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The goal of a telerehabilitation platform is to safely and securely facilitate the rehabilitation of patients through the use of telecommunication technologies complemented with the use of biomedical smart sensors. The purpose of this study was to perform a usability evaluation of a telerehabilitation platform. To improve the level of usability, the researchers developed and proposed an iterative process. The platform uses a digital representation of the patient which duplicates the therapeutic exercise being executed by the patient; this is detected by a Kinect camera and sensors in real time. This study used inspection methods to perform a usability evaluation of an exploratory prototype of a telerehabilitation platform. In addition, a cognitive workload assessment was performed to complement the usability evaluation. Users were involved through all the stages of the iterative refinement process. Usability issues were progressively reduced from the first iteration to the fourth iteration according to improvements which were developed and applied by the experts. Usability issues originally cataloged as catastrophic were reduced to zero, major usability problems were reduced to ten (2.75%) and minor usability problems were decreased to 141 (38.74%). This study also intends to serve as a guide to improve the usability of e-Health systems in alignment with the software development cycle.

In the recent years, software applications for medical assistance, including the telerehabilitation, have known a high and continuous presence in the medical field. Guaranteeing the correct use of these applications induces to incorporate a study of usability in the life cycle of any interactive system. This paper synthesizes the results obtained from a study of effectiveness, efficiency, and subjective user satisfaction conducted with ePHoRt. ePHoRt is a web-based platform for home motor rehabilitation; 39 participants tested the platform. We report the empirical results based on the subjective usability perception and self-reported feedback based on the IBM Computer System Usability Questionnaire. The results suggest that ePHoRt is useful, effective, efficient, easy to use, and its interfaces are acceptable. Overall, the participants are satisfied to use the platform. The main findings of this paper show that the user guidance is a critical aspect to ensure a good usability of the tele-rehabilitation platform. INDEX TERMS User centered design, user interfaces, telemedicine, tele-rehabilitation, agile development, user experience, user study.