Evaluating a remote monitoring sleep interface in long term care using a combined heuristics approach
| dc.contributor.author | Natembeya, Dennis | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Courtney, Karen | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Lau, Francis | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-17T14:48:39Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-04-17T14:48:39Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.degree.department | School of Health Information Science | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Science MSc | |
| dc.description.abstract | Abstract Usability is defined as the ease with which an individual can use a product in specific circumstances. In healthcare technology, usability plays a crucial role in improving workflow efficiency, patient safety, and decision-making. This study evaluates the general usability and visualization design of Sleep Sense, a remote sleep monitoring solution used in long-term care (LTC) facilities. A heuristic evaluation was conducted using Nielsen’s usability heuristics and Zuk & Carpendale’s visualization heuristics to assess system interaction, interface design, and data visualization quality. A total of 77 usability questions were applied across 18 heuristic categories, identifying 58 general usability violations and 12 visualization-related issues. The metric scores of 0-4 were assigned to each violation. A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach was used to quantify usability violations, revealing that most issues fell within medium severity, with no catastrophic violations detected. Most violations were rated at 2 (moderate changes needed). Key areas of concern included poor visibility of system status, misalignment with real-world clinical expectations, and insufficient user control and freedom. The study also identified significant gaps in alert prioritization, menu hierarchy, and filtering functionalities, impacting workflow efficiency. Challenges in data visualization (inadequate contrast, insufficient white space, limited dynamic filtering) were identified. Recommendations include redesigning the dashboard to highlight critical alerts, improving menu customization, enhancing contrast and text integration in visual displays, and incorporating dynamic filtering and clustering tools. The study underscores the importance of integrating usability and visualization principles in healthcare software to optimize clinician experience and patient care. Future research could explore multi-modal evaluation approaches to further improve system functionality and user trust. Additionally, AI-driven usability enhancements should be considered to meet current usability and visual demands of clinicians. | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/21952 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.subject | usability evaluation | |
| dc.subject | heuristic analysis | |
| dc.subject | healthcare technology | |
| dc.subject | interface design | |
| dc.subject | visualization heuristics | |
| dc.subject | long-term care | |
| dc.subject | sleep monitoring systems | |
| dc.subject | clinical decision support | |
| dc.title | Evaluating a remote monitoring sleep interface in long term care using a combined heuristics approach | |
| dc.type | project |