User Interface Problems of a Nationwide Inpatient Information System: A Heuristic Evaluation

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Usability Engineering

Background:

• Usability evaluations identify design flaws in health information systems.
• Limited research exists on the usability of health information systems in developing countries, especially in native languages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the usability of a nationwide inpatient information system used in Iranian academic hospitals.

Main Methods:

• Three usability evaluators independently applied Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics.
• Identified problems were compiled, and their severity was rated.
• The impact of evaluator experience with health information systems (HIS) on problem identification and severity was statistically analyzed.

Main Results:

• A total of 158 usability problems were identified, resulting in 99 unique issues.
• "Consistency and standards" was the most frequently violated heuristic (25%).
• Problems ranged in severity from Major (2.4) to Catastrophe (3.3); experienced evaluators identified more problems with higher severity.

Conclusions:

• Heuristic Evaluation uncovered numerous usability problems in a widely adopted inpatient information system.
• Unresolved issues pose risks to user and patient time, error rates, and patient safety.
• Simple redesigns can address many identified problems; further research on evaluator experience is recommended.