Pathfinder Works with the AMA to Improve Usability for Their HIT Site

Client:

The American Medical Association (AMA) is a voluntary association of physicians in the United States which sets standards for the medical profession and advocates on behalf of physicians and patients. For over 160 years, the AMA has pursued its mission to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.

Challenge:

The American Medical Association has undertaken an initiative to educate doctors about the complex issues regarding Health Information Technology (HIT) and to communicate their positions on the political aspects of the HIT initiative.

Solution:

Our primary efforts on this project were concentrated on user “diagnosis”: First, we conducted the initial user research necessary to define the user groups for the HIT site. Following content development by the AMA team, we designed and facilitated user testing of the beta site. To overcome the barriers to conducting a series of time-intensive individual phone interviews, we created an online survey that was launched in two waves: one directly targeted to AMA members via e-mail invitation, and one that was available to any interested visitors to the homepage of the AMA website. We analyzed the data derived from these two surveys, both individually and collectively, and from this information were able to develop three distinct user personas for the new HIT site. Personas – goal-driven user representatives – allow us to create user scenarios and help understand the tasks each group of users is likely to perform. To further increase the efficiency of our process, we conducted user research remotely, via an online desktop-sharing application. Each session began with the collection of basic information concerning demographics and participants’ motivations for visiting the site, to assist in validating the preliminary personas. Participants were instructed to explore the site according to their own needs, interests, and preferences, rather than having arbitrary tasks imposed on them, in order to understand typical taskflows, gaps, and interdependencies.

Impact:

As a result of the research and user testing, we redesigned the HIT site map originally generated by the AMA to better reflect actual use patterns. This lead to a cleaner site that is more in tune with users’ needs. To enhance the new flow, the design of the HIT site was changed to make it easier to navigate, as well.