User-centered design of a mobile medication management

Inform Health Soc Care. 2019;44(2):152-163. doi: 10.1080/17538157.2018.1437042. Epub 2018 Mar 5.

Abstract

Background: The use of a nationwide medication plan has been promoted as an effective strategy to improve patient safety in Germany. However, the medication plan only exists as a paper-based version, which is related to several problems, that could be circumvented by an electronic alternative.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to report on the development of a mobile interface concept to support the management of medication information.

Methods: The human-centered design (UCD) process was chosen. First the context of use was analyzed, and personas and an interaction concept were designed. Next, a paper prototype was developed and evaluated by experts. Based on those results, a medium-fidelity prototype was created and assessed by seven end-users who performed a thinking-aloud test in combination with a questionnaire based on the System Usability Scale (SUS).

Results: Initially for one persona/user type, an interface design concept was developed, which received an average SUS-Score of 92.1 in the user test. Usability problems have been solved so that the design concept could be fixed for a future implementation. Contribution: The approach of the UCD process and the methods involved can be applied by other researchers as a framework for the development of similar applications.

Keywords: Evaluation studies; medical informatics application; mobile health; user–computer interface.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Drug Information Services / standards*
  • Germany
  • Humans
  • Medication Adherence
  • Mobile Applications / standards*
  • Sex Factors
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Software Design*
  • User-Computer Interface*