Design of Pulsappen: A mobile healthcare application to make administrative work more efficient for caregivers

Abstract

Staff in hospital wards experience a number of issues related to administrative tasks. These problems include needing to document the same information in multiple systems, and difficulties in shift handovers between staff members. The existing product Pulstavlan, developed by Stretch Care AB, aims to solve these issues. However, as the product is stationary, it does not enable staff to bring the information it contains with them when providing bedside care to patients. This master's thesis describes a user-centered design process, in which a digital and interactive prototype of a mobile product compatible with Pulstavlan was designed. The aim of the product is to ease the administrative work load on caregivers, and to lay the ground for future design solutions within the same area.

The design was based on a user study of hospital staff, including 15 interviews with a total of 18 users, and six observations of Pulstavlan in use. The user study resulted in a number of expressed needs of the hospital staff, and goals that the mobile product design needed to fulfill to meet the needs. These needs and goals were used to formulate twelve necessary functions of the application design.

Four iterations of prototyping were done; two iterations of an analogue prototype and two iterations of a digital prototype. All iterations were evaluated by letting users complete test scenarios similar to tasks performed on hospital wards, while applying a think-aloud protocol. The final prototype was considered to have good usability by all test persons, who worked in healthcare and had experience of using Pulstavlan. This was indicated by their ability to successfully complete a majority of test scenarios and by the positive feedback given. It was also indicated by the System Usability Scale assessment 'good usability'.

To achieve a design fully optimised for caregivers, additional iterations can be made to test the design. A greater number of the desirable functions expressed in the user interviews can also be implemented to improve the final prototype further. Finally, the number of people testing the prototypes could be increased.

Abstract (Swedish)

Personal på sjukhusavdelningar upplever ett antal problem kopplade till administrativa uppgifter. Bland dessa problem ingår att behöva dokumentera samma information i flera system, samt svårigheter vid överlämningar mellan skift. Den nuvarande produkten Pulstavlan, utvecklad av Stretch Care AB, har som mål att lösa dessa problem. Pulstavlan är dock stationär och möjliggör därför inte för vårdpersonal att ta med informationen tavlan innehåller in till patienter. Detta examensarbete beskriver en användarcentrerad designprocess, där en digital prototyp av en mobil produkt som är kompatibel med Pulstavlan designas. Målet med den mobila produkten är att underlätta det administrativa arbetet för vårdpersonal, samt att lägga grunden för framtida designlösningar inom detta område.

Designen baserades på en användarstudie av sjukhuspersonal, innehållande 15 intervjuer med totalt 18 användare, samt sex obsevationer av Pulstavlan vid användning. Användarstudien resulterade i ett antal uttryckta behov, samt mål som den mobila designen behövde uppnå för att tillgodose de uttrycka behoven. Dessa behov och mål användes för att formulera tolv nödvändiga funktioner i applikationens design.

Fyra iterationer av prototypdesign gjordes; två iterationer av en analog prototyp och två iterationer av en digital prototyp. Alla iterationer utvärderas genom att låta användare utföra testscenarios lika uppgifter som görs på sjukhusavdelningar. Under tiden fick användarna berätta hur de tänkte. Den slutgiltiga prototypen ansågs ha bra användbarhet av alla testpersoner som arbetade i sjukvården samt hade erfarenhet av att använda Pulstavlan. Detta indikerades av att de lyckades utföra de givna scenarion samt av den positiva feedbacken som gavs. Det indikerades också av betyget på skalan System Usability Scale 'bra användbarhet'.

För att få en design som är helt optimerad för vårdgivare kan fler iterationer utföras för att testa designen. Ett större antal önskvärda funktioner som uttrycktes under användarintervjuerna kan också implementeras för att förbättra designen. Slutligen kan antalet testpersoner ökas i kommande iterationer.

Popular Abstract

As the administrative workload for hospital staff increases, the need for a solution that eases their work is becoming more and more apparent. To find such a solution, the use of a mobile application compatible with the existing product Pulstavlan, has been explored with promising results.

Pulsappen is the resulting application design that aims at aiding hospital ward staff in their administrative workload. Pulsappen is compatible with the existing product, Pulstavlan. Pulstavlan is a digital product developed by the company Stretch Care AB and displays patient information to hospital staff members on a large board. Although the aim of Pulstavlan was to ease the administrative workload of caregivers, it does not eliminate the need to document the same patient information in multiple systems. Therefore, caregivers need to carry around a physical paper with patient information to enable constant access to the data without having to return to the location of Pulstavlan. The compatibility with Pulstavlan eliminates the need for such physical papers. The mobile application gives the staff an overview of all admitted patients with regard to patient flow in and out of the ward. It also eases the handover between staff members between shifts, as the patient information is always updated. Moreover, the mobile application can be used to distribute staffing resources on the ward based on the current workload of different staff teams.

By interviewing 18 staff members on hospital wards in Skåne, the needs of caregivers were established and used as the base for the prototype design of Pulsappen. The prototyping of the application was done in four iterations, two iterations of designing a more simple, physical prototype, and two iterations of designing a digital and interactive one. All prototypes were evaluated by letting users complete tasks typical to hospital wards using the mobile application design while thinking aloud.

The design was considered easy to use by hospital staff members during the testing and indicated through the successful completion of the given tasks. This was also suggested by their anonymous rating of 82.5 out of 100 with regard to the design's usability. To achieve a design fully optimised for caregivers in the future, a wider user group can be used to collect data as well as for the testing of the prototypes. A greater number of desirable functions that were expressed in the user interviews can also be implemented to improve the final prototype further. However, the promising results suggest that Pulsappen is the next step toward a lighter workload on hospital staff.

• author: Lilljebjörn Rusk, Molly and Ejlertsson, Fanny
• supervisor: Christofer Rydenfält
• organization: Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology
• course: MAMM01 20201
• year: 2020
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: Usability, mobile application, healthcare, eHealth, UX
• language: English
• id: 9014131
• date added to LUP: 2020-06-11 14:13:18
• date last changed: 2020-06-11 14:13:18