Abstract
Heuristic evaluation is a valid and widely accepted method for evaluating system usability. Findings from such evaluations provide valuable insight concerning which system elements should be targeted in future design iterations for improved functionality and user experience. This paper details a heuristic evaluation, utilizing Nielsen’s Heuristics and Shneiderman’s Golden Rules of Interface Design, of an inpatient environmental control unit used at the VA Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders (SCI/D) Centers nationwide. Results identified a number of usability issues inherent to the currently deployed interface at varying levels of severity. Design recommendations for addressing these significant issues in future iterations of this system are provided in an effort to foster independence and enhance quality of life in veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: FY2020/FY2018 annual performance plan and report [PDF file] (2019). https://www.va.gov/oei/docs/VA2020appr.pdf
Bidassie, B., et al.: Evaluating the roll-out of environmental control units in Veterans Affairs spinal cord injury centers: workflow observations. Int. J. Healthcare 3(2), 57–67 (2017)
Schulz, R., Hanusa, B.H.: Experimental social gerontology: a social psychological perspective. J. Soc. Issues 36(2), 30–46 (1980)
Cohen, S., Syme, S.L.: Issues in the study and application of social support. In: Cohen, S., Syme, S.L. (eds.) Social Support and Health, pp. 3–22. Academic Press (1985)
Etingen, B., et al.: Patient perceptions of environmental control units. Experiences of Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders receiving inpatient VA healthcare. Disabil. Rehabil.: Assistive Technol. 13(4), 325–332 (2017)
Shneiderman, B.: Eight golden rules for interface design. In: Designing the User Interface, 3rd edn. Addison Wesley, Boston (1998)
Nielsen, J.: Ten usability heuristics for user interface design (1995). http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html. Accessed 26 Jan 2020
Nielsen, J.: Severity ratings for usability problems. Pap. Essays 54, 1–2 (1995)
Birch, J.: Worldwide prevalence of red-green color deficiency. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 29(3), 313–320 (2012)
US Census Bureau: B21001: Sex by age by veteran status for the civilian population 18 years and over (2018). https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?hidePreview=true&table=B21001&tid=ACSDT1Y2018.B21001&lastDisplayedRow=38&q=B21001%3A%20SEX%20BY%20AGE%20BY%20VETERAN%20STATUS%20FOR%20THE%20CIVILIAN%20POPULATION%2018%20YEARS%20AND%20OVER. Accessed 29 Jan 2020
Shneiderman, B., Hochheiser, H.: Universal usability as a stimulus to advanced interface design. Behav. Inf. Technol. 20(5), 367–376 (2001)
Nielsen, J., Loranger, H.: Prioritizing Web Usability. New Riders Press, Berkeley (2006)
Nielsen, J.: Iterative user-interface design. Computer 26(11), 32–41 (1993)
Tang, Z., Johnson, T.R., Tindall, R.D., Zhang, J.: Applying heuristic evaluation to improve the usability of a telemedicine system. Telemed. J. E-Health 12(1), 24–34 (2006)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hancock, G.M. et al. (2020). Environmental Control Units for Inpatient Care at Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Centers: Heuristic Evaluation and Design Recommendations. In: Yamamoto, S., Mori, H. (eds) Human Interface and the Management of Information. Designing Information. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12184. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50020-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50020-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-50019-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50020-7
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)