Usability and User Experience in (EHR) Procurement sometimes entitled as Government System Procurement. Marko Nieminen Aalto University, Finland

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1 Usability and User Experience in (EHR) Procurement sometimes entitled as Government System Procurement Marko Nieminen Aalto University, Finland

2 Is usability important for EHRs? Is user experience important for EHRs? Is usability / UX important to government systems?

3 A Day at the Clinic The electronic patient record system changed on Monday 3-Oct. We apologize for the prolonged queuing healthcare center, Helsinki, the capital of Finland

4 State IT skills are weak. An example is the Finnish national patient record system. The lack of a small, but necessary item of information has resulted in dire consequences. Esko Aho - Former Prime Minister of Finland 24-Nov-2011 (HS)

5 Problem, Hypothesis & Questions Healthcare and other government systems suffer from poor usability E.g. Viitanen & al. (2011): National questionnaire study on clinical ICT systems proofs: Physicians suffer from poor usability. Medical Informatics. What are the reasons that lead to this? Assumption: The procurement and tendering process affects the quality of information systems How do UX & usability appear in the requirements definition in the RFP s? How should UX & usability appear in the RFP s? Examination on how government systems are purchased and developed

6 Usability (ISO ) User Task Intended outcome Usability Goals Tools Effectiveness Surroundings Context of Use Result of interaction Efficiency Satisfaction Product Usability metrics

7 Regulatory Context of IS Procurement In Finland and in EU: public procurement is a highly regulated activity Public procurement in the EU rules and guidelines: The development of government systems has to be open for free and fair competition Any interested contractor should be in a position to submit a proposal. Government authorities must issue a public request for proposal (RFP) for the development of a new system.

8 Excerpt from the EU Rules & Procedures For all tenders, public authorities: may not discriminate against a business because it is registered in another EU country may not refer to specific brands, trademarks or patents when describing the characteristics of products & services they wish to purchase may not refuse to accept supporting documents (certificates, diplomas, etc.) issued by another EU country, as long as they provide the same level of guarantee must make all information regarding tenders available to all interested companies, regardless of what EU country they are registered in.

9 HILMA A system for Government RFP s

10 How do usability & UX appear in the Request for Proposal (RFP) documents?

11 The Structure of a Request for Proposal An RFP consists of two main elements: 1. The requirements for the system to be developed The system contractor has to meet or promise to meet the requirements; otherwise it will be excluded from the competition. 2. The selection criteria ( points ) From those contractors that (promise to) meet the requirements, the one is selected as the contractor who gets the highest points based on the selection criteria (weighing indicated in the RFP: e.g. price 60% and quality 40%)

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13 Why Are RFP s Critical for Usability / UX? The system procurement process starts when the government authority launches an RPF Two main steps in the selection process: 1. Exclude those contractors that do not meet nor do not promise to meet - the requirements defined in the RFP. 2. Select the contractor that get the highest score based on the selection criteria A wise contractor allocates resources for usability activities in their proposals only to the extent to which usability is among the requirements and selection criteria. No more usability can be asked for in the later stages of the process (without additional costs).

14 Where does Usability / UX Appear? Usability / UX in selection criteria Good usability contributes to the total points of the proposal. Despite this, a contractor with low even zero - points in usability may be selected. Usability / UX in the requirements section forces usability to be considered and included in development and in the final system

15 How Does Usability Appear in RFP s? A quick analysis on the contents of the RFP s General usability requirements The system must be easy to use Usability process requirements Must do three cycles of usability testing with prototypes Usability design requirements / guidelines The format of input and output should be appropriate User performance requirements How do users perform / carry out their tasks and achieve the desired accomplishments with the system to be developed?

16 How to Define Usability in Requirements of the RFP Verifiable It is possible to objectively determine whether a requirement is satisfied or not. If a requirement is not verifiable, it may not be considered as a true requirement. Valid The content of the requirement is correct, so that its fulfillment and completion means that the system is appropriately usable. Comprehensive The usability requirements cover the system broadly enough Jokela & al. (2013)

17 Considerations Special professional skills are required in RFP creation in the purchasing organizations (government authorities) Usability professionals should participate in the preparation of the Request for Proposals (RFPs). It is a critical phase where also usability is defined in government system acquisition. In order to ascertain that usability is properly considered, is needs to appear in Requirements rather than in Selection Criteria User performance may be more valid than development characteristics (e.g. design principles, usability guidelines, process requirements) marko.nieminen@aalto.fi

18 Related Research Usability Requirements in a Tendering / RFP Process Carey, T.T.: A Usability Requirements Model for Procurement Life Cycles. In: Carey, J.M. (ed.) Human Factors in Information Systems: An Organizational Perspective, pp , Ablex, Norwood (1991). Lauesen, S. OZCHI 98, (1998): User performance and development process metrics Software Contracting Gulliksen & al. (2003): Key Principles of User-Centred Systems Design. Behaviour & Information Technology 22, 6 Markensten, E. & Artman, H. (2004) Procuring a Usable System Using Unemployed Personas. NordiCHI Artman, H. and Zällh, S. Finding a way to usability: procurement of a taxi dispatch system. (2005) Usability of Government Systems Buie, E. and Murray, D., eds. (2012) Usability in Government Systems: User Experience Design for Citizens and Public Servants Jokela, T., Laine, J. & Nieminen, M. (2013): Usability in RFP s: The Current Practice and Outline for the Future. In: Kurosu, M. (Ed.) Human-Computer Interaction. Applications and Services, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013, 8005,