A novel methodology for evaluating user interfaces in health care

A pilot study is reported to identify an improved method of evaluating digital user interfaces in health care. Experience and developments from the aviation industry and the NASA-TLX mental workload assessment tools are applied in conjunction with Nielsen heuristics for evaluating an Electronic Health Record System in an Irish hospital. The NASA-TLX performs subjective workload assessments on operators working with various human-computer systems. Results suggest that depending on the cognitive workload and the working context of users, the usability will differ for the same digital interface. We conclude that incorporating the NASA-TLX with Nielsen´s heuristics offers a more reliable method in design and evaluation of digital user interfaces in clinical environments, since the healthcare work context is taken into account. Improved interfaces can be expected to reduce medical errors and improve patient care.