Table A3.
“Cura” app (versions 1.8.9 and 2.0.0): usability issues identified based on Nielsen’s heuristics.
| # | Heuristic Item | Evaluation Period | Usability Issue Description | Location | Rating | Redesign Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visibility of system status | First (2020) | None identified | |||
| Second (2021) | None identified | |||||
| 2 | Match between system and the real world | First (2020) | User may not comprehend the meaning of “instant consultation” vs. “specialized consultation” and “find a doctor” vs. “instant consultation” vs. “specialized consultation” in a tele-consultation setting. | Consultation initiation | 1 | Help the user decide and select the option that fits their needs. For example, users start with “instant consultation” and from there they can be referred to a specialist if needed. |
| Second (2021) | None identified | |||||
| 3 | User control and freedom | First (2020) | † No exit icon or skip from the instructions page when the user clicks the icon (i). The user must go through all the instructions. | Orientation | 2 | Provide a skip icon to end the help instructions. |
| Second (2021) | None identified | |||||
| 4 | Consistency and adherence to standards | First (2020) | The search for “find a doctor” is not clear if the user is searching for the “specialized consultation” or the “instant consultation”. | Consultation initiation | 3 | Create separate search lists based on the user’s choice. |
| On the technical support page, the license number of some staff indicates “000” or other numbers. This is unclear to the user if it is not applicable, or the license number is not updated. | Orientation | 3 | Avoid using “000” and clearly indicate if the license number does not apply to certain staff. | |||
| Second (2021) | There are some pages displaying “instant consultation” and others displaying “specialized consultation”. | Consultationinitiation | 2 | Standardize the terms or add a description under each term to indicate the difference in service. | ||
| 5 | Error prevention | First (2020) | “Short brief about your case” indicates between brackets as (optional) when in fact it is mandatory to proceed to session payment. | Consultation initiation | 3 | Remove the word “optional”. |
| Second (2021) | None identified | |||||
| 6 | Recognition rather than recall | First (2020) | † On the “search for doctor” screen” the user may not recall what each doctor specialty icon on the left panel represents and the user may need to click on each icon to read the labels presented on the right panel. | Consultation initiation | 2 | Help users select the doctor specialty based on symptoms or area of body in the main page instead of browsing all doctor specialties. |
| Second (2021) | There is no specific icon that represents “help”. Help videos are displayed with other information under “find doctor” tab. | Orientation | 3 | Add an icon representing “help” where users can easily recall. | ||
| 7 | Flexibility and efficiency of use | No accelerators or ability to tailor frequent actions based on inexperienced and experienced users were found. | ||||
| 8 | Esthetic and minimalist design | First (2020) | The main “search for doctor” screen displays too much information in one screen i.e., name of doctor, picture, title, specialty, and rating. | Consultation initiation | 1 | The name of specialty may be removed since it is indicated under the main screen heading. Rating can also be removed as it is shown when the user clicks on a specific doctor. |
| Second (2021) | There is a tab to “find a doctor” and there is also the same tab under “clinic”. “Find doctor” tab includes several irrelevant information |
Consultation initiation Consultation initiation |
3 4 |
Remove the additional tab which is under the clinic. Only include information relevant to “find doctor” |
||
| 9 | Recognition diagnosis, and recovery from errors | First (2020) | None identified | |||
| Second (2021) | None identified | |||||
| 10 | Help and documentation | First (2020) | The location of where the support and help are displayed in the app (part of the doctor list) may confuse the user. † The icon (i) representing help may be confused with general information about the app. |
Orientation Orientation |
1 2 |
It should be under a separate help icon. Change the icon (i) to “help” |
| Second (2021) | Difficult to retrieve the help page when a consultation with the physician is ongoing. | During consultation | 4 | Add a clear separate page with a help icon, which can be accessible. | ||
| Total Issues identified from the two evaluations: 14 | ||||||
† The issue was resolved—no longer identified in our second evaluation.