The design and methodology of a usability protocol for the management of medications by families for aging older adults

Abstract

Background Health research apps often do not focus on usability as a design priority. This is problematic when the population of interest is disproportionately underrepresented as users of mobile apps, especially observed with aging older adults (> = 75). Challenges with the adoption of health information technology (HIT) among this group are exacerbated by poor design and user interface/experience (UI/UX) choices. This protocol describes the testing and evaluation process of one HIT app for the family-based collaboration platform InfoSAGE. Methods We aim to recruit twenty subjects from both informal family-caregivers and aging older adults to examine the usability of the InfoSAGE mobile medication manager. Participants will be audio and visually recorded, in addition to the use of screen capture recordings, while ‘thinking aloud’ as they complete eight common use-case scenarios. Multiple independent reviewers will code video and audio recordings for thematic analysis and use problems will be evaluated. Success and failure of each scenario will be determined by completion of sub-events. Time-to-complete analysis will be used to ascertain the learning curve associated with the app. Discussion Frequently observed problem areas will be used as the basis of further evolution of the app, and will further inform generalized recommendations for the design of HIT apps for research and public use. This study aims to improve the model of development for dual user populations with dissimilar technological literacy to improve retention and use. Results of this study will form the foundation of a design framework for mobile health apps.

Usability evaluation of mHealth apps for elderly individuals: a scoping review

“…Automated usability evaluation (AUE) methods are a promising area of usability research and can improve the accuracy and efficiency of the test; thus, they may be suitable for the elderly because of the shorter timeline, preventing participants from losing focus [113,114]. In this review, 3 papers employed an automatic capture method (screen recording and eye tracking) [72,81,115], and one paper used the automatic analysis method (natural language processing) [116]. In some studies, the language of the original scales is modified to match the understandability of the elderly and avoid increasing the response burden, for example, by removing a double negative from an item in the SUS or changing "cumbersome" in the SUS to "awkward" [82,117].…”

Study on the Types of Elderly Intelligent Health Management Technology and the Influencing Factors of Its Adoption

“…The older the elderly, the worse their performance [12,28,[44][45][46] Education level Populations with a high education level tend to use new technology [28,47] Region Compared to urban residents, rural ones are not likely to use new technology [48] E-health literacy E-health literacy is considered as a prerequisite of using mobile health app [5,15,30,47,49] Information literacy People skilled in computer and Internet use tend to adopt IHMT [13,14,38,46] Ethnicity and language Ethnic and linguistic differences affect users' acceptance and use behavior [13,44] Physical difficulties Physical difficulties are an obstacle for the elderly to accept new technologies [9] Self…”

“…The older the elderly, the worse their performance [12,28,[44][45][46] Education level Populations with a high education level tend to use new technology [28,47] Region Compared to urban residents, rural ones are not likely to use new technology [48] E-health literacy E-health literacy is considered as a prerequisite of using mobile health app [5,15,30,47,49] Information literacy People skilled in computer and Internet use tend to adopt IHMT [13,14,38,46] Ethnicity and language Ethnic and linguistic differences affect users' acceptance and use behavior [13,44] Physical difficulties Physical difficulties are an obstacle for the elderly to accept new technologies [9] Self-efficacy People with high efficacy are more willing to accept new technology [11,13,16,30,39,45,[49][50][51] Compliance Procedures/equipment that can improve compliance are easy to be continuously used [19,24,29,[52][53][54][55] Skeptical attitudes Skepticism is a barrier to the elderly using new technology [12] Perceived demand Perceived demand is an essential factor in promoting the use of intelligent health management devices [8,21,56] 1. Objective factors…”

“…Users are interested in core functions such as speed of running, reminders, notifications, encouragement, follow-up, goal setting, and online video presentation, and in the way they are provided [31,34,[64][65][66] Quality of information Information quality has a significant impact on older people's acceptance of intelligent health management technologies [22,67] Personalization Personalization is a key characteristic that enhances the attractiveness and acceptability of IHMT [35,41,[68][69][70][71] Interactivity Interactive games and healthcare worker or peer interactions can increase interest in older adults [5,17,26,27,45,58,62,[70][71][72] Perceived ease of use User interface design Devices with simple operation, large font, and touch screen interface are more popular [23,26,42,46,48,68,73,74] Efficiency Voice input design can improve time efficiency [75] Security…”

“…However, when the text on the interface is too small, it is difficult for the elderly to interact with the application; when the displayed text's readability is poor, the elderly cannot be encouraged to read with greater interest [42]. Conversely, a clean and simple interface can help the elderly navigate the application [46]. For the elderly with specific needs, a unique design is required to meet the requirements.…”