by Mars A.
https://www.jeffdavishospital.org/
Website Description
The website selected is one for a small hospital located just over 160 miles out of Tallahassee, FL in Hazelhurst, Georgia that serves patients in the Hazelhurst area along with surrounding areas after opening its doors as Clyde Duncan Memorial Hospital in 1963 with only 26 beds. After multiple expansions and a name change, Jeff Davis Hospital (JDH) now has a total of 50 beds and 25 critical access beds. The points of care access that JDH provides to patients near and far include Endoscopy, 24-hour Emergency Department, CT, 3D Mammography, Dexa, Ultrasound, Diagnostic Radiology, 24-hour Respiratory Care, Dietary Counseling, ICU, Blood Bank, 24-hour Laboratory coverage, Respite Care, Hospice Care, Pediatrics, Behavioral Health Care Unit, Wound Care Center. The medical staff is comprised of Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, Cardiology, Pathology, Radiology, and Emergency Medicine physicians. More detailed information on all of these services is offered through the JDH website.
User Description
The user selected for this testing is a 78-year-old mother and wife named Magdalene. Magdalene is the mother of a 53-year-old resident of St. Augustine, FL named Tracy. Tracy is the adult child of Magdalene and 82-year-old Thomas. Thomas lived outside of a rural, small town in Georgia called Hazelhurst, however, he experienced a stroke while visiting Tracy and was transferred from a large hospital in Jacksonville, FL following emergency surgery to his local hospital, Jeff Davis Hospital (JDH). Thomas requested to be transferred following his completed surgery to recover has at his local hospital and complete rehabilitation closer to Magdalene and his home.
Magdalene is using the Jeff Davis Hospital website for the first time to gain more information on what they provide before having her husband transferred back to recover. Magdalene also wants to learn more about who to contact for care coordination, care pricing, and to see what elderly-specific outpatient care coordination is available after being discharged.
Disclaimer: All names used are fictional and for simulation purposes only
User Testing Method
The method used for user testing is remote, observational, unmoderated, and explorative. The chosen methods were chosen for as followed:
- Remote: the user is not located in Tallahassee and is over 300 miles away to have completed the testing in person. To complete the user testing with this desired user the only option was to complete a remote simulation of the testing.
- Observational: The user was provided the scenario and allowed to behave freely for full observation of their full autonomy. If the user was restricted in any sense this would have made the testing less authentic and would be forced. the only purpose that the tester aimed to score in this testing was to fully observe the user. This UX experiment was to replicate actual user testing where designers are not present during the user testing of sites.
- Unmoderated: The user was informed that no guidance would be provided throughout the testing but once they successfully found the desired task they could stop the task, request feedback, and discuss their experience. This simulation was designed to imitate user testing where software engineers and designers had no full contact with the user whereas a volunteer and uninvolved moderator that is unbiased provided the user direction in completing the task at hand.
- Explorative: This was the first time that the user used the JeffDavisHospital.org site for any reason at all let alone a stressful emotionally distressing situation such as the one presented in the simulation. The user was allowed full autonomy to explore the site as they pleased so that they can make informed decisions and navigate freely throughout.
User Assigned Task
The user was assigned the task of locating resources of care coordination for the stroke victim while also reading up on the resources that the rehabilitation center would provide as the patient completes their recovery care with the program. The user was also assigned the task of locating care costs so that the choices and decisions made for the stroke victim could be well-detailed and made with all of the information needed. The user was informed that with this information the care of their husband, Thomas would alleviate lots of stress from him since he would be assured that his family is prepared and well-informed. The overall task goal is to find the care coordinators’ contact information but the user was not informed of this high-level goal.
Task Summary
Once the user was provided the tasks to complete along with the URL of the hospital site she navigated to the home page of the site. Once the user arrived at the homepage of the site she was amazed at the site’s ability to move on its own with the navigation bar remaining at the top of the page. the user was very astonished at the moving graphics of the grass on the homepage, she requested information on why that was necessary or allowed on the site. The user described her lack of care for the moving graphics since the mobility of the homepage distracted her from the task at hand. It was a mystery as to how the moving graphics were a distraction to the task at hand because the user appeared to navigate the site effortlessly despite the moving graphics. Upon navigation, the user was curious about the “Swing Bed program” which caused her to click on the wording widget. Once the user clicked on the “Swing bed program” she read through the description and exclaimed, “Wow I have already located it, so I just have to call one of these people!” The contact information that the user found on the site was as follows: “For more information, please call Joni Powell (912) 375-7781 ext. 6240, Jennifer Wilkes (912) 375-7781 ext. 6196“. Once the user completed the task she asked about what else was needed, but the over task goal was to navigate the contact information of the care coordinators that could provide more information.
Design Recommendation
Improvements to this site are not many but the few needed include navigation, less moving graphics, and more detailed information on the about us section of the site. The about us section was reviewed prior to user testing to allow more background to be given to the user prior to testing. the “about us” section indicated JDH had a previous name before calling the hospital JDH but nowhere in the “about us” description is it indicated that the hospital had a name change or why the name was changed at all. The moving graphics of the site were a complaint of the user as it was a distraction for the user. The moving graphics on the homepage are a bit pointless in the analysis as they inhibit autonomous navigation of the site when the interface takes over to begin navigating to the bottom of the screen. This design could be altered by placing a warning that the page will begin moving prior to the movement of the page occurring. This design of automatic navigation violated numbers three and eight of the ten heuristic analysis because it limits user control and freedom while also not fulfilling the aesthetic and minimalist design standard. To fix these features the site could not only add a warning that the page will begin moving on its own but could also provide a text box asking “Yes or No” if the user is okay with the page moving freely or if they need help. An alternative to the “yes or No” text box is providing a chat box that the user can use to input their request if help is needed.
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References
Carolyn A. Lin, Patricia J. Neafsey & Zoe Strickler (2009) Usability Testing by Older Adults of a Computer-Mediated Health Communication Program, Journal of Health Communication, 14:2, 102-118, DOI: 10.1080/10810730802659095
Nielsen, J. (2020, November 15). 10 usability heuristics for user interface design. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
Swing bed program. (n.d.). Jeff Davis Hospital. https://www.jeffdavishospital.org/getpage.php?name=swing&sub=Our%20Services