The participant app experience¶
🟠 In progress
Warning
One blinding gap is still open. Do not open recruitment until 1.3.22 is released.
1.3.21 fixed the serious part: the app no longer names the participant’s treatment group anywhere, and the debrief is available only once someone completes the trial (#38, released and live).
What remains is subtler. The listening screens still show the name of the sound file a participant has been assigned, and pass it to the phone’s media controls, so it appears on the lock screen. That name contains the modulation band, and the band differs between the two groups in a way the published protocol table makes readable. The fix is merged and awaiting release (#63).
No participant has been affected either way: nobody has enrolled yet.
So you can picture what your configuration produces, this chapter describes what participants see in the app. Everything here is driven by the choices you make in the portal.
Screening and consent¶
New participants first complete the eligibility screening questionnaire. If they are eligible, they are shown the participant information sheet and the consent form (from Step 7 · Compliance) and must agree before continuing.
Baseline¶
Before treatment starts, participants complete the before-treatment questionnaires you selected in Step 2 · Assessments (for example THI, TFI, IHS).
Listening sessions¶
During an intervention period the app runs the participant’s daily listening plan (from Step 5 · Sessions):
Before a session they give their before-session ratings. 🟠 In progress These three sliders are currently hardcoded in the app rather than driven by the questionnaire you configure, though the answers are stored like any other response.
They listen to their assigned sound; the app tracks recorded listening time and requires the minimum before they can finish.
After a session they give their after-session ratings.
The app guides them toward the daily target and, unless you allow listening beyond it, stops them once they reach it.
Washout¶
During a washout the experience depends on the washout type:
Washout (nothing): no listening; the app tells the participant there is no session in this phase. They still answer the daily questionnaire.
Washout (unmodulated): the participant still listens, but to a plain, unmodulated sound, with the usual before/after questionnaires. ⚪ Planned
Daily check-ins¶
Where you have configured an every day questionnaire, participants answer it once per day.
Final questionnaire and debrief¶
After the last phase, participants complete the final questionnaire. Submitting it completes their participation. They can then see their debrief.