User‐centered requirement elicitation for the procurement of medical equipment used by different services and types of end‐users

Author(s):  
Ricardo B. Cardoso ◽  
Priscila G. Brust‐Renck ◽  
Flavio S. Fogliatto ◽  
Guilherme L. Tortorella ◽  
Daniel Samson
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 60-60
Author(s):  
Ricardo Bertoglio Cardoso ◽  
Priscila G. Brust-Renck ◽  
Flavio Sanson Fogliatto ◽  
Helena Barreto Dos Santos

IntroductionHuman-centered approaches to eliciting requirements for medical equipment selection are recognized as improving healthcare outcomes, safety, and end-user satisfaction. Nevertheless, there are many challenges to conducting rigorous investigations to identify requirements that satisfy different hospital services and types of end users (e.g., patients, healthcare professionals, and clinical engineers). By establishing a systematic method for selecting medical recliners, this study provides detailed technical characteristics and user requirements associated with several hospital areas, as well as a comparison between two end users (health professionals and patients) and their different perceptions of usability.MethodsFirst, clinical engineers and senior nurses from seven hospital services identified and rated the technical characteristics of medical recliners. Ratings were then used to stratify all services in well-defined similar groups using hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering algorithms. Next, users of hospital recliners (60 patients and 56 healthcare providers) from each group were interviewed to identify their requirements for an ideal medical recliner. Finally, analyses of variance were performed to identify consensus decisions from users across the different hospital contexts as to which technical characteristics were the most relevant.ResultsThe contribution of senior nurses and clinical engineers led to the identification of 41 technical characteristics. The analysis of 116 participant interviews identified 95 different requirements, extracted from 1,052 user suggestions. Correspondence analysis of the most important requirements, combined for each of the three stratified service groups, indicated that two-thirds of all user requirements (14 out of 20) were fulfilled by five out of 32 quantitative technical characteristics, regardless of context.ConclusionsHuman-centered methods can identify similarities between health technology characteristics and decrease the complexity associated with selecting technologies, while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements of multiple users and hospital departments.


2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Zickler ◽  
Sebastian Halder ◽  
Sonja C. Kleih ◽  
Cornelia Herbert ◽  
Andrea Kübler

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loura Costello ◽  
Georges Grinstein ◽  
Catherine Plaisant ◽  
Jean Scholtz

In this paper, the authors describe the Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST) Symposium contests run in 2006 and 2007 and the VAST 2008 and 2009 challenges. These contests were designed to provide researchers with a better understanding of the tasks and data that face potential end users. Access to these end users is limited because of time constraints and the classified nature of the tasks and data. In that respect, the contests serve as an intermediary, with the metrics and feedback serving as measures of utility to the end users. The authors summarize the lessons learned and the future directions for VAST Challenges.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-19
Author(s):  
Hannu Haapala

Abstract.The author has shown that modern technologies do not always meet the expectations of farmers, and this may adversely affect the pace of innovation. It has been confirmed that the developers of agricultural equipment do not clearly understand the context of the use of products and identified the need to use a multi-factor approach: therefore, partners possessing specific knowledge in different areas should join efforts in project activities at all stages of innovation. (Research purpose) To prove that a user-centered design and a multi-factor approach in the development of agricultural machinery increase their efficiency and accelerate the introduction of innovations. (Materials and methods) It is shown that Finnish research and development projects of agricultural machinery design involve numerous participants and end users. For example, the seven-metre-wide combi drill ‘Junkkari W700’ was designed by the Finnish manufacturer Junkkari Oy in close cooperation with end-users and researchers. As a result of the innovation process several benefits have been realized. The drill is easy to operate and service. The users appreciate the straight-forward construction and moderate cost of the drill as compared to competing pneumatic drills. The need for hydraulics is minimized and the row spacing and coulter design has been optimized so that economical tractors with moderate drawbar power can be used. The ISOBUS-based control electronics was designed to be fitted either in the existing tractor or, if ISOBUS is missing, with an optional cable-set and terminal. That enables the users to easily integrate the drill in existing machine chains, having either modern or older tractors, without extra tractor investments. Much attention was put on quality, e.g. individual feeders for every coulter give accurate dosage of seed and fertilizer. The prototyping together with end-users and researchers enabled Junkkari to speed up the innovation process. (Results and discussion) Several benefits proved to have been realized. First of all, the drill is easy to operate and service. The users appreciate the straight-forward construction and moderate cost of the drill as compared to competing pneumatic drills. The need for hydraulics is minimized and the row spacing and coulter design has been optimized so that economical tractors with moderate drawbar power can be used. The ISOBUS-based control electronics as well as an optional cable-set and terminal were designed to be fitted either in the existing tractor. That enables the users to easily integrate the drill in existing machine types, having either modern or older tractors, without extra tractor investments. The design quality was approved, e.g. individual feeders for every coulter give accurate metering of seeds and fertilizers. (Conclusions) The author proves that user-centered design and multi-factor approach methodologies have benefits both for the users and manufacturers. Swift innovation process saves resources and minimizes the need for excess iterations in the innovation process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 448
Author(s):  
Katie Aylward ◽  
Joakim Dahlman ◽  
Kjetil Nordby ◽  
Monica Lundh

Maritime user interfaces for ships’ bridges are highly dependent on the context in which they are used, and rich maritime context is difficult to recreate in the early stages of user-centered design processes. Operations in Arctic waters where crews are faced with extreme environmental conditions, technology limitations and a lack of accurate navigational information further increase this challenge. There is a lack of research supporting the user-centered design of workplaces for hazardous Arctic operations. To meet this challenge, this paper reports on the process of developing virtual reality-reconstructed operational scenarios to connect stakeholders, end-users, designers, and human factors specialists in a joint process. This paper explores how virtual reality-reconstructed operational scenarios can be used as a tool both for concept development and user testing. Three operational scenarios were developed, implemented in a full mission bridge simulator, recreated in virtual reality (VR), and finally tested on navigators (end-users). Qualitative data were captured throughout the design process and user-testing, resulting in a thematic analysis that identified common themes reflecting the experiences gained throughout this process. In conclusion, we argue that operational scenarios, rendered in immersive media such as VR, may be an important and reusable asset when supporting maritime design processes and in maritime training and education.


Author(s):  
Katherine Bubric ◽  
Gillian Harvey ◽  
Tiffany Pitamber

Objective: The purpose of this methodology is to provide the designers of wayfinding systems in healthcare facilities a process for evaluating and optimizing a design prior to implementation. The use of this methodology can improve patient experience in hospitals by preventing the installation of confusing, incomplete, and/or frustrating wayfinding systems. Background: Despite known wayfinding and information design principles, wayfinding continues to be a challenge in healthcare environments. One reason is that the design of wayfinding systems is rarely evaluated with end users prior to implementation. The methodology outlined in this article is an application of usability testing that involves end users navigating a space using prototyped signage and other elements of a wayfinding system to determine the effectiveness of the system and identify improvement opportunities. This methodology was developed for use in an emergency department that had outdated signage and required a new wayfinding system. Conclusion: This methodology provides a structured process for testing and improving the design of a hospital wayfinding system prior to implementation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (05) ◽  
pp. 344-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Koch ◽  
Kim M. Unertl ◽  
Christoph U. Lehmann ◽  
Kevin R. Dufendach

Summary Background: Early involvement of stakeholders in the design of medical software is particularly important due to the need to incorporate complex knowledge and actions associated with clinical work. Standard user-centered design methods include focus groups and participatory design sessions with individual stakeholders, which generally limit user involvement to a small number of individuals due to the significant time investments from designers and end users. Objectives: The goal of this project was to reduce the effort for end users to participate in co-design of a software user interface by developing an interactive web-based crowd- sourcing platform. Methods: In a randomized trial, we compared a new web-based crowdsourcing platform to standard participatory design sessions. We developed an interactive, modular platform that allows responsive remote customization and design feedback on a visual user interface based on user preferences. The responsive canvas is a dynamic HTML template that responds in real time to user preference selections. Upon completion, the design team can view the user’s interface creations through an administrator portal and download the structured selections through a REDCap interface. Results: We have created a software platform that allows users to customize a user interface and see the results of that customization in real time, receiving immediate feedback on the impact of their design choices. Neonatal clinicians used the new platform to successfully design and customize a neonatal handoff tool. They received no specific instruction and yet were able to use the software easily and reported high usability. Conclusions: VandAID, a new web-based crowdsourcing platform, can involve multiple users in user-centered design simultaneously and provides means of obtaining design feedback remotely. The software can provide design feedback at any stage in the design process, but it will be of greatest utility for specifying user requirements and evaluating iterative designs with multiple options.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea K. Graham ◽  
Sean A. Munson ◽  
Madhu Reddy ◽  
Sarah W. Neubert ◽  
Emilie A. Green ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Accounting for how end-users engage with technologies is imperative for designing an efficacious mobile behavioral intervention. OBJECTIVE This mixed-methods analysis examined the translational potential of user-centered design and basic behavioral science to inform the design of a new mobile intervention for obesity and binge eating. METHODS Twenty-two adults (33% non-Hispanic white; 36% male) with self-reported obesity and recurrent binge eating (≥12 episodes in 3 months) who were interested in losing weight and reducing binge eating completed a prototyping design activity over one week. Leveraging evidence from behavioral economics on choice architecture, participants chose treatment strategies from 20 options (aligned with treatment targets that comprise a theoretical model of the relation between binge eating and weight) to learn which strategies and treatment targets are relevant to end-users. Analyses were of the process by which participants selected and implemented strategies and their change in outcomes. RESULTS Though prompted to select one strategy, participants selected between 1-3 strategies, citing perceived achievability, helpfulness, or relevance as selection reasons. Over the week, all practiced a strategy at least once; 82% struggled with implementation and 23% added a new strategy. Several themes emerged on successes and challenges with implementation, which yielded design implications for supporting users in behavior change. In post-experiment reflections, 82% indicated the strategy was helpful and 86% planned to continue use. One-week average within-subject changes in weight (-2.2 +/- -5.0 pounds) and binge eating (-1.6 +/- -1.8 episodes) indicated small clinical improvement. CONCLUSIONS Applying user-centered design and basic behavioral science yielded design insights to incorporate personalization through user choice with guidance, which may enhance engagement with and the potential efficacy of digital health interventions. CLINICALTRIAL


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pearl J. C. van Lonkhuizen ◽  
Niko J. H. Vegt ◽  
Eline Meijer ◽  
Erik van Duijn ◽  
Susanne T. de Bot ◽  
...  

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease that affects the quality of life (QoL) of HD gene expansion carriers (HDGECs) and their partners. Although HD expertise centers have been emerging across Europe, there are still some important barriers to care provision for those affected by this rare disease, including transportation costs, geographic distance of centers, and availability/accessibility of these services in general. eHealth seems promising in overcoming these barriers, yet research on eHealth in HD is limited and fails to use telehealth services specifically designed to fit the perspectives and expectations of HDGECs and their families. In the European HD-eHelp study, we aim to capture the needs and wishes of HDGECs, partners of HDGECs, and health care providers (HCPs) in order to develop a multinational eHealth platform targeting QoL of both HDGECs and partners at home.Methods: We will employ a participatory user-centered design (UCD) approach, which focusses on an in-depth understanding of the end-users' needs and their contexts. Premanifest and manifest adult HDGECs (n = 76), partners of HDGECs (n = 76), and HCPs (n = 76) will be involved as end-users in all three phases of the research and design process: (1) Exploration and mapping of the end-users' needs, experiences and wishes; (2) Development of concepts in collaboration with end-users to ensure desirability; (3) Detailing of final prototype with quick review rounds by end-users to create a positive user-experience. This study will be conducted in the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, and Ireland to develop and test a multilingual platform that is suitable in different healthcare systems and cultural contexts.Discussion: Following the principles of UCD, an innovative European eHealth platform will be developed that addresses the needs and wishes of HDGECs, partners and HCPs. This allows for high-quality, tailored care to be moved partially into the participants' home, thereby circumventing some barriers in current HD care provision. By actively involving end-users in all design decisions, the platform will be tailored to the end-users' unique requirements, which can be considered pivotal in eHealth services for a disease as complex and rare as HD.


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