User-centered interface design for disabled and elderly people: First experiences with designing a patient communication system (PACOSY)

Abstract

At the clinical department of Oncology at the Medical University Hospital in Graz, a pilot system for an interactive patient communications system (PACOSY) was examined. The patients are able to retrieve and enter information interactively via a touch screen panel PC connected to the Hospital Intranet. The Interface is designed for patients with little or no computer experience (i.e. people with a low computer literacy or patients with visual impairment and/or restricted motoric ability). This paper reports on the selection of a suitable hardware and on first experiences during the User Centered Design (UCD) and in particular gives insights into problems discovered during experiments with elderly people.