Title: Issues in evaluating the user performance of new home medical devices: a field test of two devices produced by a leading provider

Authors: Fan Yang; Abdullah Al Mahmud

Addresses: ARC Training Centre in Biodevices, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia ' Centre for Design Innovation, School of Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

Abstract: Purpose: this paper reports a case study, which investigates the approach to testing user performance of home medical devices (HMDs) produced by a leading provider in the sector. Method: we field-tested two HMDs with 41 users, and deployed both the provider's approach and our own to compare the results. Results: the results revealed three issues concerning the provider's approach: usability features had little to do with the positive user feedback; lack of understanding of the characteristics of the target audience; and conflicting results related to user performance and preference. The causes were related to the purpose of the user testing, to the expertise of the staff undertaking it, and to the tacit and unarticulated nature of users' experience and expectations. Conclusions: the user performance of some existing HMDs may not reflect critical user needs and expectations since the positive user feedback might be produced by flawed testing approaches adopted by the provider.

Keywords: user performance; usability; home medical device; HMD; product design; field test.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2018.099537

Journal of Design Research, 2018 Vol.16 No.3/4, pp.196 - 213

Received: 20 Mar 2018
Accepted: 10 Oct 2018
Published online: 08 May 2019 *

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