Simulated role plays or field observation? Usability testing of a healthcare phrasebook

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is (1) to report on a usability study on the acceptability of a multilingual phrasebook for healthcare providers and (2) to compare the effectiveness and the efficiency of two key usability research methods: simulated role play and field observation. The usability study focused on the phrasebook’s acceptability (i.e., the extent to which the users consider it to be appropriate and serve its purpose), and consisted of two steps: first the acceptability was checked through simulated role play, involving 450 healthcare professionals, and second through field observation of five healthcare providers and 18 patients using the phrasebook in clinical settings. The results showed that the users are quite satisfied with the multilingual phrasebook; however, they also indicated that it hinders eye contact and does not offer sufficient support in more complex healthcare situations. The simulated roleplay and observation study both yielded comparable results. While the observation study was slightly more effective, if less efficient, the simulation study was very efficient and also highly effective, providing we focus only on the participants assuming the professional identity they have in real life, and thus proved to be a reliable alternative to observation methods in usability research.