Foundational knowledge - TUDER framework

1. Introduction

TUDER is a holistic framework that aims to “integrate the advantages of behavioral theories, Behavior Change Techniques (BCT) taxonomy, and persuasive technology design principles to researchers design, evaluate, and report their studies in a formative and comprehensive way”  (Wang et al., 2019). The TUDER framework goes a step further from the BIT model and offers a unified taxonomy considering the contemporary models presented in lesson 2 and the BIT model presented above. The framework can be really useful not only to develop the intervention but also to evaluate it (Wang et al., 2019).

The TUDER acronym comes from the following four steps comprising the framework: Targeting, Understanding, Designing, Evaluating and Refining.

TUDER holistic framework (Wang et al., 2019).

2. Targeting the users

Targeting the users, health problem and behavior. This component highlights the importance of tying the user group, the health problem, and the desired behavior to achieve the intervention's aim. An example from the authors of the frameworks is “an intervention to promote the use of standing desks (the behavior) to reduce the prolonged sedentary behavior (the behavior) of office workers (the user group) to prevent chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes (the health problem)” (Wang et al., 2019).

3. Understanding

This component of the framework considers the behavioral theories (or models/constructs) that need to be used to change the behavior tacked by the intervention (Wang et al., 2019).

4. Designing the intervention, characteristics, and workflow

This component refers to the intervention strategies and DHI characteristics that need to be considered when designing an intervention. The framework offers 98 intervention strategies and 6 intervention characteristics to be used for developing mHealth apps. Moreover, the framework also includes the importance of workflows, a concept borrowed from the BIT model (Wang et al., 2019).

5. Evaluating and Refining the Intervention Design

A novel approach of the TUDER framework is the importance offered to constant evaluation of the intervention design. The framework suggests that usability evolution (regarding human-computer interaction and uptake) and effectiveness evaluation (regarding behavior change and impact) should be considered when designing an intervention. The framework provides suggestions for refining the intervention, such as think-aloud, cognitive walkthrough, pilot-testing, and heuristic evaluations (Wang et al., 2019).

6. Checklist

A checklist was also developed for standardized use and reporting of the framework  (Wang et al., 2019).

TUDER framework checklist (Wang et al., 2019).