User-centered Design Methodology Research Articles

Designing Indonesian Maternal and Child Health Mobile Applications using User-Centered Design

The high maternal mortality rate in Indonesia has led the Indonesian government to develop a mobile application for maternal and child health (MCH). However, this application received a bad rating on the applications distribution platform, and even some of its features could not function properly. Therefore, this study aims to design the MCH application. This study used the user-centered design (UCD) methodology with three iterations and applied Shneiderman's eight golden rules. Participants involved in the data collection and evaluation process were health workers, health experts, and pregnant women. The first iteration's evaluation will produce a low-fidelity prototype (wireframe), whereas the second and third iteration's evaluations will produce a refined high-fidelity clickable prototype. The resulting prototype has several major features, including notes entry, information and education, reminders, a blood supplement tablet tracker, and monitoring of fetal development. Evaluation in the first iteration utilized interviews to validate the wireframe, whereas the second and third iterations utilized usability testing and system usability scale (SUS). In the second iteration, the final SUS score was 71.2, or "good," while in the third iteration, the final SUS score was 85.4, or "excellent." This research is expected to contribute to two areas: serving as a reference for pregnancy application interface designs, especially for MCH applications, as well as the improvement and development of pregnancy health applications using the UCD methodology.

Patients' experiences and perspectives regarding the use of digital technology to support exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation: a qualitative interview study.

Despite the well-known benefits of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, participation in cardiac rehabilitation programmes and adherence to secondary prevention recommendations remain limited. Digital technologies have the potential to address low participation and adherence but attempts at implementing digital health interventions in real-life clinical practice frequently encounter various barriers. Studies about patients' experiences and perspectives regarding the use of digital technology can assist developers, researchers and clinicians in addressing or pre-empting patient-related barriers. This study was therefore conducted to investigate the experiences and perspectives of cardiac rehabilitation patients in Austria with regard to using digital technology for physical activity and exercise. Twenty-five current and former cardiac rehabilitation patients (18 men and 7 women, age range 39 to 83) with various cardiac conditions were recruited from a clinical site in Salzburg, Austria. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The analysis followed a descriptive phenomenological approach, applying the framework analysis method. The sample was diverse, including interviewees who readily used digital devices to support their physical activity, exercise and health monitoring, and interviewees who did not. Simplicity, convenience and accessibility were highlighted as important facilitators for the use of digital technology, while annoyance with digital devices, concerns about becoming dependent on them, or simply a preference to not use digital technology were commonly stated reasons for non-use. Interviewees' views on data protection, data sharing and artificial intelligence revealed wide variations in individuals' prior knowledge and experience about these topics, and a need for greater accessibility and transparency of data protection regulation and data sharing arrangements. These findings support the importance that is attributed to user-centred design methodologies in the conceptualisation and design of digital health interventions, and the imperative to develop solutions that are simple, accessible and that can be personalised according to the preferences and capabilities of the individual patient. Regarding data protection, data sharing and artificial intelligence, the findings indicate opportunity for information and education, as well as the need to offer patients transparency and accountability in order to build trust in digital technology and digital health interventions.

AI platform model on 4IR megatrend challenges: complex thinking by active and transformational learning

Purpose The objective of this study is to propose a model for the implementation of a technological platform for participants to develop solutions to problems related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) megatrends, and taking advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) to develop their complex thinking through co-creation work. Design/methodology/approach The development of the model is based on a combination of participatory action research and user-centered design (UCD) methodologies, seeking to ensure that the platform is user-oriented and based on the experiences of the authors. The model itself is structured around the active and transformational learning (ATL) framework. Findings This study highlights the importance of addressing 4IR megatrends in education to prepare students for a technology-driven world. The proposed model, based on ATL and supported by AI, integrates essential competencies for tackling challenges and generating innovative solutions. The integration of AI into the platform fosters personalized learning, collaboration and reflection and enhances creativity by offering new insights and tools, whereas UCD ensures alignment with user needs and expectations. Originality/value This research presents an innovative educational model that combines ATL with AI to foster complex thinking and co-creation of solutions to problems related to 4IR megatrends. Integrating ATL ensures engagement with real-world problems and critical thinking while AI provides personalized content, tutoring, data analysis and creative support. The collaborative platform encourages diverse perspectives and collective intelligence, benefiting other researchers to better conceive learner-centered platforms promoting 21st-century skills and co-creation.

Development of Ward Visitor Management System in the COVID-19 Epidemic.

The purpose of this study was to design, develop, and deploy a visitor management system (VMS) to effectively manage visitors during COVID-19. The VMS was designed using the User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology. The iterative process of UCD includes 3 interviews and 5 usability tests and cognitive walkthrough cycles. This system comprised six parts: the WEB server provides visit scheduling service; the database server stores visit data and provides visit data services; the mobile application server provides security checks and scanning services; the electronic medical record (EMR) server provides ward data service; the Internet application gateway provides health code data service and exchanges health code data with the Sichuan Tianfu Health Code platform, and the service bus enables the centralized exchange and integration of visit data. The visit management system optimizes the workflow of ward visitors, improves staff productivity, and reduces the risk of infection transmission.

Design of a Modular Energy Production–Storage System for a Sustainable Bicycle

This paper presents a new concept of a modular system for the production and storage of energy in a bicycle at any speed above 9 km/h. User-Centered Design methodology was applied to establish the design premises, and then each component of the modular system was selected, developed, and refined separately, carrying out all component integration (hub dynamo, USB charger, batteries, and solar panel) by means of a simple extension cable. Then, simulations were made with different software tools to create a design candidate. A new design of an integrated modular energy production–storage system was obtained, aiming to cover the needs of long-distance bikers and daily bike commuters. The designed system can charge its own batteries and power devices connected to the USB charger from a speed of 9 km/h. The system entails a modular integration solution that is not only cost-effective but also highly efficient. Its ergonomic design allows users to effortlessly replace batteries as and when needed. Current models on the market do not possess this integration.

Optimizing the Blood Donation App with Gamification Using User-Centered Design

In today's digital era, motivating the younger generation to participate in routine voluntary blood donations is a significant challenge in the health sector. This research aimed to develop a gamified application called Gamified Blood Donation (G-BlooD), designed using the User Centered Design methodology. This application integrates gamification into the blood donation process, with features including donor location information, available blood stock data, and individual donation history. Using gamification elements such as challenges, ranking boards, and emblems enhanced user interactivity and motivation. Evaluation of G-BlooD demonstrated its effectiveness in achieving this goal; it scored 75 (Grade B) on the System Usability Scale (SUS), indicating good usability, while an average total index calculation from all responses on the Likert scale of 84.125% underscored its success in motivating younger generations towards regular blood donations. These results suggest combining digital technology with gamification can encourage recurring voluntary blood donation among younger generations. This research opens avenues for further exploration into leveraging digital technology to address other public health concerns.

Research, Development and Design for Product Development SAC: Interaction Design Mobile Web Application Using User Centered Design Methodology

In the era of Covid-19, people are more sensitive to their health and hygiene. SAC is present in the community as a service to clean each customer’s favourite shoes. Even though SAC has been around since 2013, until now they have not touched the digital realm. For this reason, innovation for SAC needs to be implemented so they are not left behind by competitors who are starting to become aware of digitalization. So that the implementation of digitalization can save costs and time, the approach to making digital products is through product development. To innovate through the use of product development in digital, a User-Centered Design (UCD) method approach with a Design Thinking (DT) mindset is used. The UCD process includes understanding context, specify user requirements, design solution, and evaluate. With the DT mindset, the process of emphatizing, defining, and ideation is applied to the understand context and specify user requirements so that this research will understand the usability side for users. With the addition of 5 UCD elements from Jesse James Garret, the digitalization process will be more in-depth and detailed in terms of creating interface design solutions. Primary data will be collected through In-depth Interview resulting abundant data that create persona and Minimum Viable Product(MVP). This research aims to analyze and identify the user experience flow for the prototype mobile web app product design SAC with the identifying the MVP and design prototype mobile website application and later do some usability testing to getting result that can meet the needs and uses for SAC customers. The result of this design approach method is a high-fidelity mobile web app prototype which was evaluated using Usability Testing (UT). The persona of each customer and the desire are the first key in development. Strong framework is formed with information architecture, low-fidelity, and high-fidelity prototypes. The final stage of the UCD iteration is to evaluate Usability Testing with a binary task success rate of 90%. Another UT results of quantitative data analysis with the Single Ease Question (SEQ) showed the number 6.42 and the System Usability Scale (SUS) showed the number 87.5 with quality A.

Rancang Bangun Aplikasi Diet untuk Ibu Menyusui Pasca Persalinan dengan Algoritma Mifflin-St Jeor

Pregnancy is a significant and transformative period for women, both physically and emotionally. During this time, it is crucial for expectant mothers to prioritize their own health and well-being to create a healthy environment for their growing baby. One of the physical changes that many breastfeeding mothers experience after childbirth is weight gain. Factors contributing to this include increased caloric needs, lack of sleep, reduced physical activity, and feelings of stress and fatigue due to caring for a newborn. Maintaining a healthy weight is vital to reduce the risk of various health issues and ensure the quality of breast milk for the baby. However, it is important to note that mothers should not engage in strict dieting during the postpartum period, or the puerperium, which lasts up to 40 days after delivery. During this time, mothers should gradually resume normal activities and movement. To support breastfeeding mothers in maintaining their health after childbirth, a structured and monitored approach that provides tailored information according to each stage of development is necessary. The Laav application, available for iOS, is designed to calculate and record the caloric intake of breastfeeding mothers, helping them achieve proper nutrition while maintaining an ideal weight. The application is built using the User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology and uses the Mifflin-St Jeor algorithm to calculate calories. The application is programmed in SwiftUI, a language optimized for the iOS platform

Kconnect:The Design and Development of Versatile Web Portal for Enhanced Collaboration and Communication

The design and creation of a web gateway to improve cooperation and communication among campus communities are discussed in this essay. The portal is designed to be flexible and adaptive to various user groups and their unique requirements. The writers discuss the numerous features and functionalities integrated into the portal as well as the user-centered design methodology they utilised to construct it. The site has resources for resource management, event planning, group communication, and information exchange. The writers also go through the difficulties that were experienced during creation and make suggestions for future advancements. Overall, the online portal offers a useful setting for campus communities to communicate and work together.As we all know that pandemic has brought a huge change in everyone’s life and work from home has become THE NEW NORMAL. One of its drawback is the lack of interaction among peers. This hinders the flow of information in the hierarchy. In order to cope up with this problem, we have come up with a solution “KCONNECT” that aspires to bridge the communication gap. KConnect is a networking platform that will help students to connect with each other and gain relevant knowledge about new opportunities regarding career, scholarships, club activities and higher studies. The results of the study show the implementation of a web portal as an effective way to allow students increase connections and stay updated.

User-centered Design in Time and Resource-limited Settings: Enhancing the Usability of 'Hearing for Life' (HeLe) Device

Introduction. The Hearing for Life (HeLe) is a novel newborn hearing screening device initially designed according to specifications of clinicians of the Philippine National Ear Institute (PNEI). Unfortunately, targeted end-users, rural health workers, had difficulty using it. This research applied the user-centered design (UCD) methodology involving rural health workers in recommending design, content, and function requirements for HeLe.Objectives. This study aims to 1) describe how UCD was applied in a time-limited and resource-constrained environment, 2) assess the usability of the design prototypes, and 3) recommend design, content, and function requirements for HeLe.Methods. This research is a descriptive study using mixed methods. Six rural health units (RHU) involved in the HeLe research program were purposively selected for the study. There were 30 participants included, five health care workers per RHU. Applying the UCD method, the study had three phases: 1) user profiling (where participants accomplished a survey questionnaire, 2) inspiration phase (focus group discussions, workflow analysis, and interviews with a technical expert were conducted), and 3) ideation phase (designing and assessment of prototypes were done).Results. Participatory methods and structured procedures (i.e., card sorting, MoSCoW matrix prototyping, etc.) were applied to help determine and prioritize user requirements and elicit user feedback. These methods were chosen considering the time and resource constraints in the RHU. The prototype's System Usability Scale (SUS) score (81.94) was higher than the SUS score previously obtained (68) from the older version of the interface. Accuracy, durability, in-app instructions, feedback, and an easily understood interface were the most requested requirements for the telemedicine device. The need for the technology to be aligned with the RHU's workflow and available resources was highlighted in the focus group discussions.Conclusions. The study documents practices and lessons learned in applying UCD methodology in designand development that have been demonstrated to improve usability of the device. The involvement of theusers surfaced in the design, content, and functional requirements which can guide future iterations ofHeLe and contribute to better understanding of ways to develop user-friendly telemedicine devices in thePhilippines. This paper emphasizes that users should be involved in the entire process and not just recipients of the technology.

Humanization Guide of the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy for patients with inflammatory immune-mediated diseases

ObjectiveThis study reports on the results of a project conducted by the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy with patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, with the following objectives: to understand the experience of patients living with these diseases and the role of healthcare workers in such experience, and to identify opportunities to promote or boost humanization in hospital pharmacy units. MethodA user-centered design methodology was used, implementing exploratory and qualitative research tools. Led by a managing team made up of experts in the methodology, a variety of people participated in this project. The team comprised representatives of patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, healthcare workers responsible for their care, members of the immune-mediated inflammatory disease working group of the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy, and members of two patient advocacy organizations (Spanish Association of Persons with Chronic Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases and the Spanish Association of Patients with Psoriasis). The research tools used included in-depth interviews, patients’ diaries, ethnographic studies, and co-creation workshops. ResultsFive initiatives were identified as best practices to be implemented: The creation of functional or comprehensive care units; shared medical records; integration of patient-reported outcomes with patient experiences; implementation of the “capacity, motivation, opportunity” pharmaceutical care model; and a closer interaction with patient advocacy organizations. Six opportunities to improve the current situation were selected as priority areas for hospital pharmacy departments: spreading knowledge about immune-mediated inflammatory diseases; promoting a multidisciplinary approach to these diseases; generating awareness on the role of hospital pharmacists; revisiting the internal organization of pharmacy departments; establishing closer relationships with patients; and seeing things from the patients’ point of view. Ten smart humanization initiatives were proposed and classified in an impact-effort matrix: “Demystifying IMID”, “IMID teen challenge”, “Patient-care academy”, “Satellite consultation”, “IMID network”, “A click away from the pharmacy”, Medicines poker”, “Patient-to-patient consultation”, “Pharma-friendly consultation”, and “Patient-centered IMID sessions”. ConclusionsThis Annex to the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy’s Guidelines for the Humanization of Hospital Pharmacy Units intends to promote a humanizing culture, bringing to the fore the unique value of every single patient suffering from an immune-mediated inflammatory disease, including their family and friends and their beliefs and needs, preserving their dignity.

Diseño de Interfaz de Usuario Web de un Editor Visual para el Modelamiento de Infraestructura en la Nube

Cloud computing has evolved the way IT technicians manage infrastructure resources to support software applications. Leasing equipment and services from cloud infrastructure providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, etc., has replaced the traditional strategy of locally installing expensive equipment. Nowadays, IT technicians model the infrastructure they need by writing scripts, then running these scripts in the provider web platform. However, writing scripts becomes a complex task that involves interacting with the Command Line Interface and knowing the commands each provider imposes. In this context, replacing textual with visual interaction becomes a need. The purpose is to fesign the user interface (UI) of a visual web editor to model the cloud infrastructure resources. The User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology was applied to design the UI. As part of DCU, a study of the UIs of diagramming online tools was conducted to identify UI design patterns; those that expert designers use when designing visual editors.The results show that a set of 11 UI patterns for designing visual editor UIs was defined. In addition, a pattern language was built considering the relationships between patterns. By using the pattern language, the visual editor UI design was composed. As conclusions, the pattern language provided a logical way to compose the visual editor UI. In this sense, the proposed UI together with the pattern language can become a reference point for designing UIs in this domain. In future work, the effectiveness of the UI in reducing the complexity of defining the cloud infrastructure will be evaluated with user tests.

Mobile Application for Real-Time Food Plan Management for Alzheimer Patients through Design-Based Research

Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that affects many individuals, mainly in an older age group. Over time, it leads to other diseases that affect their autonomy and independence. The quality of food ingestion is a way to mitigate the disease and preserve the patient’s well-being, which substantially impacts their health. Many existing applications for food plan management focus on the prescription of food plans but do not provide feedback to the nutritionist on the real amount of ingested calories. It makes these applications inadequate for these diseases, where monitoring and control are most important. This paper proposed the design and development of a mobile application to monitor and control the food plans of Alzheimer’s patients, focused on informal caregivers and respective patients. It allows both the realistic visualization of the food plans and users to adjust their consumption and register extra meals and water consumption. The interface design process comprises a two-level approach: the user centered design methodology that accounts for users’ needs and requirements and the user experience questionnaire to measure user satisfaction. The results show that the interface is intuitive, visually appealing, and easy to use, adjusted for users that require a particular level of understanding regarding specific subjects.

Immersive Virtual-Reality System for Aircraft Maintenance Education: A Case Study

Aircraft maintenance is a highly relevant procedure in many industries, yet obtaining qualified personnel to carry it out is a difficult task. Training in such techniques is complex and requires access to facilities and materials that are not readily available. Virtual reality can be a tool to improve this situation. This paper presents the whole process of design, development, and evaluation of a virtual environment that allows users to perform some of the main tasks required in aircraft maintenance after landing or for take-off. By following a user-centered design methodology and the Octalysis framework to apply motivation and engagement techniques, a gamified virtual environment was developed that allows the user to practice specific aircraft maintenance techniques. The environment was tested by users of different profiles who answered questionnaires to evaluate the perceived gamification, usability, and the feeling of sickness from the experience. The analysis of the data corroborates the good performance of the VR environment in these fields.

Hindsight, foresight, insight: three lenses for better policy-making

ABSTRACT This article highlights three common capability gaps that are increasingly apparent in government policy making: learning from the past, anticipating the future, and bringing more diverse voices into public policy design and delivery. It advocates for the integration of three essential capabilities – hindsight, foresight, and deep insight – into policy making systems to enhance the evidence used in policy decisions and to shift mind-sets from narrow problem-solving to creating opportunities for better futures for society. To develop hindsight capability, policy makers must transition toward a learning system that prioritizes continuous adaptation. The integration of foresight capability into policy design can enhance policy makers’ abilities to proactively anticipate and address potential future challenges. For a more comprehensive understanding of policy and its effects on stakeholders, policy makers can improve the utilization of data and user-centered design methodologies. Establishing an evidence infrastructure that incorporates academic expertise can support effective government policy making and better-informed policy choices.

User-Centered Software Design: User Interface Redesign for Blockly–Electron, Artificial Intelligence Educational Software for Primary and Secondary Schools

According to the 2021 and 2022 Horizon Report, AI is emerging in all areas of education, in various forms of educational aids with various applications, and is carving out a similarly ubiquitous presence across campuses and classrooms. This study explores a user-centered approach used in the design of the AI educational software by taking the redesign of the user interface of AI educational software Blockly–Electron as an example. Moreover, by analyzing the relationship between the four variables of software usability, the abstract usability is further certified so as to provide ideas for future improvements to the usability of AI educational software. User-centered design methods and attribution analysis are the main research methods used in this study. The user-centered approach was structured around four phases. Overall, seventy-three middle school students and five teachers participated in the study. The USE scale will be used to measure the usability of Blockly–Electron. Five design deliverables and an attribution model were created and discovered in the linear relationship between Ease of Learning, Ease of Use, Usefulness and Satisfaction, and Ease of use as a mediator variable, which is significantly different from the results of previous regression analysis for the USE scale. This study provides a structural user-centered design methodology with quantitative research. The deliverables and the attribution model can be used in the AI educational software design. Furthermore, this study found that usefulness and ease of learning significantly affect the ease of use, and ease of use significantly affects satisfaction. Based on this, the usability will be further concretized to facilitate the production of software with greater usability.

Lessons learned to improve the UX practices in agile projects involving data science and process automation

Context: User-Centered Design and Agile methodologies focus on human issues. Nevertheless, agile methodologies focus on contact with contracting customers and generating value for them. Usually, the communication between end users and the agile team is mediated by customers. However, they do not know the problems end users face in their routines. Hence, UX issues are typically identified only after the implementation, during user testing and validation. Objective: Aiming to improve the understanding and definition of the problem in agile projects, this research investigates the practices and difficulties experienced by agile teams during the development of data science and process automation projects. Also, we analyze the benefits and the teams' perceptions regarding user participation in these projects. Method: We collected data from four agile teams in an academia-industry collaboration focusing on delivering data science and process automation solutions. Therefore, we applied a carefully designed questionnaire answered by developers, scrum masters, and UX designers. In total, 18 subjects answered the questionnaire. Results: From the results, we identify practices used by the teams to define and understand the problem and to represent the solution. The practices most often used are prototypes and meetings with stakeholders. Another practice that helped the team to understand the problem was using Lean Inceptions. Also, our results present some specific issues regarding data science projects. Conclusion: We observed that end-user participation can be critical to understanding and defining the problem. They help to define elements of the domain and barriers in the implementation. We identified a need for approaches that facilitate user-team communication in data science projects and the need for more detailed requirements representations to support data science solutions.

Modern impressions: Getting to know your library website users

Academic library websites need to support a variety of users (student, faculty, staff, administrator, alumni, etc.) with intellectual pursuits related to research, teaching, and learning, in addition to being user-friendly, valuable and informative. Although the CUNY Queens College Library (QCL) website has been redesigned multiple times, there has not been a formal user research study of the website and its users to inform the redesign. Taking a user-centered approach, specifically the user-centered design (UCD) methodology, this study explores users of an urban academic library website in the United States through the use of triangulation, a mixed-methods approach that includes user survey, user interviews, and website analysis. The findings reveal that the majority of users like the QCL website and find the content valuable for teaching and research, but users also thought the website design was dated (not a modern design), some of the content was inconsistent, and access of all types emerged as a major theme. The results provide recommendations for the library website redesign and are important in helping librarians of similar libraries use triangulation of data to gain a multidimensional understanding of their users in order to inform the design and development of library websites.

BiodivAR: A Cartographic Authoring Tool for the Visualization of Geolocated Media in Augmented Reality

Location-based augmented reality technology for real-world, outdoor experiences is rapidly gaining in popularity in a variety of fields such as engineering, education, and gaming. By anchoring medias to geographic coordinates, it is possible to design immersive experiences remotely, without necessitating an in-depth knowledge of the context. However, the creation of such experiences typically requires complex programming tools that are beyond the reach of mainstream users. We introduce BiodivAR, a web cartographic tool for the authoring of location-based AR experiences. Developed using a user-centered design methodology and open-source interoperable web technologies, it is the second iteration of an effort that started in 2016. It is designed to meet needs defined through use cases co-designed with end users and enables the creation of custom geolocated points of interest. This approach enabled substantial progress over the previous iteration. Its reliance on geolocation data to anchor augmented objects relative to the user’s position poses a set of challenges: On mobile devices, GNSS accuracy typically lies between 1 m and 30 m. Due to its impact on the anchoring, this lack of accuracy can have deleterious effects on usability. We conducted a comparative user test using the application in combination with two different geolocation data types (GNSS versus RTK). While the test’s results are undergoing analysis, we hereby present a methodology for the assessment of our system’s usability based on the use of eye-tracking devices, geolocated traces and events, and usability questionnaires.

Meaningful XAI based on user-centric design methodology: Combining legal and human-computer interaction (HCI) approaches to achieve meaningful algorithmic explainability.

Meaningful XAI based on user-centric design methodology: Combining legal and human-computer interaction (HCI) approaches to achieve meaningful algorithmic explainability.