User dissatisfaction with a mental health application: Insights from Google Reviews

South African Journal of Information Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title User dissatisfaction with a mental health application: Insights from Google Reviews
 
Creator Petersen, Fazlyn Tom, Sheethal
 
Subject Health, technology user dissatisfaction; mental health applications; customer reviews; application quality; technical issues
Description Background: The increasing reliance on digital health solutions, particularly mental health applications, has the potential to revolutionise mental health management by offering accessible and scalable interventions. However, there are barriers to adoption and effectiveness.Objectives: This study aimed to identify factors contributing to user dissatisfaction with mental health applications.Method: A qualitative case study using more than 1600 Google reviews was conducted. A thematic analysis of user feedback was conducted, focusing on dissatisfaction, negative experiences and technical issues across application features, data management, health management, quality, user experience and well-being. The data were coded and analysed for patterns and co-occurrences among these categories.Results: Application quality, user experience and technical reliability were the most significant factors influencing dissatisfaction. Common technical issues, including crashes and poor interface design, negatively affected user engagement and reduced the applications’ effectiveness in supporting mental health management. Although some users reported improvements in well-being, technical challenges frequently offset these.Conclusion: The findings emphasise the need for improved user-centred design, stable technical infrastructure and personalised features to enhance mental health applications. Addressing these issues can increase user satisfaction and the overall effectiveness of digital health interventions.Contribution: This study contributes to the growing body of literature on digital health. It provides insights for improving the design and functionality of mental health applications. This assists in meeting user needs better.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor N/A
Date 2025-12-16
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — online customer reviews
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajim.v27i1.2064
 
Source South African Journal of Information Management; Vol 27, No 1 (2025); 11 pages 1560-683X 2078-1865
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2064/3467 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2064/3468 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2064/3469 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2064/3470
 
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Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Fazlyn Petersen, Sheethal Tom https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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