University of Twente Student Theses
Breathless Battles : The Optimization of an eHealth Application for Support in Self-Management for COPD patients with Complex Chronic Conditions through Human-Centered Design
Peut, A.M. van de (2023) Breathless Battles : The Optimization of an eHealth Application for Support in Self-Management for COPD patients with Complex Chronic Conditions through Human-Centered Design.
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| Abstract: | COPD is a progressive lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe. There is no cure for COPD, but it is possible to manage the symptoms and slow the progression of the disease. Self-management of the disease and symptoms is an essential part of treatment. COPD patients often have difficulty understanding and managing their disease. The objective of this thesis was to optimize a self-management tool for COPD patients called Healthentia by improving its intuitiveness and accessibility and by doing so promoting the aspects of engagement, usability and a positive user experience. This was done by Human Centered Design (HCD) principles. First, the context of use was defined in a usability report. Second, this usability report was used for the ideation phase. New concepts and ideas for Healthentia were created and evaluated here, which led to the final proposed prototype. At last, this prototype was evaluated through a usability test with COPD patients. Four main findings emerged. Firstly, is that the multifaceted nature of user satisfaction and engagement was highlighted. Notably, the completion time did not seem to influence user satisfaction and engagement, but rather the COPD patients’ confidence and ease of navigation in the Healthentia prototype. Secondly, is that a clear distinction was found between the needs of inexperienced and experienced COPD patients. Experienced patients acknowledge the potential value of the Healthentia prototype for inexperienced COPD patients. However, this still needs to be validated with inexperienced COPD patients and unfortunately, the optimized prototype’s precise utility for experienced COPD patients remains unclear. Thirdly, using a well-established design system as a building block for the optimization of a Health tool doesn’t guarantee optimal usability for every target group. Especially for elderly target groups, which have their unique needs for digital tools. Lastly, it was shown how HCD could be optimized for COPD patients and how this can be used in future studies with this target group. To conclude, this thesis used a holistic approach to optimize the self-management tool Healthentia for COPD patients. The insights gained from this research contribute valuable knowledge for design and usability considerations of digital health tools tailored to the specific needs of COPD patients. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Clients: | RRD |
| Faculty: | EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science |
| Subject: | 44 medicine, 50 technical science in general, 54 computer science |
| Programme: | Interaction Technology MSc (60030) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/97680 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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