A Holistic Human Factors Evaluation Framework for the Design of Consumer Health Informatics Interventions

Abstract

Health-related activities frequently occur outside of formal healthcare institutions, often in consumers' – “laypeople's” – homes. Within and near their homes, laypeople may use devices to self-monitor and self-manage wellness activities and chronic illnesses. They may keep health-related information records, using information technology applications to locate and retrieve information and communicate with formal and informal caregivers. Laypeople's engagement with the healthcare system and care outcomes rest on the quality of their interactions with, and use of, these devices and applications – jointly named consumer health informatics (CHI) interventions. Yet, engineering design and human factors evaluation methods are often omitted from the CHI intervention development process. This article presents a holistic human factors evaluation framework, and demonstrates how physical, cognitive and macroergonomic human factors perspectives can each improve the design and use of CHI interventions.