A usability study of a mHealth system for diabetes self-management based on framework analysis and usability problem taxonomy methods

Abstract

Self-management of diabetes through the use of mobile and software systems is a reality today. Among other aspects, usability of these systems determines their continued use by patients, closely related to the concepts of engagement, empowerment and treatment adherence. In this work, we present a detailed usability study of a mHealth system for diabetes self-management by means of an evaluation process, which includes the acquisition of usability data through a hybrid approach and a heuristic evaluation. In addition, data analysis was performed by using framework analysis and usability problem taxonomy. As a result, a set of consolidated usability problems categorized by severity index, source, and other factors is presented and studied, also taking into account the impact of these types of issues from the diabetic patients perspective.