary (three distinctive fields)
 Embryonic work – idea in its rudimentary
stage with potential for further development
(doctoral dissertation)
„This study combined scientific perspective
with the business outlook and rounded it up
with the milennial standpoint”

13. Methodology
1. Literature Overview
2. Qualitative in-depth
interviews
3. Health apps analysis
4. Online Questionnaire

14. 1. Literature overview
Documentary analysis
Crucial insights into all 3
areas;
 Mobile technology
development
(smartphone apps)
 Synergy of mobile
technology & tourism
industry
 Health & Wellbeing
tourism

15. 2. In-depth
interviews
Vibor Cipan
(ICT Expert)
• Programmer, mobile apps
developer, entrepreneur &
inventor
• Former Mycrosoft employee
• UX Passion founder & CEO
• World-renowned (Wall of
Tweets project)
• Often quoted in various
publications

16. Susie Ellis
(Health tourism expert)
• Chairman and CEO of the
Global Wellness Institute
• Coordinator of the Global
Wellness Summit
• Leader of the Global
Wellness initiative
• Editor of the Global
Wellness portal
• President of the Spa
Finder
• Cited and represented in
academic & commercial
publications

17. 3. Qualitative observation
HEALTH APPS ANALYSIS
 Collecting (downloading), observing
(overviewing), analysing, comparing and
grading ten most sucessful health apps
(Google Play & App Store)
 Selection criteria;
 Type
 Financial aspect
 Language availability
 Popularity & usage
 Image
 Connection to the health and wellbeing
(tourism)

18. COMPONENTS
CONSIDERED
1. Amount of
information and key
features
2. User interface
3. Number of
downloads
4. Rating
5. Offline usage
possibility
6. Comment section
content
7. Language options

19. GRADING METHOD
SCORE MEANING
0 Application is unusable
1 Application is usable only in theory
2 Application is operable only with significant improvements
3 Application is valuable to a certain extent (several corrections are needed)
4 Application is highly useful, but some minor changes are suggested
5 Application has high level of quality/value, and its use is fully recommended

20. RESEARCHER’S
PERCIEVED VALUE
The full grade is the sum of each
graded category divided by the
numbers of categories
OVERAL GRADE FORMULA
OS (overall sum) / NC (number
of categories)
=
TS/OG (Overall grade)

21. Overall Sum
-
Number of Categories
/
Total Score
26.5 7 37.8

22. Pre-analysis pressumptions & post-analysis deductions
ANALYSED APP TOTAL SCORE OVERALL GRADE
Period tracker 4.8 5
Pedometer 4.5 5
iCare Health Monitor 4.3 4
Omvana 4.2 4
Fabulous: Motivate me! 4.2 4
Sleep cycle 4 4
Asana Rebel 3.8 4
MyFitnessPal 3.75 4
Amazing health/wellness 2.2 (not graded regularly) 2 (extensively explained in the thesis)
Health tourism / (not graded regularly) / (extensively explained in the thesis)

23. 3. Questionnaire
„WHAT DO PROSUMERS THINK?”
Recognising and understanding user opinion
about health apps & health tourism in general
FORMAT & LAYOUT
 SurveyMonkey platform
 Lasting period – from 6th to 20th of June 2017
 Sample size – 187 respondents
 25 questions (different typology)
 Possibility of leaving comments

24. Respondents were asked to
• State their gender
• Write where they are coming from
• Inscribe their age
• Write which is their education level
• State either they are using a smartphone or not
• Choose the operating system which they are using (Android, iOS, Microsoft)
• Write how often they are using smart apps
• Write the amount of time which they spend on using the smartphone apps
• State how many apps are they using daily
• Answer if they are using any health apps
• If they answered the last question positively, they could skip this question, but if their
response was negative, they should explain why

25. • State their primary reason for using health apps
• Name the top 3 health apps which they are using
• State are they using any health app which requires payment
• State how much money are they willing to extricate for a health app
• Grading of the smartphone key features according to the grading scale provided
• Choose the most accurate definition of the healthy lifestyle in the descriptions provided
• State how much are they following a healthy lifestyle based on a scale provided
• State their interest in travelling based on the scale provided
• Answer on how many travels are they taking per year
• State the average length of their trips
• Answer on how much money are they usually spending on their trips
• State which is their level of familiarity with health and wellbeing tourism based on a provided scale
• State if they had ever taken trip which was wellness-oriented or had some of the wellness segments
implemented
• Define health and wellbeing tourism with their own words

26. Majority of the respondents
stated that they are using from
3-5 apps daily, while the ratio
between the respondents which
are using 1-2 apps and the ones
which are using more than five
apps per day, is almost
identical.
Responses to this question
further confirmed earlier given
premises about the importance
of the smartphone apps in
today’s world.
14%
67%
17%
2%
More than 5 apps 3-5 apps 1-2 apps Not sure
Figure 9: „How many apps you use per day?”
Source: Author’s chart

27. BODY OF KNOWLEDGE CHAPTERS
(Summary of the most important findings)
 At the end of each chapter
(method)
 Pertinent deductions
 Making it easier for the readers
 Allows chapters skipping

28. DEDUCTIONS
• •Potential of the „wellness apps” is
partly unrecognizable
• •„Some ideas are like wine. It is
necessary to let them lay down
first.”
• •The proper ratio of
tech/tourism/mindfulness/business
& health is ESSENTIAL
• CREATING MOBILE
EXPERIENCE rather than merely
providing the service
• Shift from STANDARDISATION to
INDIVIDUALISATION
• •Preferences of Generation Y and Z
are extremely important

29. THE MOST IMPORTANT
COMPONENT
DOESN’T EXIST
Significant components:
1. Loading speed
2. Key features and amount of information provided
3. User interface
4. Price
5. Offline usage possibility
6. Language options
7. Rating
8. Comment section
9. Number of downloads

30. THE SUPREME
HEALTH APP
• Is easily downloaded, runs fast and
enables the user to browse through
categories easily and speedily (even in the
low signal areas)
• Provides a significant amount of useful
information and has various key features
• Delivers data mentioned above in a
meaningful way and avoid overloading
users with information
• Has clear and simple design which isn’t
full of advertisements
• Offers the possibility of usage even when
the user isn’t connected to the Internet, and
option of saving data which are gathered
when he/she was online
• Has the adequate price of the Premium
version (value for money) and offer Trial
period to the users

31. • Be translated into several languages
• Achieve a high rating on the markets
• Have administrators who are responding
promptly to the users’ comments
• Achieve a high number of downloads
• Offer the possibility of co-creation to at least
minimum extent (enable users to be directly
involved in the process of enhancing or further
development of the app)
• Enable users to sync this application with other
applications and devices (e.g., wearables)
• Have a team of experts which is continuously
working on the improvements
This app should:

32. Dimitrios Buhalis:
„ICT’s aren’t
universal remedies
and they do
acquire;
strategic
management
vision
commitment
toward objectives
technical know-
how”