Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Jul-Aug;9(4):320-30.
doi: 10.1197/jamia.m0822.

A user-centered model for web site design: needs assessment, user interface design, and rapid prototyping

Mable B Kinzie  1 , Wendy F Cohn, Marti F Julian, William A Knaus
Affiliations

A user-centered model for web site design: needs assessment, user interface design, and rapid prototyping

Mable B Kinzie et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2002 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

As the Internet continues to grow as a delivery medium for health information, the design of effective Web sites becomes increasingly important. In this paper, the authors provide an overview of one effective model for Web site design, a user-centered process that includes techniques for needs assessment, goal/task analysis, user interface design, and rapid prototyping. They detail how this approach was employed to design a family health history Web site, Health Heritage <www.healthheritage.net>. This Web site helps patients record and maintain their family health histories in a secure, confidential manner. It also supports primary care physicians through analysis of health histories, identification of potential risks, and provision of health care recommendations. Visual examples of the design process are provided to show how the use of this model resulted in an easy-to-use Web site that is likely to meet user needs. The model is effective across diverse content arenas and is appropriate for applications in varied media.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
User-centered design model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Goal/task analysis. The flow diagram depicts the upper level of our task analysis for primary care physicians (PCPs).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Second design challenge: structure of the Health Heritage site.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Heuristic issues rating scale.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Evolution of the paper prototype for the patient's home page.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Final version of the patient's home page.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Coulter A. Evidence-based patient information is important, so there needs to be a national strategy to ensure it [editorial]. BMJ. 1998;317(7153):225–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Crouch MA, Thiedke CC. Documentation of family health history in the outpatient medical record. J Fam Pract. 1986;22:169–74. - PubMed
    1. Scheuner M, Wang S, Raffel L, Larabell S, Rotter J. Family history: a comprehensive genetic risk assessment method for the chronic conditions of adulthood. Am J Med Genet. 1997;71(3):315–24. - PubMed
    1. Medalie JH, Zyzansk SJ, Langa D, Stange DC. The family in family practice: Is it a reality? J Fam Pract. 1998;46(5):390–7. - PubMed
    1. Andrews LB, Fullterton JE, Hotzman NA, Motulsky AG (eds). Assessing Genetic Risks: Implications for Health and Social Policy. Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1994. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms