Dinesh Katre

Usability Heuristics and Qualitative Indicators for the Usability Evaluation of Touch Screen Ventilator Systems

A ventilator system provides respiratory support to critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit. Increasing complexity in the user interface, features and functionalities of ventilator systems can cause medical errors and cost the life of a patient. Therefore, the usability of ventilator systems is most crucial to ensure patient safety. We have evolved a specialized set of heuristics combined with objectively defined usability indicators for the usability evaluation of touch screen based ventilator systems. Our study presents the heuristic evaluation of three touch screen based ventilator systems manufactured by three different companies. The heuristic evaluation has been performed by four different usability evaluators to ensure the reliability of heuristics proposed in this paper. The specialized set of heuristics linked with user interface components and the objectively defined usability indicators are found more reliable in identifying specific usability problems of ventilator systems.

Semiotic analysis combined with usability and ergonomic testing for evaluation of icons in medical user interface

In this research, we have evaluated the medical icons and iconic interfaces of touch screen ventilator systems used in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Precise communication through iconic interface between ventilator system and medical users like physicians or nurses is critical to avoid medical errors which may cost patients life. We have used Usability Testing, User Survey, Lexical Analysis, Semiotic Analysis, Long Distance Visibility Testing (Ergonomic aspect) in combination for evaluating the medical icons. The usability testing was performed through three icon tests -- Test without Context, Test with Context and Test with Comparison. The lexical analysis along with three dimensional analyses in terms of semantics, syntactics and pragmatics was performed. It is evident that evaluation of medical icons is very different in comparison with icons used in general software applications.

One-Handed Thumb Use on Smart Phones by Semi-literate and Illiterate Users in India

There is a tremendous potential for developing mobile-based productivity tools and occupation specific applications for the semi-literate and illiterate users in India. One-handed thumb use on the touchscreen of smart phone or touch phone is considered as an effective alternative than the use of stylus or index finger, to free the other hand for supporting the occupational activity. In this context, usability research and experimental tests are conducted to understand the role of fine motor control, usability of thumb as the interaction apparatus and the ergonomic needs of users. The paper also touches upon cultural, racial and anthropometric aspects, which need due consideration while designing the mobile interface. Design recommendations are evolved to enhance the effectiveness of one-handed thumb use on smart phone, especially for the benefit of semi-literate and illiterate users.

Digital preservation: Converging and diverging factors of libraries, archives and museums an Indian perspective

This article emphasizes the need to address the converging as well as diverging factors of Libraries, Archives and Museums (LAMs) for expanding the scope of proposed convergence beyond integrated access. While thinking about this convergence we must protect the role, focus, scope and identities of these disciplines rather than treating them as the same thing referred to by different terminologies. Such a mixed approach has been manifested in many generalized software solutions which loosely claim to manage archives, museums, libraries and repositories together. The courses on museology, archives, library and information science offered in India and elsewhere are found to be at different phases of evolution in terms of integration of digital preservation methods. We have performed gap analysis of digitalization in libraries, archives and museums from the Indian perspective and a set of actions are proposed to bridge this gap.

CHI 2013 human work interaction design (HWID) SIG: past history and future challenges

In this SIG we aim to introduce the IFIP 13.6 Human Work Interaction Design (HWID) approach to the CHI audience. The HWID working group aims at establishing relationships between extensive empirical work-domain studies and HCI design. We invite participants from industry and academia with an interest on empirical work analysis, HCI, interaction design and usability and user experience in work situations and in the workplace. This SIG is a vital step towards creating a CHI2014 workshop on this topic.

Adapting e-gov Usability Evaluation to Cultural Contexts

This chapter discusses cultural usability and how to adapt usability evaluation of e-government to different cultural contexts. It argues that it is worthwhile to study the different kinds of usability problems in e-gov that are emerging in diverse regions and countries around the world. This must be done by drawing on studies that are indigenous to the region/country in question; no one from the outside can appreciate what the critical problems in a local design solution are. Then it presents a case study of a government authentication system from Denmark and a case study of 28 state Web portals in India. The chapter concludes that usability professionals should take a broad and context-oriented approach to cross-cultural e-gov usability, and provides some advice on how to do so.

Human work interaction design for e-government and public information systems

Varied backgrounds of users, heterogeneous delivery media and diverse socio-cultural and organizational contexts pose new challenges of human work interaction design in the field of e-government and public information systems. The workshop will consolidate the empirical case studies of how human work analysis and interaction design has benefited in enhancing the user experience of e-government and public information systems and a set of effective methods, techniques and theories for this purpose. Selected research papers from the workshop will be published in the International Journal of Public Information Systems (IJPIS), Sweden.

Usability Model for Medical User Interface of Ventilator System in Intensive Care Unit

A usability model is a hierarchical structure encompassing the key elements such as users, user interface and interaction between them. It is a generic template which is independent of usability evaluation methods and provides flexibility for adaptation in different contexts and domains. In this paper, a usability model for medical user interfaces, especially for ventilator systems in Intensive Care Unit (ICU), is proposed based on Norman’s action-oriented seven-step model to capture a related medical context. A ventilator system is a therapeutic device, which provides a respiratory support to critically-ill patients. Currently, a usability of user interfaces of ventilator systems is evaluated by typical usability evaluation methods from software industry. These evaluation methods miss out important elements in medical context. Therefore, a need for a specialized usability model for medical user interfaces is fulfilled with a proposed usability model encompassing vital elements such as medical user, user interface, ICU environment and time required. This usability model is validated first, through a human work analysis using videos of selected tasks with medical user interfaces and then, with an overview of critical factors affecting medical user interfaces in ICU. In future, a proposed usability model can be integrated with a suitable usability evaluation method for evaluating medical user interfaces to identify related medical usability problems more effectively.

Analysis and design of ICU Knowledge Management System (IKMS) for Indian environment with usability perspective

In this paper, we have proposed ICU Knowledge Management System (IKMS). Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is specialty-nursing unit for critical patients. An IKMS presented in this paper is designed with usability perspective in Indian ICU environment. This design is based on a study about the scope of ergonomic design and usability for ICU through the fieldwork at various hospitals in India. The feedback received from ICU staff, observations about ICU facilities and usage of medical equipment have been vital inputs in design of IKMS. Our research highlights the need to use such knowledge management system supported by ICU knowledgebase to assess the quality standard focusing on ergonomic design and usability of ICU. We feel that hospital administrators, academicians, researchers and equipment manufacturers will also benefit from this system. Therefore, this research work with Indian ICUs and related IKMS will prove to be extremely helpful in assessing and improving the quality and usability standards of ICUs.

Analyzing cultural usability of mobile keypad and displays for textual communication in internationalization and localization perspectives

The aim of this paper is to identify the cultural usability aspects that need to be considered while internationalizing or localizing the interaction design of mobile keypads and displays for textual communication. The analysis is based primarily on heuristics tests, where: Hindi, Arabic and Danish mobile phones are evaluated based on assumptions of user needs, and in comparison to English. We have also referred the existing research on Chinese mobile phones to further complement our work. The study provides an insight into the much needed local-language centred approach in contrast with the current English centred approach of existing mobile keypad designs and display of text.