Abstract
This column continues the report of a detailed, questionnaire-based, post-release feedback survey of 200 users of the AIDA educational diabetes simulator. AIDA is a free software program that permits the interactive simulation of insulin and glucose profiles for educational, demonstration, self-learning, and research purposes. Since its Internet launch in 1996 well over 700,000 visits have been logged to the AIDA Websites—including www.2aida.org—and over 200,000 program copies have been downloaded without charge. The main goals of the present study were: (1) to establish what people have thought about the AIDA software, (2) to assess the utility of the program, and (3) to ascertain how much people have actually used it. In Part 1 of this column (Diabetes Technol Ther 2006;8:419–432) an analysis was undertaken of the first 200 feedback forms that were returned by AIDA users. The questionnairebased survey methodology was found to be robust and reliable. The study established the feasibility of using a simple feedback form to survey a substantial number of diabetes software users. In addition, it yielded interesting data in terms of who are the main users of the AIDA program, and also provided technical (computer) information that aided the release of a freeware upgrade to the software. The present Diabetes Information Technology & Web- Watch column overviews qualitative feedback comments left by users as part of the questionnaire- based survey. In general, respondents seemed to find the software of educational value. The implications of these findings will be discussed.
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