Remote Interviews and Visual Timelines with Patients: Lessons Learned.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Qualitative Research Methods

Background:

• Designing remote user studies in healthcare presents unique challenges.
• Previous research highlights the need for effective methods in eHealth user research.
• Understanding patient needs remotely requires robust qualitative approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide practical guidance for designing and conducting remote user studies in the healthcare and well-being sector.
• To share lessons learned from remote interviews and visual timeline pretasks in eHealth projects.
• To offer actionable tips for researchers navigating sensitive health-related topics remotely.

Main Methods:

• Conducting remote semi-structured interviews with patients.
• Utilizing visual timelines as pretasks to gather user experiences.
• Analyzing qualitative data from two distinct eHealth projects.
• Synthesizing researcher experiences to develop practical recommendations.

Main Results:

• Remote interviews and visual timelines are effective in collecting rich qualitative data on user needs.
• Successful remote studies require deliberate strategies for establishing trust, rapport, and ensuring confidentiality.
• Sensitive health topics necessitate heightened attention to privacy and ethical considerations.
• The study identified key challenges and effective strategies for remote qualitative health research.

Conclusions:

• Remote qualitative methods, including interviews and visual timelines, are valuable tools for healthcare user research.
• Researchers must prioritize building trust and ensuring data privacy, especially when dealing with sensitive patient information.
• This work offers practical, evidence-based tips to enhance the design and execution of future remote health-related user studies.