Notes on user observations for Baobab Health Trust, March 2014
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Transcript of Notes on user observations for Baobab Health Trust, March 2014
Boabab Health, March 2014 Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Human-Computer Interaction - Observations
Harry Hochheiser University of Pittsburgh Department of Biomedical Informatics [email protected] !+1 410 648 9300
Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Research Setup
● User(s) with clinical problems
● Current approach not optimal
● How do we know what to build?
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Important Claim #1
● Understanding work in context – goals, motivations, priorities, behavior, difficulties, etc. is necessary for building better systems
!● Most go beyond just talking about computer systems to
address bigger picture questions
!
● What if we build a pharmacy prescription tracking system…
● ..but the pharmacy never has any medication…
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Important Claim #2 ● Successful implementations may require work redesign
● Translating the same old methods and procedures to computers may not help much
● Must go beyond what we are doing?
● Instead, ask why?
!
● In-depth qualitative research needed to inform these efforts
● Not numbers. Rather, goals, methods, activities..
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Important Claim #3 ● In-depth qualitative research needed to inform these
efforts
● Not numbers. Rather, goals, methods, activities..
● Watch, listen , interpret
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
What are the factors that influence usability?
Is a given tool usable for all users?
For some users?
!
Is an interface full of text usable… for someone who can’t read?
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Determinants of Usability
Context: social, organizational, etc.
Tool
Task Data analysis? Writing? Graphing?
usability= f(user,tool, task, context,system)
System: desktop, mobile, tablet, etc.
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Systems Engineering for Patient Safety
Lowry, et al. Integrating Electronic Health Records into Clinical Workflow: An Application of Human Factors Modeling Methods to Ambulatory Care National Institute of Standards and Technology NISTIR 7988 http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.7988
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Broad Goal
• Use study of users to understand how to build usable systems
• What is their work?
• What struggles are they facing?
• What information do they need?
• Why do they do what they do?
• How can IT help? Where can’t it help?
• What will be required for an IT tool to work?
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Approaches• Engage with users to see how work is done
• Interview
• Observe
• Collaborate
• Build models describing work
• Validate models with users
• Use models to design appropriate interactions.
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Some Methodologies
Participatory Design
Contextual Design
Scenario-Based Design
Cooperative Inquiry
Participatory Action
Research
Methodologies
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Key Questions & Tradeoffs
● Who to involve?
● When to involve users?
● How to collect information?
● How to interpret?
● How to inform design?
● How to evaluate success?
!● Usual tradeoffs apply: Never enough time or money
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Stakeholder AnalysisRosson & Carroll 2002
● Identify stakeholder groups
● Background
● Expectations
● Needs
● Preferences
● Concerns
● Values
!● An important, but often overlooked step
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Stakeholders
● Anyone who has an interest in the outcome of a system
● Work, play, or some other aspect of life
● Customer – those who pay for the work
● User – those who work with the system
● Others – perhaps those who are described by data in the system
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Stakeholders - Challenges
● Defined by roles, not by person
● Billing clerk for the hospital system is likely also a health-care consumer
● Must identify people who can speak to different roles?
● How can we meaningfully integrate understanding of needs of diverse users?
● Patients, practitioners, financial people, bureaucrats?
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
A Spectrum of Possibilities for Engaging Stakeholders
Focus Groups
Traditional Written Requirements
Interviews
ObservationContextual InterviewsEthnography/ Participatory Design
Low Cost, Low Fidelity
High Cost, High Fidelity
Surveys
Diaries/ActivityRecording
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Observation: When• Understanding work in complex environments
• Often used when interviews with users are not possible
• busy clinical environments
• Even if possible, interviews might not be optimal
• Ecological validity: observations must be as close a match to reality as is practical.
• Least demanding on users and context
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Observation• Watch users as they complete tasks
• Who is involved
• What they are trying to accomplish
• How they meet their goals
• Look for
• struggles
• breakdowns
• workarounds
• contextual factors
• improvisation
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Methodology• Take notes - lots
• Pictures
• Diagrams
• Audio recordings (if privacy concerns allow)
• No interruption
• possibly debrief with user afterwards
• Multiple methodologies - triangulation
• Multiple observers - validation
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Guidelines• Get out of the way
• particularly in busy clinics
• Respect participant privacy
• no recording or photos in clinic
• Consider observing from multiple perspectives
• clinician and patient
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
After the observation• Debrief
• Summarize notes
• Transcribe any recordings
• Analyze
• build models (more on this later)
• identify new questions - what did you not ask
• ask these at subsequent interviews
• Do this as soon as possible!
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Iterative process
Data Collection
Analysis New Questions
Models/ Theories Convergence
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Drawbacks of observations• Receptive only
• Potential for misinterpretation
• Observation of work as it is done
• not as management or others think it is done.
• Solutions:
• multiple observers
• Debrief/review with participants post fact
• “I think this is what I saw…”
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Iterative process
Data Collection
Analysis New Questions
Models/ Theories Convergence
Validation with Users
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
“All models are wrong…”•Many possible ways to try to model user work
•Remember the goal:
• to do develop rich and valid understanding of work processes
• to use this understanding to drive design of appropriate software
• The particular methods may matter less than the process
• iteration
• validation
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Key Points• Understanding how work is done is vital for building tools
to support that work.
• Try to understand goals
• Redesign work if necessary
• Observations can provide useful data for driving these processes
• Need appropriate participants, triangulation, and validation.
Baobab Health, March 2014Harry Hochheiser, [email protected]
Tomorrow: Bwaila ANC• Meet at Bwaila at 8:15
• Observe ANC clinic
• Return to Baobab: 9:45
• Discuss/review observations: 10:15
• Contextual inquiry presentation: 10:45
• Lunch: 11:45
• Arrive at Bwaila for contextual interviews with ANC clinicians and mock patients: 1:15