EVALUATING THE USABILITY OF A MOBILE APPLICATION (THROMBO-LINK) FOR PERIPROCEDURAL MANAGEMENT OF ANTICOAGULANT MEDICATION

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Peri-operative anticoagulation management plans reduce the risk of bleeding and thrombotic events in patients who are on anticoagulation therapy and undergoing surgical procedures. A mobile application (Thrombo-Link) has been developed as a clinical decision support tool to aid healthcare professionals in providing these management plans. Little literature exists exploring the usability of such an application. PURPOSE: The purpose of this thesis is to examine: 1) How Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics can be used to identify usability shortfalls of the Thrombo-Link application to improve subsequent iterations, and 2) the role of end user testing in further identifying usability issues of the Thrombo-Link application in a clinical setting. METHODS: This study included the participation of three usability experts and five staff from the Hamilton Health Sciences peri-operative anticoagulation management clinic. Usability experts utilized Jakob Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics to identify usability shortfalls of Thrombo-Link which were conveyed to the software developer. Iterative changes were made to the application. During the end user testing, participants were asked to use the application as they would in the clinic and completed the system usability scale (SUS) to assess the overall usability of Thrombo-Link. RESULTS: A total of 51 usability issues were identified by the heuristic evaluators and 7 usability issues were identified by the clinic staff. Clinic staff rated the application with a median answer of 5/5 on the SUS in terms of ease of use. CONCLUSIONS: Both Nielsen’s heuristics and end user testing identified usability concerns within the Thrombo-Link application which were addresses by iterative software development. This furthers our understanding of the usability of this clinical decision support tool