Empowering Researchers to Query Medical Data and Biospecimens by Ensuring Appropriate Usability of a Feasibility Tool: Evaluation Study

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Christina Schüttler - , University Hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Maria Zerlik - , Institute for Medical Informatics and Biometry (Author)
  • Julian Gruendner - , Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Thomas Köhler - , German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), University Hospital Heidelberg (Author)
  • Lorenz Rosenau - , University of Lübeck (Author)
  • Hans Ulrich Prokosch - , Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Author)
  • Brita Sedlmayr - , Institute for Medical Informatics and Biometry (Author)

Abstract

Background: The Aligning Biobanking and Data Integration Centers Efficiently project aims to harmonize technologies and governance structures of German university hospitals and their biobanks to facilitate searching for patient data and biospecimens. The central element will be a feasibility tool for researchers to query the availability of samples and data to determine the feasibility of their study project. Objective: The objectives of the study were as follows: an evaluation of the overall user interface usability of the feasibility tool, the identification of critical usability issues, comprehensibility of the underlying ontology operability, and analysis of user feedback on additional functionalities. From these, recommendations for quality-of-use optimization, focusing on more intuitive usability, were derived. Methods: To achieve the study goal, an exploratory usability test consisting of 2 main parts was conducted. In the first part, the thinking aloud method (test participants express their thoughts aloud throughout their use of the tool) was complemented by a quantitative questionnaire. In the second part, the interview method was combined with supplementary mock-ups to collect users’ opinions on possible additional features. Results: The study cohort rated global usability of the feasibility tool based on the System Usability Scale with a good score of 81.25. The tasks assigned posed certain challenges. No participant was able to solve all tasks correctly. A detailed analysis showed that this was mostly because of minor issues. This impression was confirmed by the recorded statements, which described the tool as intuitive and user friendly. The feedback also provided useful insights regarding which critical usability problems occur and need to be addressed promptly. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the prototype of the Aligning Biobanking and Data Integration Centers Efficiently feasibility tool is headed in the right direction. Nevertheless, we see potential for optimization primarily in the display of the search functions, the unambiguous distinguishability of criteria, and the visibility of their associated classification system. Overall, it can be stated that the combination of different tools used to evaluate the feasibility tool provided a comprehensive picture of its usability.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere43782
JournalJMIR Human Factors
Volume10
Publication statusPublished - 19 Apr 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 37074765

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • clinical research informatics, feasibility queries, ontology, usability evaluation, user interface, user-centered design

Library keywords