CogTrain: A Study on a User-Centric Mobile Service for Dementia Prevention and Cognitive Management

Abstract

This study aims to develop a user-centric cognitive screening mobile app, “CogTrain”, focused on dementia prevention and cognitive management in South Korea. Unlike existing apps, CogTrain encourages continual and long-term usage by ensuring engaging user experiences. Traditional digital dementia screenings, while effective in identifying subtle cognitive changes unseen in hospital screenings, suffer from low engagement and utilization over extended periods. This research, conducted in two parts, first evaluates existing apps' usability and then proposes and assesses a newly designed app through rigorous usability tests and iterative design approaches. Derived from in-depth interviews and multiple testing rounds with cognitively healthy adults aged 20 to 65, CogTrain offers incentivized short games targeting memory, psychomotor skills, and calculation abilities, integrating elements from medical dementia screenings. Findings underscore the significance of a user-centered design in fostering intrinsic motivation for users, encouraging consistent and long-term participation in remote cognitive screenings for dementia prevention.