Summary
Objective: Rigorous human-computer interaction (HCI) design methodologies have not traditionally
been applied to the development of clinical trial participant tracking (CTPT) tools.
Given the frequent use of iconic HCI models in CTPTs, and prior evidence of usability
problems associated with the use of ambiguous icons in complex interfaces, such approaches
may be problematic. Presentation Discovery (PD), a knowledge-anchored HCI design method,
has been previously demonstrated to improve the design of iconic HCI models. In this
study, we compare the usability of a CTPT HCI model designed using PD and an intuitively
designed CTPT HCI model.
Methods: An iconic CPTP HCI model was created using PD. The PD-generated and an existing iconic
CTPT HCI model were subjected to usability testing, with an emphasis on task accuracy
and completion times. Study participants also completed a qualitative survey instrument
to evaluate subjective satisfaction with the two models.
Results: CTPT end-users reliably and reproducibly agreed on the visual manifestation
and semantics of prototype graphics generated using PD. The performance of the PD-generated iconic HCI model was equivalent to an existing
HCI model for tasks at multiple levels of complexity, and in some cases superior.
This difference was particularly notable when tasks required an understanding of the
semantic meanings of multiple icons.
Conclusion: The use of PD to design an iconic CTPT HCI model generated beneficial results and
improved end-user subjective satisfaction, while reducing task completion time. Such
results are desirable in information and time intensive domains, such as clinical
trials management.
Citation: Payne PRO, Embi PJ, Johnson SB, Mendonca E, Starren J. Improving clinical trial participant
tracking tools using knowledge-anchored design methodologies. Appl Clin Inf 2010;
1: 177–196 http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2010-02-RA-0012
Keywords
User-computer interface - visual perception - computer graphics - medical informatics
- clinical trial - biomedical research