Multilingual medical dialog system developed as smartphone/tablet application

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Sociolinguistics

Background:

• Increasing foreign resident population in Japan necessitates improved social and healthcare communication.
• Existing multilingual healthcare apps face usability challenges.
• Effective communication is vital in emergency and healthcare settings for foreign patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the usability of multilingual healthcare communication apps.
• To evaluate the impact of different touch designs on user experience.
• To improve communication between Japanese medical staff and foreign patients.

Main Methods:

• 34 subjects evaluated three distinct touch designs.
• Usability testing was conducted using the "ExLanguage Nurse" application.
• User feedback on ease of use was collected and analyzed.

Main Results:

• Touch design significantly influences the usability of multilingual healthcare apps.
• Specific touch designs were identified as more user-friendly.
• The study provides insights into optimizing app interfaces for diverse users.

Conclusions:

• App design, particularly touch interface elements, is critical for effective cross-cultural healthcare communication.
• Further development should focus on user-centered design principles for medical communication tools.
• Improving app usability can bridge communication gaps in Japanese healthcare for foreign nationals.