A case study on better iconographic design in electronic medical records' user interface

Abstract

Background. It is a known fact that there is a conflict between what users expect and what user interface designers create in the field of medical informatics along with other fields of interface design.

Objectives. The objective of the study is to suggest, from the ‘design art’ perspective, a method for improving the usability of an electronic medical record (EMR) interface. The suggestion is based on the hypothesis that the user interface of an EMR should be iconographic.

Method. The proposed three-step method consists of a questionnaire survey on how hospital users perceive concepts/terms that are going to be used in the EMR user interface. Then icons associated with the terms are designed by a designer, following a guideline which is prepared according to the results of the first questionnaire. Finally the icons are asked back to the target group for proof. A case study was conducted with 64 medical staff and 30 professional designers for the first questionnaire, and with 30 medical staff for the second.

Results. In the second questionnaire 7.53 icons out of 10 were matched correctly with a standard deviation of 0.98. Also, all icons except three were matched correctly in at least 83.3% of the forms.

Conclusion. The proposed new method differs from the majority of previous studies which are based on user requirements by leaning on user experiments instead. The study demonstrated that the user interface of EMRs should be designed according to a guideline that results from a survey on users' experiences on metaphoric perception of the terms.

Keywords:

• Electronic medical records
• user-computer interface
• user interface design
• iconographic design

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of Istanbul Acıbadem Hospital, Yildiz Technical University Medico Social Health Center and Ankara Doktor Sami Ulus Children Hospital staff. We would also like to acknowledge the special assistance of Assist. Prof. Dr Ulya Ertem who is the chief of Pediatric Oncology Clinic in Ankara Doktor Sami Ulus Children Hospital and Fisun Bargu and other members of the Turkish Association of Advertising Agencies.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.