GOAL: Evaluate search across Medscape site
- Global site search
- Drugs & diseases search
- Filters
Medscape: Reference website for medical professionals
Primary Audience: Physicians
Other Audiences: Nurses, Pharmacists,
Physician Assistants, etc.
Team C: Usability Theory & Design Students with diverse & complimentary backgrounds
All of the members of Team C participated across the usability study — contributing to the pre and post test surveys, conducting the interviews with participants, taking part in weekly group meetings, and collaborating to analyze data and compile a report for the client.
Pre-Test Process:
Establish Participant Profile
- Physician, registered nurse, pharmacist, or other health professional
- Currently working in the United States
User Screening Questionnaire
- Does the potential participant fit the participant profile
- Is the potential participant available to participate
Pre-Test Questionnaire
- More details about participants’ specific experience with Medscape
- More details about participants’ specific experience in healthcare
Scenario & Task 1:
You have a patient with a complex drug regimen, and you want to review potential drug interactions to ensure their safety. Search for potential interactions between “Warfarin” and “Aspirin.”
Scenario & Task 2:
You are attending a medical conference next week and want to prepare by reviewing the latest news or research on a specific topic. Find recent articles or studies on “Immunotherapy in
Cancer Treatment.”
Scenario & Task 3:
You are interested in finding a relevant CME activity for gaining credits, and you need to ensure that you are up to date with the most recent information in your field in the form of classes,
articles, and other helpful content. Starting at the Medscape.com homepage, find a related CME activity that would help you meet the yearly credit requirements.
Post-Test Questions:
Evaluated perceived level of difficulty
Post-Task Survey:
Evaluated final thoughts & opinions
Participants: 10 Total
7 Physicians
2 Nurses
1 Pharmacist
5 Desktop
5 Mobile
88.8% of our participants had previous experience with Medscape in some capacity, including 44.4% of our participants who used it on a weekly basis. 50% of our participants used Medscape on their Desktop when they did access it.
5 of our participants answered that they used Medscape to review clinical guidelines, 5 also noted that they used it to review clinical guidelines, and 4 noted that they used it to check drug interactions.
Recommendation 3: Include more intuitive language and signals on the drug interaction checker page
Participants noted that they experienced some confusion while using the Drug Interaction Checker, specifically that they were unsure at what point to enter a second drug in the checker and how to indicate that they had finished with their search. Because we didn’t want to alter the design of the page too much, we decided to suggest adding a plus sign in the box to indicate where to add an additional drug.
Recommendation 3: Include more intuitive language and signals on the drug interaction checker page
Participants noted that they experienced some confusion while using the Drug Interaction Checker, specifically that they were unsure at what point to enter a second drug in the checker and how to indicate that they had finished with their search. Because we didn’t want to alter the design of the page too much, we decided to suggest adding a plus sign in the box to indicate where to add an additional drug.
Recommendation 3: Include more intuitive language and signals on the drug interaction checker page
Participants noted that they experienced some confusion while using the Drug Interaction Checker, specifically that they were unsure at what point to enter a second drug in the checker and how to indicate that they had finished with their search. Because we didn’t want to alter the design of the page too much, we decided to suggest adding a plus sign in the box to indicate where to add an additional drug.
Conclusion
Group C met with members of Medscape to present final results
- Medscape provided feedback that they were in agreement with the suggestions from Group C
- Medscape plans to implement changes to their search in the next year, and is hoping to use data from this usability study
- If the study were to continue, researchers could explore other areas of search on the Medscape site or could further test these suggestions with users of the Medscape site, both options that Team C discussed with Medscape during their final meeting