Understanding user experiences and expectations toward patient appointment systems

Abstract

Patient appointment systems are automated reservation systems which allow people to book healthcare services, such as doctor appointments or outpatient appointments online or in apps. In many cases, patient appointment systems are attached as a function in the websites of hospitals. As a kind of direct-to-user healthcare technology which build interactions with patients, the experiences the systems created can affect patients emotion status and health conditions. Therefore, to investigate how user experience could be improved and how positive experience could be created through Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and user experience design, Clincare, a prototype healthcare website making users feel supportive was designed. To characterize users experience and expectations towards patient appointment systems, user experience study was then conducted using the prototype. The results revealed 4 aspects which could significantly influence participants experience and emotions: Information Display, Aesthetics, Workflow, and Context of Use. Based on the result, 4 design implications were proposed to inform future design works of patient appointment systems.