Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

12-5-2024

Journal

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

DOI

10.1186/s12911-024-02786-8

PMID

39639309

PMCID

PMC11619703

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

12-5-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Introduction: The pharmacy surveillance information system (PSIS) is intended to manage the dispensing practice of under-controlled drugs and substances. We designed and developed a PSIS for the first time in a developing country. This study aimed to evaluate the usability of this system using a heuristic evaluation method before the pilot implementation in outpatient pharmacies.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted in 2022 during the development of a pharmacy surveillance information system. Five evaluators examined the system using Nielson's heuristic evaluation method. The detected usability problems were categorized into 10 Nielson's usability principles, and their severity was calculated.

Results: In total, 91 unique usability problems were identified. The most detected usability problems were minor (60%). The "consistency and standard" (31%), "aesthetic and minimalist design" (28%), and "match between system and the real world" (12%) were the most frequent problems. Also, the "flexibility and efficiency of use" (mean = 2.9), "error prevention" (2.85), and "user control and freedom" (2.8) were the most severe problems.

Conclusion: The study has identified the most common and severe usability issues of an information system. It is important for the system developers to address these issues as it can significantly improve users' trust and satisfaction. Therefore, all the identified usability problems were resolved before the system was implemented.

Keywords

Humans, Heuristics, Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems, Usability, Heuristic evaluation, Health information system, Pharmacy surveillance information system

Published Open-Access

yes

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.