Usability and Usefulness of a Symptom Management Coaching System for Patients With Cancer Treated With Immune...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Immunotherapy has improved cancer prognosis, but patients face symptom management challenges.
• eHealth tools like CAPABLE aim to aid symptom management for cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy.
• Usability is key for eHealth tool effectiveness and user well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the usability, user experience, and acceptability of the CAPABLE eHealth tool prototype.
• To compare usability findings between immunotherapy patients and a broader participant group.

Main Methods:

• Usability study involving think-aloud tasks and questionnaires.
• Participants included patients with melanoma/renal cell carcinoma on immunotherapy and those without.
• Usability problems were coded and mapped to a framework.

Main Results:

• 76 usability problems identified; 22 related to task-technology fit.
• Critical symptom monitoring issues were primarily found by immunotherapy patients.
• High perceived usefulness (8/10 statements agreed) and System Usability Scale score (80/100).

Conclusions:

• The CAPABLE prototype demonstrated positive perceived usefulness despite usability issues.
• Including target end-users (immunotherapy patients) was essential for identifying critical symptom reporting problems.
• Broader participant groups may suffice for identifying less critical usability issues.