THERE'S A GOOGLE SCHOLAR ALERT FOR THAT: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW METHODOLOGY EXPLORING MOBILE APP FEATURES THROUGH LEXIMANCER

Abstract

Mobile application (app) usage has become a universal trend. Paramount in most app designers' focus, is what mobile app users want in terms of features offered by an app. Forming part of a larger study which aims to determine the most desirable app features for a mobile blood donation app, this paper reports on one section of that study's exploratory sequential mixed method research strategy.The paper illustrates how the use of Google Scholar alerts, over a period of six months, was systematically employed to inform the researchers of the most current research on app features. Abstracts and keywords from 47 academic articles which were included in the alert emails, were analysed through the natural language analysis software Leximancer. The findings aimed at highlighting prominent concepts and themes related to the development, selection, and application of mobile app features. Findings showed a prevalence of research articles focused on mobile health apps, specifically apps that support self-management of various illnesses.