Problem
A public health agency maintains a system for reporting health and quality problems with products. They use the information reported in this tool to investigate problems with a product, but they know what is being reported is just the tip of the iceberg. Since these problems vary widely, the data collection forms have to be comprehensive. In practice, users end up with long forms asking them for information they might not have or that might not apply to their case.
Understandably, the most frequent users of the tool were professionals who worked in public health or first response. The agency also wanted to know more about user audiences who weren’t using the tool as much: people who use those products (or their loved ones) and healthcare professionals who are treating people with injuries or other health problems related to a faulty or dangerous product.
A Hybrid Approach
The goals of this project were twofold:
Understand more about the people who aren’t using this tool yet.
Look for ways to improve the user experience so that fewer reports are abandoned or submitted incomplete.
To meet both of these goals with one research effort, we needed both audience research methods and user experience research methods.
I used a complementary approach combing the strengths of individual and small group discussions (4-5 participants). Interviews focused on usability testing with some exploration of experiences and motivations. In focus groups, the majority of the time was spent on experiences, motivations, and challenges with reporting issues, with some feedback from a self-guided exploration of the reporting tool, done prior to the focus groups.
We recruited 18 individuals from each of three audiences: people who used the products, people who were involved with medical care decisions for someone who uses those products, and healthcare professionals who treat patients who use those products.
Lessons Learned
A full redesign of this tool was outside the scope of this project, but we identified places to start:
People are motivated to report problems, especially serious ones, but tell them what information they will need from the start.
Create searchable tools for detailed product information, especially for people reporting on someone else’s behalf.
People are willing to go the distance on long forms, especially for serious issues, as long as they have a sense of progress.
Let people know what can be reported anonymously and when they might want to share personal information.