Heuristic evaluation of a Web-based interface for Internet telemedicine

A low-cost usability engineering methodology (heuristic evaluation combined with small-scale expert assessment) is examined in the context of the desi gn and development of a Web-based telemedicine system. Six experts-three hu man-computer interaction (HCI) experts and three medical-content experts-ex amined the Spacebridge to Russia Web site for usability. The HCI experts id entified 52 interface problems using a set of ten usability criteria or heu ristics; these problems ranged in severity from cosmetic to a major failure . The content experts completed a series of six simple tasks while describi ng their actions. The usage difficulties were related to the HCI problems i dentified and were primarily characterized by a mismatch of the designer mo del and the content expert model. This heuristic/usage methodology can prov ide an incremental benefit in a variety of other design activities. It is s uggested herein that the combined heuristic/usage methodology should be inc luded as a standard design component of dynamic telemedicine systems.