ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present an extension of best practices for proposing and equipping a usability lab for research and education in a technical and professional communication university department. We implemented future-proofing approaches while building our labs during a global pandemic to prepare research and learning opportunities for students to gain user experience research methods and literacies in a highly flexible and virtual environment. Students who can point to well-articulated research can successfully advocate for more user-centered design practices in their future workplaces. But, the COVID-19 pandemic shed light on instances where practitioners and educators were forced to adjust their research methodologies in the middle of planning a project. Through university grants and internal funding, we each proposed separate styles of usability labs based on these experiences at separate universities. By expanding on established usability lab building practices, we offer this case study of how we created labs in two separate institutions that were built to adapt for future UX research needs. While the two labs are built with different university-based objectives in mind, the authors find common ground on developing research toolkits and competencies for their students for communicating, collaborating, and connecting their research both in-person and virtually. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The advent of digital economy, the expansion of Internet user base, the surge in the number of smartphone users, and the increasing interconnectedness of man, machines and organizations have fuelled a phenomenal growth in the market penetration of e-commerce worldwide. The disruption of physical shopping by COVID-19 outbreak and the consequent change in consumer behaviour, leaning more towards online shopping, has also significantly pushed up that growth trajectory. The proliferation of e-commerce-apps is a complementary component of this phenomenon, and the competition for sustainability and growth of these apps and the associated companies is ever-increasing. The above developments have necessitated the according of heightened attention to User Experience, i.e., UX, and cognitive response, manifested in consumers’ need, preference, attitude, behaviour and comfort, in designing new e-commerce apps and continually improving the existing ones. For meeting this need, a plethora of tools and techniques are available for informing the design process from the perspectives of end-users for enhancing user-centric design efficacy and productivity of the apps. In this paper, a methodology of combining six UX research techniques has been deployed and a user persona has been created in a novel framework by selecting an existing e-commerce App and engaging a consumer newly opting for online shopping. Pain points have been explored and scopes of improving the App identified. This methodology of bettering usability and user experience would be useful for the design and testing of not only e-commerce apps but also of apps developed for numerous other fields of applications. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings have to switch from physical to digital meetings. However, the technology they currently use to facilitate these meetings can sometimes be lacking, therefore many software companies have developed new software to ease our new digital workspace. In this study, we propose a new method, a comparative participatory cognitive walkthrough, which can show mismatches in cognitive models. To test our method, we tested the compatibility of EPIC EMR (EPIC Care) and the NAVIFY Tumor Board for preparing MDT meetings. The identified mismatches are categorized in the HOT-fit model by Yusof et al, a common way to evaluate if a healthcare information system fits with the healthcare professionals and the organization. In total, 16 mismatches were identified. These mismatches were discussed in a feedback session with an implementation manager of the NAVIFY Tumor Board. The proposed method seems to be a fast and cheap method to gain useful insights in how well new software matches with the software currently in use, by comparing the cognitive models in place when performing tasks involved with specific scenarios. The identified aspects can be of use for the development and adaptation of the new software, as well as provide guidelines on which aspects to focus on when training healthcare professionals to use the new software to have a smooth transition of software.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Neoplasms , Cognition , Humans , Pandemics , Patient Care Team , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Health care systems worldwide are currently facing major challenges because of the coronavirus disease pandemic. When individuals experience coronavirus disease symptoms, they often have to decide whether to seek health care services and render themselves vulnerable to infection or stay home and monitor their condition. Coronavirus disease management strategies should aim to reduce transmission, promote disease control, and facilitate self-monitoring within the population. In this regard, mobile health technologies serve as supportive tools, and acquiring knowledge about user perspectives will facilitate the development and integration of coronavirus disease-related applications. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine user perspectives on applications that monitor coronavirus disease-related physical signs and identify discrepancies between user expectations and developer design perspectives within the Danish context. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A qualitative research design was adopted. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted to examine user expectations during the first wave of the coronavirus disease pandemic in April 2020. The theoretical framework, which was inspired by the concept of health literacy, was developed using a six-step thematic analytic approach. RESULTS: The analysis yielded two major themes that captured user experiences: (1) coronavirus disease-related applications may serve as digital tools that foster safety when physical signs are monitored and (2) the acceptability of coronavirus disease-related applications depends on the adoption of a personalised and user-friendly design.