VANESSA SANCHEZ
STUDENT HAI RESEARCHER @ UT AUSTIN
Measuring trust in personal health records game-changer
UX RESEARCH
usability testing
heuristics
OBJECTIVE
Do users trust blockchain technology when it's used to manage personal health information?
Problem
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin were developing an app to enable patients to manage their personal health records (PHRs) and securely share that information with healthcare providers via blockchain technology. This addressed the issues of siloed records, interoperability, information security, and manual processes. However, they needed to know how the app would perform with users before finalizing the design for development.
Research Questions
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Do the designs successfully explain how the app protects a user's information?
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Do the designs clearly convey what blockchain is?
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Can users navigate the app and know how to use key features?
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Would users want to use this app?
WORK CONTEXT
UX researcher on team of 4, and lead presentation designer
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Team: 1 UX generalist (me), 3 other UX graduate students
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What I Did: Conducted heuristic evaluations, competitive research, and designed research study (participant quotas and screener surveys; Created and facilitated usability testing sessions, including script development and remote testing​; Administered SUS questionnaires, managed usability note-taking, and performed thematic analysis; Led the design of readout presentation
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Tools: Figma, FigJam, Zoom, Google Docs, Google Sheets
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Skills: UX research, survey design, usability testing, qualitative analysis, remote interviews, communication of findings, presentation design
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Timeline: Sept - Dec 2021
Excerpts from the usability report. Full report is available upon request.
INSIGHTS
Most participants liked the idea of the app, but 5 out of 12 participants had concerns about security and privacy
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Frequency of clinic visits: 9/12 participants visit more than 1 clinic per year.
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Technical knowledge: Most are average or above average users of mobile applications (use daily), but only 1/3 had knowledge about blockchain.
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User-approved concept: Most participants understood the concept of the application from the screens and liked the idea of storing medical information and not having to fill out paperwork unnecessarily.
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Data privacy and security: 5 out of 12 participants had concerns about security and privacy, such as sharing medical information and keeping their data safe in the app.
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Safe/desired feature: 3 participants were concerned with sharing their driver's license information through the app but are fine with sharing insurance information.
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Transparency: Participants would like clarity on what happens to the information and what it is used for.
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Tasks in order of average difficulty rating:
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(3.58 / 5) Disconnect from a clinic
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(3.92 / 5) Send requested info for verification
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(4.08 / 5) Update driver's license
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(4.17 / 5) Add a clinic
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(4.42 / 5) Consent to research study
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(4.75 / 5) Register
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(4.9 / 5) Switching users
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SUMMARY OF TOP RECOMMENDATIONS
Improve security visibility, simplify info sharing, streamline document updates, and ensure consistent & intuitive navigation
1. Reassure users that their information is private and secure, especially when sharing it with clinics.
You can add security tags, proof of verifiable credentials (VCs), icons indicating security at key moments, informative messaging, and tool tips where helpful.
2. Help users understand that they are able to selectively share individual chunks of their information.
If you use the word "attributes" more consistently and visibly in the UI, the users may learn what it means. Or you can try another term, such as "data points" or "info fields". Perhaps label sections with the term so it's clear what the term refers to.
3. Simplify method of updating driver's license and other documents while assuring information security.
Provide users with an option to autofill fields on the DL by scanning. Additionally, provide users with an accessible and detailed FAQ explaining topics such as the security and privacy blockchain offers.
4. Make the QR scanner easier to identify and scan process more intuitive.
Use a camera icon, QR icon, or use the word "scan" in the UI. Consider changing the confirmation phrase from "Requested" to "Connection request sent. Waiting for confirmation."
5. Make disconnecting more intuitive, the clinic card look more clickable and provide users with confirmation.
Instead of having 3 dot icon up top, allow users to click the card of the clinic itself to view information about the clinic or to disconnect from it.
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6. Use standard and consistent UI patterns for navigation so that finding things can be more intuitive.
Keep a consistent approach to the header and place tabs below instead of in place of the header. Add in dropdown icon for state (Texas) when filling out profile. Improve clarity on top and bottom navigation tabs.
OUTCOME
R&D researchers leveraged recommendations and published an academic paper
Bautista, J. R., Harrell, D. T., Hanson, L., de Oliveira, E., Abdul-Moheeth, M., Meyer, E. T., & Khurshid, A. (2023). MediLinker: a blockchain-based decentralized health information management platform for patient-centric healthcare. Frontiers in Big Data, 6, 1146023.
METHODS
Evaluative study to assess Figma prototype
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Study design:
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​12 remotely moderated sessions via Zoom, 1x1.
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Tasks were untimed and we used think-aloud protocol.
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Each session included 1 notetaker and 1 moderator.
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Recorded sessions with the participant's consent to facilitate note-taking and analysis.
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Recruitment: Designed participant quota, 21-question screener and recruitment script.
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Task analysis: 5 baseline questions to build rapport followed by seven tasks to asses key user flows in the clickable prototype:
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Register
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Add a clinic
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Send requested info for verification
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Disconnect from a clinic
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Update driver's license
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Consent to research study
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Switch users
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Likert scale evaluations: After each task, participants were asked 7 follow-up questions about their experience.
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SUS questionnaire: At the end of each session, participants were asked 10 system usability scale (SUS) questions.
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​Thematic analysis and report.
REFLECTION
Need for clear communication, broader participant diversity, and transparency about limitations
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Lead with consolidated recommendations
Begin reports with a summary of action items so stakeholders can quickly grasp the next steps.​
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Expand recruitment methods
For future studies, broaden the recruitment methods to include a more diverse participant pool, especially people outside researchers' personal networks.
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Diversify demographics and preempt bias​
Make an extra effort to include participants from a wider range of age groups, backgrounds, and abilities, ensuring a more representative sample. Recruit participants less connected to researchers to reduce biases
