| Description |
Health organizations are developing Web-based portals where patients may access personal medical data, communicate with providers, and obtain supplemental sources of health information. This thesis describes efforts to enhance access to patient education information available through the Intermountain Health Care (IHC) portal, My Personal Info."" User-centered design methods were used to achieve this goal, including 1) creation of two prototype versions of a ""popup"" window offering access from the IHC portal to diabetes education information, 2) a pilot usability study of the initial prototypes (employing serial vs. left-menu navigation), 3) modification of the initial prototypes based on pilot study results, 4) heuristic evaluation and further modification of the prototypes based on evaluation feedback, and 5) testing of the final prototypes (Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) vs. Index format) with representative users (patients with diabetes enrolled to use the IHC portal). The prototypes were compared regarding ease of use, satisfaction and preference. A secondary analysis examined the influence of user characteristics on prototype preference. Results revealed that patients like using the prototypes and reported learning something new about diabetes in the process. While not statistically significant, frequency of Web use appeared to influence prototype preference in both the pilot study and patient testing sessions, with daily Web users citing a preference for the more ""sophisiticated"" prototype (e.c, left-manu navigation and Index format respectively). Scores on the satisfaction questionnaire completed at the patient testing sessions were significantly higher for the prototype that employed the FAQ format in two areas: finding information in the prototype and learning to use the prototype. The testing sessions also revealed an overwheleming preference for the FAQ Prototype, with 80% of patients citing a preference for this format. Given these findings, the FAQ format should be considered when designing Web sites intended to assist patients in understanding their medical conditions."" |
