Multiple sclerosis application design with medical expert evaluation

Abstract

This paper presents a high-fidelity prototype of a mobile application for patient self-management within the field of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Method. Development included mixed and high-fidelity prototypes which were based on the information needs inquired from the potential user groups and their reflection on publicly available applications. The aim was to design an application to suit Norwegian user groups. It is evident from the results that the application has four selected modules: Diary module, Physical activity module, Summary module, and a To-do list. Two medical experts were interviewed at two different times at the Haukeland University hospital in Bergen, Norway, to evaluate two design iterations. The semi-structured interview consisted of two parts; one with questions on which the experts could elaborate, and one with evaluation of the prototype msHealth using System Usability Scale (SUS). Results. The results have suggested that healthcare personnel would be interested in patient data from a mobile diary, and how a patient should plan a day if suffering from symptoms. These are the two most prominent functionalities. Conclusions. Feedback from medical staff using SUS was promising. Several suggestions were given, as how to personalise the prototype to encourage the user to plan desired activities and learn how to live with the disease. All these new functionalities are being implemented to reduce stress, and include the prototype application as a decision support during a patient–physician consultation.