Revenäs Åsa, Johansson Ann-Christin, Ehn Maria
Center for Clinical Research, Region Västmanland-Uppsala University, Hospital of Västmanland Västerås, Västerås, Sweden.
School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Dec 21;9(12):e20061. doi: 10.2196/20061.
The goal of user-centered design (UCD) is to understand the users' perspective and to use that knowledge to shape more effective solutions. The UCD approach provides insight into users' needs and requirements and thereby improves the design of the developed services. However, involving users in the development process does not guarantee that feedback from different subgroups of users will shape the development in ways that will make the solutions more useful for the entire target user population.
The aim of this study was to describe a protocol for systematic analysis and prioritization of feedback from user subgroups in the usability testing of a digital motivation support for fall-preventive physical activity (PA) interventions in seniors (aged 65 years and older). This protocol can help researchers and developers to systematically exploit feedback from relevant user subgroups in UCD.
Gender, PA level, and level of technology experience have been identified in the literature to influence users' experience and use of digital support systems for fall-preventive PA interventions in seniors. These 3 key user characteristics were dichotomized and used to define 8 (ie, 2) possible user subgroups. The presented method enables systematic tracking of the user subgroups' contributions in iterative development. The method comprises (1) compilation of difficulties and deficiencies in the digital applications identified in usability testing, (2) clustering of the identified difficulties and deficiencies, and (3) prioritization of deficiencies to be rectified. Tracking user subgroup representation in the user feedback ensures that the development process is prioritized according to the needs of different subgroups. Mainly qualitative data collection methods are used.
A protocol was developed to ensure that feedback from users representing all possible variants of 3 selected key user characteristics (gender, PA level, and level of technology experience) is considered in the iterative usability testing of a digital support for seniors' PA. The method was applied in iterative usability testing of two digital applications during spring/summer 2018. Results from the study on the users' experiences and the iterative modification of the digital applications are expected to be published during 2021.
Methods for systematic collection, analysis, and prioritization of feedback from user subgroups might be particularly important in heterogenous user groups (eg, seniors). This study can contribute to identifying and improving the understanding of potential differences between user subgroups of seniors in their use and experiences of digital support for fall-preventive PA interventions. This knowledge may be relevant for developing digital support systems that are appropriate, useful, and attractive to users and for enabling the design of digital support systems that target specific user subgroups (ie, tailoring of the support). The protocol needs to be further used and investigated in order to validate its potential value.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/20061.
以用户为中心的设计（UCD）的目标是了解用户的观点，并利用这些知识来形成更有效的解决方案。UCD方法能够洞察用户的需求和要求，从而改进所开发服务的设计。然而，让用户参与开发过程并不能保证来自不同用户子群体的反馈会以某种方式塑造开发过程，使解决方案对整个目标用户群体更有用。
本研究的目的是描述一种协议，用于在针对老年人（65岁及以上）预防跌倒身体活动（PA）干预的数字动机支持的可用性测试中，对用户子群体的反馈进行系统分析和优先级排序。该协议可帮助研究人员和开发人员在UCD中系统地利用来自相关用户子群体的反馈。
文献中已确定性别、PA水平和技术经验水平会影响老年人预防跌倒PA干预数字支持系统的用户体验和使用。这三个关键用户特征被二分法划分，并用于定义8个（即2³）可能的用户子群体。所提出的方法能够在迭代开发中系统地跟踪用户子群体的贡献。该方法包括：（1）汇总在可用性测试中识别出的数字应用中的困难和缺陷；（2）对识别出的困难和缺陷进行聚类；（3）对需要纠正的缺陷进行优先级排序。跟踪用户反馈中用户子群体的代表性可确保根据不同子群体的需求对开发过程进行优先级排序。主要使用定性数据收集方法。
制定了一项协议，以确保在针对老年人PA的数字支持的迭代可用性测试中，考虑来自代表3个选定关键用户特征（性别、PA水平和技术经验水平）所有可能变体的用户的反馈。该方法于2018年春/夏应用于两个数字应用的迭代可用性测试。关于用户体验以及数字应用迭代修改的研究结果预计将于2021年发表。
在异质用户群体（如老年人）中，用于系统收集、分析和优先排序用户子群体反馈的方法可能尤为重要。本研究有助于识别和增进对老年人用户子群体在预防跌倒PA干预数字支持的使用和体验方面潜在差异的理解。这些知识可能与开发适合用户、对用户有用且有吸引力的数字支持系统相关，也有助于设计针对特定用户子群体的数字支持系统（即支持的定制）。该协议需要进一步使用和研究以验证其潜在价值。国际注册报告标识符（IRRID）：RR1 - 10.2196/20061。
