Usability evaluation of Electronic Health Records using user integrated Heuristic Walkthrough method

Abstract

This research paper aims to evaluate to what extent users such as medical professionals can collaborate with other evaluators in the usability evaluation of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The Heuristic Walkthrough (HW) method is a common technique in evaluating the usability of EHRs. It consists of two usability methods, Heuristic Evaluation (HE) and Cognitive Walkthrough (CW). After considering all participants, parameters, user interface elements and the usability characteristics in the evaluation process, issues have been identified in some areas of the HE and CW methods. As key findings, this study identifies lack of usability issues in EHRs negatively affecting user satisfaction with both techniques in the current HW method. The main aim of this report is to evaluate and extend the existing model and propose a new method termed `User Integrated HW' (UIHW) to eliminate the existing issues. Therefore, a Likert scale is implemented together with an open-ended questionnaire for both, HE and CW methods, to enhance the user integration as well as to obtain user reviews about the subject matter to support usability expertise.