What was already known on the topic: Problems in human-computer interaction design contribute to the often suboptimal support of clinical work by electronic health records. Cognitive engineering methods have been applied to evaluate and redesign existing clinical systems Scant literature exists on applying cognitive engineering methods to support the design process for a system itself. Existing studies have focused on information processing and managing when users interacted with patient documentation or records or during their clinical workflow.

What this study added to our knowledge: The study extended the application of cognitive task analysis to a scenario, which simulates clinicians’ activities during an actual patient encounter as closely as possible. Substantial difference exists between the information organization and navigation in current electronic dental records and clinicians’ ways of processing and navigating information. Supporting the participants’ ways of navigating through information may enhance access and navigation in electronic dental records, and possibly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of users’ clinical decision-making processes. Dentists utilize multiple information sources when examining and diagnosing a patient that calls for innovative visualizations to present clinically relevant information together and in context.