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A Participatory Design Approach to Develop Visualization of Wearable Actigraphy Data for Health Care Professionals:
Kamran Khowaja1,2, Wafa Waheeda Syed3, Meghna Singh4
1Information and Computing Technology Division, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Education City, Qatar.
JMIR Human Factors
|April 8, 2022
Summary
This study developed ActiVis, an interactive visualization tool for monitoring patient physical activity using wearable sensors. The tool, designed with participatory design, supports healthcare professionals in Qatar and improves patient health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Health Informatics
- Data Visualization
Background:
- Existing physical activity monitoring tools lack regional specificity and user-centered design.
- Participatory design (PD) has not been previously utilized in the Middle East for developing such health tools.
- There is a need for culturally relevant and specialized tools for healthcare professionals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an interactive visualization tool, ActiVis, for monitoring patient physical activity using wearable sensors.
- To support local healthcare professionals in Qatar in their patient monitoring tasks.
- To improve the overall health of the Qatari population through enhanced physical activity monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Employed participatory design (PD) and user-centered design methodologies.
- Conducted user evaluation workshops including persona development and brainwriting.
- Performed expert evaluation sessions involving use case derivation and heuristic walkthroughs.
Main Results:
- Derived and validated 6 data analysis use cases for specific healthcare professionals.
- Improved ActiVis design based on user and expert feedback, enhancing patient physical activity monitoring for nurses and family doctors.
- ActiVis research prototype demonstrated superiority over existing tools like Fitbit Dashboard, highlighting the importance of user-specific design.
Conclusions:
- The ActiVis tool and derived use cases offer a foundation for future visualization and HCI design projects in the region.
- Encourages collaboration between healthcare professionals and designers/engineers to improve daily clinical tools.
- Ongoing development aims to integrate ActiVis and related tools into an operational platform for Qatari healthcare professionals.
