Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the use of telemedicine application (apps), which has seen an uprise. This study evaluated the usability of the user interface design of telemedicine apps deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. It also explored changes to...

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Autores principales:	Raniah N. Aldekhyyel, Jwaher A. Almulhem, Samar Binkheder
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	telemedicine mHealth heuristic evaluation usability Saudi Arabia COVID-19 Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e157d73fa241434fa9bf950a5d1bebbe
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e157d73fa241434fa9bf950a5d1bebbe2021-11-25T17:46:30ZUsability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces10.3390/healthcare91115742227-9032https://doaj.org/article/e157d73fa241434fa9bf950a5d1bebbe2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/11/1574https://doaj.org/toc/2227-9032The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the use of telemedicine application (apps), which has seen an uprise. This study evaluated the usability of the user interface design of telemedicine apps deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. It also explored changes to the apps’ usability based on the pandemic timeline. Methods: We screened ten mHealth apps published by the National Digital Transformation Unit and selected three telemedicine apps: (1) governmental “Seha”<sup>®</sup> app, (2) stand-alone “Cura”<sup>®</sup> app, and (3) private “Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib”<sup>®</sup>app. We conducted the evaluations in April 2020 and in June 2021 by identifying positive app features, using Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics with a five-point severity rating scale, and documenting redesign recommendations. Results: We identified 54 user interface usability issues during both evaluation periods: 18 issues in “Seha” 14 issues in “Cura”, and 22 issues in “Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib”. The two most heuristic items violated in “Seha”, were “user control and freedom” and “recognition rather than recall”. In “Cura”, the three most heuristic items violated were “consistency and adherence to standards”, “esthetic and minimalist design”, and “help and documentation” In “Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib” the most heuristic item violated was “error prevention”. Ten out of the thirty usability issues identified from our first evaluation were no longer identified during our second evaluation. Conclusions: our findings indicate that all three apps have a room for improving their user interface designs to improve the overall user experience and to ensure the continuity of these services beyond the pandemic.Raniah N. AldekhyyelJwaher A. AlmulhemSamar BinkhederMDPI AGarticletelemedicinemHealthheuristic evaluationusabilitySaudi ArabiaCOVID-19MedicineRENHealthcare, Vol 9, Iss 1574, p 1574 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	telemedicine mHealth heuristic evaluation usability Saudi Arabia COVID-19 Medicine R
spellingShingle	telemedicine mHealth heuristic evaluation usability Saudi Arabia COVID-19 Medicine R Raniah N. Aldekhyyel Jwaher A. Almulhem Samar Binkheder Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces
description	The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the use of telemedicine application (apps), which has seen an uprise. This study evaluated the usability of the user interface design of telemedicine apps deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. It also explored changes to the apps’ usability based on the pandemic timeline. Methods: We screened ten mHealth apps published by the National Digital Transformation Unit and selected three telemedicine apps: (1) governmental “Seha”<sup>®</sup> app, (2) stand-alone “Cura”<sup>®</sup> app, and (3) private “Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib”<sup>®</sup>app. We conducted the evaluations in April 2020 and in June 2021 by identifying positive app features, using Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics with a five-point severity rating scale, and documenting redesign recommendations. Results: We identified 54 user interface usability issues during both evaluation periods: 18 issues in “Seha” 14 issues in “Cura”, and 22 issues in “Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib”. The two most heuristic items violated in “Seha”, were “user control and freedom” and “recognition rather than recall”. In “Cura”, the three most heuristic items violated were “consistency and adherence to standards”, “esthetic and minimalist design”, and “help and documentation” In “Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib” the most heuristic item violated was “error prevention”. Ten out of the thirty usability issues identified from our first evaluation were no longer identified during our second evaluation. Conclusions: our findings indicate that all three apps have a room for improving their user interface designs to improve the overall user experience and to ensure the continuity of these services beyond the pandemic.
format	article
author	Raniah N. Aldekhyyel Jwaher A. Almulhem Samar Binkheder
author_facet	Raniah N. Aldekhyyel Jwaher A. Almulhem Samar Binkheder
author_sort	Raniah N. Aldekhyyel
title	Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces
title_short	Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces
title_full	Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces
title_fullStr	Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces
title_full_unstemmed	Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces
title_sort	usability of telemedicine mobile applications during covid-19 in saudi arabia: a heuristic evaluation of patient user interfaces
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e157d73fa241434fa9bf950a5d1bebbe
work_keys_str_mv	AT raniahnaldekhyyel usabilityoftelemedicinemobileapplicationsduringcovid19insaudiarabiaaheuristicevaluationofpatientuserinterfaces AT jwaheraalmulhem usabilityoftelemedicinemobileapplicationsduringcovid19insaudiarabiaaheuristicevaluationofpatientuserinterfaces AT samarbinkheder usabilityoftelemedicinemobileapplicationsduringcovid19insaudiarabiaaheuristicevaluationofpatientuserinterfaces
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Usability of Telemedicine Mobile Applications during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation of Patient User Interfaces

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