Development and usability testing of a Web-based decision aid for families of patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation.

BACKGROUND: Web-based decision aids are increasingly important in medical research and clinical care. However, few have been studied in an intensive care unit setting. The objectives of this study were to develop a Web-based decision aid for family members of patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation and to evaluate its usability and acceptability. METHODS: Using an iterative process involving 48 critical illness survivors, family surrogate decision makers, and intensivists, we developed a Web-based decision aid addressing goals of care preferences for surrogate decision makers of patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation that could be either administered by study staff or completed independently by family members (Development Phase). After piloting the decision aid among 13 surrogate decision makers and seven intensivists, we assessed the decision aid's usability in the Evaluation Phase among a cohort of 30 surrogate decision makers using the Systems Usability Scale (SUS). Acceptability was assessed using measures of satisfaction and preference for electronic Collaborative Decision Support (eCODES) versus the original printed decision aid. RESULTS: The final decision aid, termed 'electronic Collaborative Decision Support', provides a framework for shared decision making, elicits relevant values and preferences, incorporates clinical data to personalize prognostic estimates generated from the ProVent prediction model, generates a printable document summarizing the user's interaction with the decision aid, and can digitally archive each user session. Usability was excellent (mean SUS, 80 ± 10) overall, but lower among those 56 years and older (73 ± 7) versus those who were younger (84 ± 9); p = 0.03. A total of 93% of users reported a preference for electronic versus printed versions. CONCLUSIONS: The Web-based decision aid for ICU surrogate decision makers can facilitate highly individualized information sharing with excellent usability and acceptability. Decision aids that employ an electronic format such as eCODES represent a strategy that could enhance patient-clinician collaboration and decision making quality in intensive care.

Chappell Family Gallery Exhibit Usability Test - June 2016

Emily Daly and Thomas Crichlow conducted a usability test of the Duke University Chapel exhibit displayed in the Chappell Family Gallery on May 20, 2016. The test was conducted to learn how people interact with the exhibit. The test consisted of two general questions, three tasks, and brief followup questions; each test took approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Online Journal Titles Usability Test - June 2016

Emily Daly and Gordon Chadwick conducted a think-aloud usability study on June 20, 2016 in the Perkins Library at Duke University. The study tested users’ perceptions of a new search results page for online journal titles.

Research databases page usability test - August 2016

During the summer of 2016, Duke University Libraries staff began a project to update the way that research databases are displayed on the library website. The new research databases page is a customized version of the default A-Z list that Springshare provides for its LibGuides content management system. Duke Libraries staff made adjustments to the content and interface of the page. In order to see how Duke users navigated the new interface, usability testing was conducted on August 9th, 2016.

Duke Images LibGuide usability test - August 2016

Thomas Crichlow and Gordon Chadwick conducted a think-aloud usability study on August 1, 2016 in the Perkins Library at Duke University. The study tested users’ perceptions of a new LibGuides driven research guide for scholarly images by asking them to complete information seeking tasks and provide feedback.

WriteSim TCExam--an open source text simulation environment for training novice researchers in scientific writing.

BACKGROUND: The ability to write clearly and effectively is of central importance to the scientific enterprise. Encouraged by the success of simulation environments in other biomedical sciences, we developed WriteSim TCExam, an open-source, Web-based, textual simulation environment for teaching effective writing techniques to novice researchers. We shortlisted and modified an existing open source application - TCExam to serve as a textual simulation environment. After testing usability internally in our team, we conducted formal field usability studies with novice researchers. These were followed by formal surveys with researchers fitting the role of administrators and users (novice researchers) RESULTS: The development process was guided by feedback from usability tests within our research team. Online surveys and formal studies, involving members of the Research on Research group and selected novice researchers, show that the application is user-friendly. Additionally it has been used to train 25 novice researchers in scientific writing to date and has generated encouraging results. CONCLUSION: WriteSim TCExam is the first Web-based, open-source textual simulation environment designed to complement traditional scientific writing instruction. While initial reviews by students and educators have been positive, a formal study is needed to measure its benefits in comparison to standard instructional methods.