[by Sotia Nicolaou]
MedGUIDE pays significant attention to the collection of feedback from all people involved in a case of dementia: older people with memory problems or mild/moderate dementia (primary group), informal caregivers and nurses (secondary group), and doctors and pharmacists (tertiary group). Each group provides their own perspective and needs for the MedGUIDE system; hence, the likelihood of adopting the system in their routine is increased. This is in line with the results of the research conducted by Castillo et al. (2013) who also highlighted the importance of receiving feedback from all involved people. By providing the opportunity to the different target groups to express their needs and requirements and thus to participate in the design of the product/service, significant differences in needs will be pointed out. This is a great benefit for the development of the system as it increases the acceptance rate and the final prototype will be more user friendly through the user-centered design model.
The main feedback received from the primary target group was the importance of having a system which is simple in usage, and the information provided should be also presented in a clear and simple way so as to be easy for the users to read. Moreover, they expressed their preference for having large icons as they are easier to read. The major concern expressed by the primary users was the doubt of their ability to use the system due to their relatively low level of IT competence, and remembering the steps they need to follow due to their memory challenges. The same doubts for the older people’s ability were also expressed by the secondary and tertiary users.
In their own feedback, informal caregivers highlighted the importance of close monitoring so as to increase their own feeling of safety and trust to the system, whereas nurses and the tertiary group expressed the need for a simple and time-efficient system which will provide clear and simple information since they have limited time to spend and they need the system to be accurate and time-efficient. In addition, secondary and tertiary user groups, unlikely primary users, expressed concern on privacy issues. Tertiary users also discussed the importance of the integration of MedGUIDE with the national system. Therefore, each group has their own needs and requirements which are important for the acceptability of the system.
Taking into consideration all feedback provided by the target groups, the MedGUIDE team has now developed a clickable mock up, in order to gain further feedback before developing the first prototype. During this phase, the process for the collection of feedback slightly differs since the users (of all target groups) will be able to navigate through the system at first, thus the researcher will be able to observe which parts are challenging for the users, and then the interview will follow in order to collect their verbal feedback and impressions.