An important challenge in the development of computer-based health care environments is the design of effective user interfaces. User interface should be designed with consideration of the information requirements, cognitive capabilities, and limitations of the end users. The goal of the AMIA-UTHealth 10x10 program is to provide a detailed overview of user interface design for health information systems, medical devices, consumer health web sites, and other healthcare related systems.
Health care professionals will have the opportunity to learn the fundamental principles of human-computer interaction and human factors and learn how to apply them to real world problems. The focus is on learning why and how user-friendly interfaces can greatly improve work productivity and enhance the quality of health care without radically changing the underlying technology.
Course Logistics
The course is offered in two parts:
- An 11-unit Web-based component starting August 6, 2018. Each web-based unit is composed of narrated presentations, assigned readings, online discussions, quizzes and course projects, etc.
- An intensive half-day optional in-person session held in conjunction with the AMIA Annual Symposium in San Francisco, CA in November 2018. The Symposium's dates are November 3-7, 2018. The goal of the face-to-face session is to meet the instructor as well as other students in person, to go over course materials and other learning issues. Students will also have the opportunity to communicate their work to an audience of peers and faculty.
The registration deadline for the course is August 6, 2018. We will accept enrollees after that date on a space-available basis.
The course is taught in a completely asynchronous manner, i.e., there are no scheduled classes. Each unit contains the following elements:
- Unit Overview – This section contains a brief introduction to the unit, learning objectives covered in the unit, reading assignments, and learning tasks students need to complete.
- Narrated presentation(s) – The key materials are delivered via the Internet using streaming video. Students can listen to the narrated lecture and view the corresponding PowerPoint slides.
- PowerPoint Slides (in PDF format) – PowerPoint slides are provided for the student to download
- Weekly quiz – Each unit is accompanied by a 10-question self-assessment that aims to have the student apply the knowledge from the unit.
- Weekly assignment - Each unit has an assignment that helps students apply the theories to practical EHR problems.
Students are responsible for reading all the materials and finishing the corresponding weekly quiz. There are two texts that will be required for the course, registrants are encouraged to purchase if possible. These texts are:
- Shneiderman & Plaisant. (2009) Designing the user interface: Strategies for effective human-computer interaction (5th Ed.) New York: Addison-Wesley
- Jakob Nielsen. (1993) Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN-10: 0125184069
These texts will be used during the 10x10 course and they also are great resources for use after the course has been completed. All other readings are made freely available from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
The online portion of this course runs from August through October 2018.
Curriculum and Dates
The following table outlines the Unit titles, learning objectives, and posted dates of the UTHealth 10x10 course:
Course Content | Learning Objectives | Demonstrations | Date Posted |
Unit 0: Introduction: Health Information Technology and Patient Safety |
|
August 6 | |
Unit 1: Interface Design: Theoretical background |
|
Theoretical aspects incorporated in design of CPOE with CDSS |
August 13 |
Unit 2: An Interface Design Project |
|
Design and evaluation of a CPOE system with CDSS |
August 20 |
Unit 3: TURF - Theoretical Foundation |
|
Designing EHR for Emergency Room | August 27 |
Unit 4: User analysis and Contextual inquiry |
|
Contextual inquiry for CPOE system | September 3 |
Unit 5: Functional analysis and Task analysis |
|
Task and functional analysis of CPOE interface |
September 10 |
Unit 6: Graphic Design Basics and Representational analysis |
|
Representational analysis of Patient Dashboard |
September 17 |
Unit 7: Usability Evaluation and User Experience |
|
Heuristic Evaluation of e-prescribing interface |
September 24 |
Unit 8: Interface design models and analytics |
|
User testing of e-prescribing interface |
October 1 |
Unit 9: Design for devices |
|
Design of mobile health app- design cycle and evaluation cycle |
October 8 |
Unit 10: Design for Medical Errors |
|
Medical errors in medical devices |
October 15 |
Course Competencies
Upon successfully finishing the course, the student will attain the following core competencies in the field of health interface design:
- Professional Perspective. Acquire professional perspective on human-centered design of health interfaces. Understand and analyze the history and values of the user interface design discipline and its relationship to healthcare fields while demonstrating an ability to read, interpret, and critique the core literature.
- Theories, Principles, and Methods. Master the fundamental theories, principles and methods in health interface design.
- Problem Identification. Use the methods to identify usability problems of existing products, communicate the findings to developers, designers, decision makers, and make appropriate recommendations.
- Problem Solving. Use the methods to understand the space of possible solutions and generate designs that capture essential aspects of the solutions.