A comparative evaluation study of basic interaction techniques for PDAs in point-of-care situations

This qualitative usability evaluation study has compared interaction techniques of a paper based medical chart and three versions of a PDA based system, based on interaction with stylus, finger or hardware buttons. Users´ preferences and opinions were collected from 56 simulated hospital ward rounds with 14 physicians. Despite a number of disadvantages compared to paper the users preferred PDA-based interaction techniques. Within the PDA-based interaction techniques the physicians´ preferences showed large variations. Moreover, the techniques had different qualities in different situations. The study identifies 14 factors influencing the users´ preference and shows how each interaction techniques accommodate each factor. This study can inform the design and choice of interaction techniques on new handheld point-of-care systems.