Digital Health Co-Design
Think-aloud Approach
Think-aloud Approach
The think-aloud approach invites participants to verbalise their thoughts while engaging with a prototype, product, or task. In co-design studies, it is often applied in the Deliver phase to reveal how users interpret, navigate, and experience an intervention, providing rich insights into both its strengths and areas needing refinement.
Application Example
In a study developing a mobile app to support asthma self-management among people with limited health literacy in Malaysia, researchers created the prototype of the asthma self-management app and the team conducted think-aloud usability testing with five patients. Participants were asked to navigate the app while verbalising their thoughts, with sessions supported by screen recordings and researcher moderation. The method revealed both the perceived utility of the app (information, action plans, reminders, and support systems) and specific usability challenges such as navigation, comprehension, and layout. (Salim et al., 2021)