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Usability Assessment of Pacemaker Programmers
Author(s) -
CHIU CHRISTINE C.,
VICENTE KIM J.,
BUFFOSEQUEIRA ILAN,
HAMILTON ROBERT M.,
McCRINDLE BRIAN W.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.2004.00643.x
Subject(s) - usability , programmer , readability , heuristic evaluation , computer science , human–computer interaction , web usability , usability inspection , pluralistic walkthrough , usability lab , usability goals , user interface , usability engineering , programming language
There is a perception among clinicians of usability differences in the user interface of pacemaker programmers, but there is an absence of literature in this area. The purpose of this study was to describe usability differences in pacemaker programmers. Forty‐two programmer users completed self‐administered questionnaires and two usability experts independently performed heuristic evaluation to identify features that violated general usability principles. Programmers from seven manufacturers (coded A–G) were evaluated. There was a balanced representation of users: nurses (58%) versus technologists (40%) who are employed in community (50%) versus academic (45%) hospitals, novice versus expert users based on the median users' programming experience of 60 months (range 1–300 months). Significant differences between programmers were found in overall user satisfaction and ease of programmer use (P < 0.0001) in the display, controls, operation, and physical dimension of the programmers (P < 0.05). Heuristic evaluations showed frequent violations of usability principles in all programmers. Problematic areas include reliance on user recall, inconsistency in operation of critical controls, poor readability, and not anticipating user wants or action. Programmer interface designs do not consistently meet user needs or general usability principles. This impacts on the safe and effective use of programmers. Guidelines in programmer design should be established, particularly with respect to labeling, location, and operation of critical controls.