Heuristic-based user interface evaluation of the mobile centralized doctor appointment system. A case study
| Pages | 81-94 |
| Published date | 04 February 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-06-2018-0114 |
| Date | 04 February 2019 |
| Author | Yavuz Inal |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Heuristic-based user interface
evaluation of the mobile
centralized doctor
appointment system
A case study
Yavuz Inal
Department of Information Science and Media Studies,
University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to evaluatethe interface of the mobile Centralized Doctor AppointmentSystem
(CDAS), the largest mobile e-government health application developed in Turkey to allow citizens to make
medicalappointments at public hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach –A total of 40 information systems engineerstook part in the study.
The evaluationprocess was mainly based on Nielsen’s heuristics. The data obtainedin the evaluation process
were enrichedusing system usability scale to conduct a more detailedanalysis.
Findings –Based on the findings, problems related to the usability of the evaluated mobile health
application were identified. The most violated heuristic items were found to be “error prevention”and
“user control and freedom”, whereas the least violated heuristic item was “consistency and standards”.
The participants generally categorized the usability problems they identified as “minor”or “major”
according to their severity.
Originality/value –As a developing country, Turkey has made considerable investment in mobile
e-governmentapplications in recent years. It is equally important that mobilee-government services provided
by public institutionshave features that make these applicationseffective, efficient and satisfying for citizens.
Therefore, the usability of mobile health applications in government services needs to be researched to
improve theireffectiveness and guide authorities, practitionersand designers.
Keywords Information systems, Digital information, Usability engineering, Mobile technologies,
Heuristics usability evaluation, Mobile health information systems, Perceived usability
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
Considered as one of the most important technologies of today, mobile technologies have
become an active part of everyday life in many areas, frompayment systems to e-commerce
and from e-government to all types of informationsystems (El-Kiki and Lawrence, 2007). In
recent years, as a result of the rising trend in using mobile technologies, many public and
private sector organizations have started to develop mobile applications of their websites
(Al-Khalifa, 2011). Furthermore, most governments now prefer the use of mobile
technologies in e-governmentprocesses to interact with their citizens in a more effective and
efficient way, as well as to provide better quality information and services (Abdelghaffar
and Magdy, 2012;Hung et al.,2013).
Mobile government means the delivery of information and services provided by public
institutions to citizens via mobiledevices (Alrazooqi and de Silva, 2010). It is also used as an
Doctor
appointment
system
81
Received9 June 2018
Revised9 October 2018
6 December2018
Accepted15 December 2018
TheElectronic Library
Vol.37 No. 1, 2019
pp. 81-94
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-06-2018-0114
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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