Wild Intercepts: A Novel Approach to Usability Testing of a ‘Citizen Science’ Portal, Developed for Understanding the ‘Burdens of Pain’ Among Citizens

Abstract

Whether acute or chronic, pain can significantly impact a person’s biopsychosocial quality of life. To better understand the effects of pain on day-to-day life, i.e., the ‘burdens of pain’, our team of researchers and patient-partners developed an online portal using a ‘Citizen Science’ approach that collects information about living with pain from the public in British Columbia (BC). To test the initial version of the Citizen Science for Burdens of Pain (CS-BoP) portal, we needed to find participants as diverse as the population of BC. Including diverse and marginalized voices in research continues to be a challenge, so we set-up a booth at a busy mall in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC. And over a period of two days, we asked 30 mall visitors to test the portal in their spare time, followed by a short interview and survey. This usability study, called Wild Intercepts, was intended to help us gain an understanding of people’s first impressions and perceptions about the desirability and ease of use of the portal in a short timeframe. Wild Intercepts was not only successful in including diverse voices that represent the diversity of BC, but the busy and chaotic environment of the mall also helped us better understand these participants’ unique contexts, needs and motivations for sharing their experience with pain on a web portal in their busy day-to-day lives. This paper reflects upon our implementation and implications of the Wild Intercepts approach that may benefit similar research in human-computer-interaction, design and technology.