There are four critical steps to capitalise on this opportunity:
1. Make it easy to opt in and report – The user experience of the app will be critical. Regular self-reporting should be completely flexible with as many questions available as the individual wants to answer. The questions will change frequently so simplicity is very important to maximise participation. The user interface and language should be configurable and accessibility should be considered to ensure everyone can participate. It should be very easy for people to understand who will have access to their information, why it is being collected, how it will be used and how they can opt out.
2. Ask the right questions at the right time – People will only opt in and share their personal information if they believe the risk to their privacy and the investment of their time to self-report are justified by the pubic good they are helping to achieve. During the Covid pandemic this was straightforward as there was an easy to understand, unambiguous objective: to help eradicate the virus and save lives. Outside the pandemic themes and questions will need to be selected very carefully to maximise engagement and participation. Ultra-local, high-profile and/or personally selected themes and questions may maximise engagement and participation compared to national/regional, niche and generic questions and themes.
3. Explain why and incentivise – The Zoe symptoms study and Mass Science apps are successful in part because people understand why they are self-reporting / sharing (they understand the mission and by participating they feel part of something bigger) and they get something in return (from Zoe they get great insight into the pandemic and an estimate of cases in their area and from Mass Science they can track and visualise their happiness and alertness). These two lessons are important to ensure mass participation over time.
4. Demonstrate the benefit and impact – Many people will be willing to share their personal information and self-report, risking their privacy and investing their time, if they have proof that something will change by doing so. Organisations that use the app to collect insight into people’s opinions, behaviours, preferences, priorities, heath and wellness must be wiling to ‘playback’ their findings to their contributors, change services / policy based on insight they have gathered and explain to their contributors what changes they have made and why. Failure to do this is likely to create frustration and disillusion people: “What’s the point in sharing my data with them if they just ignore it and do what they were going to do anyway?”
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