Developing a Usability Ranking System for Findings in Health Information Technology Products
Ashley Cook, Jennifer Herout · Proceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care · 2015
Resources for addressing usability issues identified by practitioners are often limited and teams look to usability professionals for help in prioritizing the issues. Health Information Technology (HIT) products face an additional level of complexity due to the intertwined relationship between usability issues and potential patient safety issues. Human Factors Engineering (HFE) team within the Office of Informatics and Analytics of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA OIA) developed a usability ranking system, sensitive to the specific challenges of HIT products, to help teams prioritize resolution of usability findings. The system considers factors concerned with the findings themselves, including user experience impact, organizational impact, and frequency of the problem. Constructed with “checklist style” definitions for each level, the system helps practitioners more consistently select the appropriate initial ranking.