Department of Psychology, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.
Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.
JMIR Hum Factors. 2023 Dec 12;10:e48677. doi: 10.2196/48677.
Headache disorders are common, debilitating health problems. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is recommended but rarely easily available. With the use of the internet and communication technologies among youth and young adults, these individuals could be self-trained in CBT skills. There is an increasing number of internet-based interventions for headaches, but there has been little research into the usability of these interventions because evaluating usability across the intervention development life cycle is costly. We developed an internet-based CBT program, the Specialized Program for Headache Reduction (SPHERE). While developing it, we aimed to improve SPHERE through rapid usability testing cycles.
This study aims to presents a rapid and affordable usability testing approach that can be performed throughout the intervention development life cycle. This paper also provides evidence of the usability of SPHERE.
We used the "think aloud" usability testing method based on Krug's approach to test user interaction within a lab setting. This was followed by a short posttest interview. We planned to test SPHERE with 3-5 participants testing the same part of the program each cycle. Both the design and development team and the research team actively participated in the usability testing process. Observers independently identified the top 3 usability issues, rated their severity, and conducted debriefing sessions to come to consensus on major issues and generate potential solutions.
The testing process allowed major usability issues to be identified and rectified rapidly before piloting SPHERE in a real-world context. A total of 2 cycles of testing were conducted. Of the usability issues encountered in cycles 1 and 2, a total of 68% (17/25) and 32% (12/38), respectively, were rated as major, discussed, and fixed.
This study shows that rapid usability testing is an essential part of the design process that improves program functionality and can be easy and inexpensive to undertake.
头痛障碍是常见的、使人虚弱的健康问题。认知行为疗法（CBT）被推荐使用，但很少有患者能轻易获得。由于年轻人和青年群体使用互联网和通信技术，他们可以自行接受 CBT 技能培训。针对头痛的互联网干预措施越来越多，但由于评估整个干预措施开发周期的可用性成本较高，针对这些干预措施的可用性的研究较少。我们开发了一个基于互联网的 CBT 项目，即特殊头痛缓解计划（SPHERE）。在开发过程中，我们旨在通过快速可用性测试周期来改进 SPHERE。
本研究旨在介绍一种快速且经济实惠的可用性测试方法，可在整个干预措施开发周期内实施。本文还提供了 SPHERE 可用性的证据。
我们使用了基于 Krug 方法的“出声思考”可用性测试方法，在实验室环境中测试用户交互。之后进行简短的测试后访谈。我们计划让 3-5 名参与者在每个测试周期中测试相同的 SPHERE 部分。设计和开发团队以及研究团队都积极参与了可用性测试过程。观察者独立识别出前 3 名最严重的可用性问题，并对其严重程度进行评级，然后进行讨论环节，就主要问题达成共识并生成潜在解决方案。
测试过程允许在 SPHERE 在现实环境中试点之前快速识别和纠正主要的可用性问题。总共进行了 2 轮测试。在第 1 轮和第 2 轮测试中遇到的可用性问题中，分别有 68%（17/25）和 32%（12/38）被评为主要问题，经过讨论并得到修复。
本研究表明，快速可用性测试是设计过程的重要组成部分，可提高程序功能，且易于实施且成本较低。
