title: Touchscreen task efficiency and learnability in an electronic medical record at the point-of-care.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the relative efficiency of novices compared to a prediction of skilled use when performing tasks using the touchscreen interface of an EMR developed in Malawi. We observed novice users performing touchscreen tasks and recorded timestamp data from their performances. Using a predictive human performance modeling tool, the authors predicted the skilled task performance time for each task. Efficiency and rates of error were evaluated with respect to user interface design. Nineteen participants performed 31 EMR tasks seven times for a total of 4,123 observed performances. We analyzed twelve representative tasks leaving 1,596 performances featuring six user interface designs. Mean novice performance time was significantly slower than mean predicted skilled performance time (p<0.001). However, novices performed faster than the predicted skilled level in 208 (13%) of successful task performances. These findings suggest the user interface design supports a primary design goal of the EMR--to allow novice users to perform tasks efficiently and effectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
authors.forename: Zach Landis
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Gerald P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Monaco
authors.forename: Rebecca S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Crowley
mesh_terms: D016288:Computer Terminals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008295:Malawi; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014110:Touch; D014584:User-Computer Interface