Table 3.
Positive and negative categories reported by 11 patients with regard to their experiences with priovi.
| Category type | Category | n (%)a | Patient experience |
| Positive | Local and temporal flexibility | 6 (55) | The constant availability of priovi made patients feel safe, helped them to optimize their learning process, and made them feel less dependent on their human therapist |
| Positive | Validation | 10 (91) | The tone of priovi was experienced as validating, which made patients feel understood and improved their self-esteem. This was supported by priovi’s comforting daily text messages and validating case examples |
| Positive | Psychoeducation | 10 (91) | The content was perceived as helpful, understandable, relevant, and conclusive |
| Positive | Specific elements | 10 (91) | Some elements were mentioned as particularly helpful, including audio exercises, the regular mood check, case examples, pro-con lists, and some specific exercises |
| Positive | Structure | 6 (55) | Positive experiences with the program’s structure related to the clear step-by-step approach, the increasing exercise difficulty, the comprehensive sequence of contents, and the easy-to-understand menu |
| Positive | Pleasant emotions | 6 (55) | Positive emotions were, for example, induced by the nice and funny illustrations or the soothing voice of the audio speaker. Patients felt that priovi was at their side, did not abandon them, and did not force them to do anything they did not like |
| Negative | Technical difficulties during the pilot phase | 7 (64) | These included bugs such as audio files being unavailable as text, incorrect feedback of the mood check, and temporary breakdown of the text message service |
| Negative | Usability problems | 8 (73) | Some patients did not like specific functions, such as the duration (either too short or too long), the menu, or the voice of the audio speaker. Some patients suggested additional features, such as other items in the mood check or changes in the menu |
| Negative | Lack of connection with priovi | 7 (64) | Some patients reported problems in relating to certain aspects of priovi, such as the digital medium in general, the comics, or the case examples. This usually improved over time—at least to some degree |
| Negative | Aversive emotions | 5 (45) | Negative emotions occurred when patients felt confused or overwhelmed by emotionally difficult topics. Bugs or limitations of the program made some patients feel angry |
| Negative | Rigidity | 1 (9) | There was 1 patient who found priovi too rigid and not individual enough. She felt it could not respond to her current issues well |
aValue indicate the numbers and percentage of patients referring to the respective category.