Meeting User Needs and Mitigating Risks: Usability Engineering in Neonatal Incubator Design

Meeting User Needs and Mitigating Risks: Usability Engineering in Neonatal Incubator Design

연구 분야: Verification

학회: Congress of the International Ergonomics Association

This study demonstrates the application of usability engineering to the development of a neonatal incubator, considering the needs of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) staff and neonates. Interviews with 6 NICU experts were conducted to identify various user needs, followed by the use-related risk analysis to find use-related risks and user interface requirements (UI REQs). The incubator prototype was developed and underwent 4 iterative formative evaluations with 29 NICU nurses and 4 cleaning staff, leading to subsequent design changes. Finally, the summative evaluation with 15 NICU nurses was conducted to validate the usability of the final prototype, resulting in high satisfaction scores (4.04 out of 5.0) and 1 use error. Throughout the study, a total of 84 UI REQs were identified and categorized into features such as noise reduction for neonates, workflow support for nurses, and cleaning facilitation for cleaning staff. The methodology and findings of this study highlight the value of usability engineering and considering a variety of user needs in designing safe, user-friendly medical devices.