Development of a Utility-based frame work for determining software Product Usability in Hopital Information System.
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Date
2013
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
This study analysed the problem of software product usability in Hospital Information Systems (HIS); designed data acquisition system and developed a utility-based framework for determining software product usability. This was with a view to determining the functionality of software product within its context of use.
The research employed a combination of quantitative, qualitative and mathematical modelling approaches. The problem of HIS usability was assessed through participatory observations, purposive interview and by administering questionnaires to selected hospitals of the case study comprising 41 Medical Record Officers, 23 Nurses, 12 Doctors, 10 Laboratory Technologists, 8 System Administrators, 7 Pharmacists and 6 Management personnel. The system was designed using Unified Modelling Language (UML), and a mathematical model derived from utility function was implemented using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. The data captured was stored in a relational database using a variant of a Structured Query Language called MySQL. The performance of the system was evaluated by testing the functional design of an existing software product using accuracy and the time required to perform specific tasks. The output was also validated with the survey data using Log Relative Error (LRE).
The result showed that the time taken in task performance was dependent on users’ background knowledge in operating software product. The average time spent by 9% of System Administrators in accomplishing a specific task was 14 seconds; whilst 42% of Medical Record Officers used 16.3 seconds; 17% of the nurses, 20 seconds, 6% of the Pharmacist 25 seconds, 13% of the Doctors 47.5 seconds. Furthermore, the result showed that 42% of all the users found the patient registration module usable without modification; while 75% had difficulty in using the Statistics module in the package. The validation of the model’s result output with the survey data showed that the LRE for number of steps between actual result of 2 steps and the modelled result of 2.25 steps obtained was 0.90. The LRE for response time between the actual result of 20 seconds and the modelled result of 21 seconds obtained was 1.30.
The study concluded that the failure of software product usability in HIS can be resolved by using utility-based framework to analyse the different modules familiar to the users in achieving their specific goals and further improved by implementing the feedback system in the framework. Thedeveloped model proved useful for data requirement analysis methods in Information System.
Description
xiv,243 Pages
Keywords
Software Product, Hospital Information System, Utility based frame work, Hypertext Preprocessor, Log Relative Error
Citation
Ikono,R.D(2013).Development of a Utility-based frame work for determining software Product Usability in hopital information system.Obafemi Awolowo University..