JMIR Research Protocols (Jan 2015)

Engaging Community Stakeholders to Evaluate the Design, Usability, and Acceptability of a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Social Media Resource Center

  • Stellefson, Michael,
  • Chaney, Beth,
  • Chaney, Don,
  • Paige, Samantha,
  • Payne-Purvis, Caroline,
  • Tennant, Bethany,
  • Walsh-Childers, Kim,
  • Sriram, PS,
  • Alber, Julia

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.3959
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 1
p. e17

Abstract

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BackgroundPatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often report inadequate access to comprehensive patient education resources. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to incorporate community-engagement principles within a mixed-method research design to evaluate the usability and acceptability of a self-tailored social media resource center for medically underserved patients with COPD. MethodsA multiphase sequential design (qual → QUANT → quant + QUAL) was incorporated into the current study, whereby a small-scale qualitative (qual) study informed the design of a social media website prototype that was tested with patients during a computer-based usability study (QUANT). To identify usability violations and determine whether or not patients found the website prototype acceptable for use, each patient was asked to complete an 18-item website usability and acceptability questionnaire, as well as a retrospective, in-depth, semistructured interview (quant + QUAL). ResultsThe majority of medically underserved patients with COPD (n=8, mean 56 years, SD 7) found the social media website prototype to be easy to navigate and relevant to their self-management information needs. Mean responses on the 18-item website usability and acceptability questionnaire were very high on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) (mean 4.72, SD 0.33). However, the majority of patients identified several usability violations related to the prototype’s information design, interactive capabilities, and navigational structure. Specifically, 6 out of 8 (75%) patients struggled to create a log-in account to access the prototype, and 7 out of 8 patients (88%) experienced difficulty posting and replying to comments on an interactive discussion forum. ConclusionsPatient perceptions of most social media website prototype features (eg, clickable picture-based screenshots of videos, comment tools) were largely positive. Mixed-method stakeholder feedback was used to make design recommendations, categorize usability violations, and prioritize potential solutions for improving the usability of a social media resource center for COPD patient education.