Usability Lessons for COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests

Abstract

As the need for increased and widespread COVID-19 diagnostic testing has arisen, testing has also become decentralized: where testing was originally primarily conducted in clinic or laboratory settings, testing now frequently occurs at community testing sites, pharmacies, workplaces, schools, and in the home. With this paradigm shift comes new usability barriers as companies rapidly adapt laboratory- and point-of-care-based tests for other use cases. This paper outlines the agile methods used to evaluate the usability of diagnostic tests in various phases of the design cycle and under limited access and time constraints, provides an overview of the most commons usability issues found, and lists practical design principles for practice.