Pre- and Post-Redesign Usability Assessment of a Telemedicine Interface Based on Subjective Metrics

Usability problems in the interaction between patients and telemedicine platforms has been recognized as a deterrent in the public's acceptance and use of this alternative healthcare delivery method. Therefore, evaluating the usability of telemedicine provider websites, with a focus on potential patients' first interaction with telemedicine, is a critical research inquiry. To this end, a novel survey was developed to conduct an unmoderated remote usability test (URUT) of the Teladoc website. Teladoc is one of the largest providers of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) telemedicine. The Teladoc Website Usability Survey (TWUS) instrument collected both objective task completion success metrics and subjective user feedback. A codebook was developed to categorize design features and user interface aspects that affected usability. The TWUS and codebook demonstrated value in identifying usability problems with the Teladoc interface and can be applied in other telemedicine or Health Information Technology (HIT) usability studies. Identifying and addressing usability issues is an important approach to increase the widespread acceptance and adoption of these healthcare delivery technologies.