Runners’ Motivational Profiles and Participatory Design of a Tailored Mobile Application for Running

Jury

• Mme Julie BOICHÉ, Maître de conférences HDR, Université de Montpellier (Rapporteur)
• Mme Aina CHALABAEV, Professeur des universités, Université Grenoble Alpes (Rapporteur)
• M. AMORIM Michel-Ange, Professeur des universités, Université Paris-Saclay, CIAMS (Examinateur)
• Mme SERNA Audrey, Maître de conférences HDR, INSA de Lyon LIRIS lab (Examinatrice)
• Mme APPERT Caroline, Directeur de recherche CNRS, LISN (Examinatrice) 

Abstract

Regular physical activity is widely recognized as beneficial for health and well-being, yet sustained engagement remains difficult for many individuals. Running provides a useful domain to study this challenge because it is popular, supports diverse goals, and can be practiced across heterogeneous contexts, including solo running, informal group running, and club-based training. Mobile running applications can deliver motivational support to large numbers of runners in their everyday contexts. However, many commercial running applications remain insufficiently explicitly grounded in psychological theory, are rarely tailored to individual differences, and are seldom evaluated in ways that clarify what supports engagement beyond initial uptake. This thesis addresses this gap through an interdisciplinary, theory-grounded and user-centered approach. It is structured around three objectives: (1) to identify key individual differences among runners, including motivational profiles, expertise level, and social practice context; (2) to understand the needs and preferences associated with these runner profiles for motivational mobile support; and (3) to translate these insights into the participatory design, implementation, and evaluation of a theory-grounded, personalized motivational mobile application. Self-Determination Theory and Regulatory Focus Theory jointly guide the thesis by informing both the characterization of runner profiles and the translation of these profiles into tailored motivational techniques, including need-supportive features and regulatory fit–based tailoring. To achieve these objectives, we first conducted a questionnaire-based profiling to examine associations between motivational profiles, regulatory focus, and running practice organization. We then implemented a qualitative and participatory design approach to document runners’ needs and preferences, including expertise-related differences, and translated these insights into the design and implementation of MRunners, a tailored motivational mobile application. We evaluated the motivational interactions we designed in different set-ups. First, we examined the perceived effectiveness of regulatory focus–tailored motivational text messages, then the impact of regulatory fit through framing assessed during treadmill running, and finally, a four-week field study examined engagement beyond initial uptake and associations with psychological outcomes, including basic psychological need satisfaction with an emphasis on the social dimension, as well as performance-related outcomes. Overall, our results suggest that motivational support for running should not be treated as “one-size-fits-all.” Differences related to expertise level, social context of practice, and regulatory focus were associated with distinct needs, preferences, and responses to motivational techniques. These findings support adapting motivational levels and intervention delivery to runner profiles and practice context, and they provide a basis for future work on refining personalization mechanisms and strengthening long-term evaluation of theory-grounded running applications.