Design guidelines for online resources: a longitudinal analysis of information processing

This paper proposes that to create superior information resources that meet the information needs of the target audience, a greater understanding of information processing is required. We suggest that the subjective assessment criteria that information-seekers use to process information resources and the information they contain can be used to produce design guidelines for online information resources. This is tested using data from a participant in an eighteen-month longitudinal study of expectant and new mothers. From our participant, three information resource assessment criteria (convenience, credibility, and format) and five information assessment criteria (complete, easy to understand, references, relevance and reliability) were identified. These eight criteria were used to generate design guidelines to meet the needs of our participant. This article provides an analysis tool that can be used by other researchers to collect and analyse subjective assessment criteria

Antecedent factors influencing maternal health information seeking behaviour of women of childbearing age in rural Tanzania

Seeking maternal health information from relevant and reliable sources is essential in reducing pregnancy-related complications that may result in both maternal morbidity and mortality. This study has investigated factors that influence maternal health information seeking behaviour of women of childbearing age in rural Tanzania. The study utilized a descriptive research design combining quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The study has used questionnaires, administered to 380 respondents, and focus group discussions involving 29 participants to collect data. Findings indicate that several factors are responsible for the women’s information seeking behaviour. These factors are: proximity to information sources; economic factors; previous pregnancy experiences; direct experience with information sources; information sources’ ability to provide relevant and adequate health information and women’s belief that the sought information will help to address their health problems. This study concludes that health practitioners and maternal health information providers should be mindful of these factors when providing maternal health information to women in rural areas. Furthermore, while it is important to encourage women to seek health information from reliable sources, it is also essential to equip them with information literacy skills to enable them to evaluate the health information they receive from their social networks and other informal sources

The quality of health parasocial opinion leaders on social media. A literature review

The growing popularity of social media usage has led to growing social media revolution capable of replacing traditional communication media. This landscape change not only helps individuals in communicating, searching for health information and thus sharing information on social media, but also promoting changes in the types and functions of health opinion leaders. Social media opinion leaders have more autonomy in determining content agenda and direction that they intend to convey to and share with their followers. Individuals now make decisions on health issues without relying entirely on the advice of doctors or professional bodies as they are also persuaded and influenced by the parties they deem trustworthy, including opinion leaders. Therefore, it is important for us to understand the process that these opinion leaders go through in creating health messages on social media and the quality of relationship they have with their followers. This paper will discuss past literature and research on the model of parasocial opinion leadership between health opinion leaders and their followers who use social media to communicate and consult on health issues and messages in the relationship process as well as to examine the issues and circumstances of health opinion leaders that exist on social media from the health perspective. 10 out of 545 articles have been identified for analytical purposes in tandem with the observed theme. The analyses of the studies illustrate a situation in which the characteristics of opinion leaders may influence the attitude and behaviour of the audience in health context. However, studies on the functions of health opinion leaders in social media are still lacking

Analysis of web information-seeking behavior of users with different levels of health literacy

Literacia em Saúde é definida como "o nível pelo qual os indivíduos podem obter, processar, compreender e comunicar informação relacionada com saúde necessária para tomar decisões de saúde informadas". Os utilizadores com um baixo nível de literacia em saúde têm menos conhecimentos das suas condições médicas, maior dificuldade em seguir as instruções e compreender a informação dada pelos médicos. Cada vez mais, as pessoas recorrem à web para pesquisar sobre informação de saúde. As dificuldades que os utilizadores de baixa literacia têm no mundo real provavelmente persistem no mundo virtual. O principal objetivo deste estudo é analisar os comportamentos de pesquisa de utilizadores com diferentes níveis de literacia em saúde. Pretende-se identificar diferenças entre pessoas com baixa e alta literacia de saúde que depois possam ser utilizadas para a melhoria dos sistemas de recuperação e contribuir, entre outros, para facilitar o acesso à informação e educação das pessoas com baixa literacia. Este estudo surge na sequência de um trabalho prévio que incluiu a anotação dos registos de vídeo de uma experiência com utilizadores realizada anteriormente. Com base na versão preliminar de análise do trabalho anterior, foi proposto um esquema de classificação de eventos que engloba tipos de interação relativos ao navegador, motor de pesquisa e páginas web. Cada tipo de interação é composto por eventos que, por sua vez estão associados a variáveis de análise. Dentro deste esquema, foram construídos módulos para analisar as interrogações de pesquisa submetidas. Com base neste esquema, foi revista a anotação dos vídeos e foi realizada a análise de dados de forma descritiva e inferencial. Os principais resultados demonstram que o grupo de baixa literacia em saúde utilizou sobretudo a caixa do motor de pesquisa e a funcionalidade de voltar atrás; interagiu mais tempo com página de resultados do motor de pesquisa, clicando mais com o botão esquerdo do rato e fazendo scrolling. Por outro lado, o grupo de alta literacia em saúde utilizou mais a barra de endereço e a funcionalidade de selecionar o texto do URL. Na página de resultados do motor de pesquisa este grupo fez mais cliques com o botão direito. A nível de reformulação de interrogações, que ocorrem no contexto da mesma necessidade de informação, os utilizadores com baixa literacia em saúde usaram mais as reformulações "totalmente novas", ou seja, sem termos em comum com a interrogação anterior. Por sua vez, o grupo de alta literacia em saúde fez mais reformulações.Health Literacy is "the level by which individuals can obtain, process, understand and communicate health-related information necessary to make informed health decisions". Users with a low level of health literacy are less aware of their medical conditions, more difficult to follow instructions and understand doctors' information. Increasingly, people turn to the web to search for health information. Low literacy users' difficulties in the real world are likely to continue to exist in the virtual world. The main objective of this study is to analyze the search behavior of users with different levels of health literacy. It intends to identify differences between people with low and high health literacy that can then be used to improve retrieval systems and contribute, among others, to facilitate access to information and education by people with low literacy. This study follows a previous work that included annotating video records of experience with users previously carried out. Based on the preliminary analysis version of the previous work, an event classification scheme was proposed that includes types of interactions related to the browser, search engine, and web pages. Each type of interaction is composed of events that, in turn, are associated with analysis variables. Within this scheme, modules were built to analyze the formulation of search queries. Based on this scheme, the annotation of the videos was revised, and the data analysis was performed in a descriptive and inferential manner. The main results demonstrate that the low health literacy group used mainly the search engine box and the backward feature. On the search engine results page, they clicked more with the left mouse button. On the results page, they spent more time on the interaction, mainly scrolling. On the other hand, the high health literacy group made more use of the address bar and the functionality of selecting the URL text. On the search engine results page, this group made more right-clicks. At the level of reformulations, which occur in the context of the same need for information, users with low health literacy used more "totally new" reformulations, that is, without terms in common with the previous question. In turn, the high health literacy group did more reformulations

The Role of Tasks in the Internet Health Information Searching of Chinese Graduate Students

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between types of health information tasks and the Internet information search processes of Chinese graduate students at the University of North Texas. the participants' Internet information search processes were examined by looking at the source used to start the search, language selection, use of online translation tools, and time spent. in a computer classroom, 45 Chinese graduate students searched the Internet and completed three health information search tasks: factual task, interpretative task, and exploratory task. Data of the Chinese graduate students’ health information search processes were gathered from Web browser history files, answer sheets, and questionnaires. Parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses were conducted to test the relationships between the types of tasks and variables identified in the search process. Results showed that task types only had a statistically significant impact on the time spent. for the three tasks, the majority of Chinese graduate students used search engines as major sources for the search starting point, utilized English as the primary language, and did not use online translation tools. the participants also reported difficulties in locating relevant answers and recommended ways to be assisted in the future when searching the Internet for health information. the study provided an understanding of Chinese graduate students' health information seeking behavior with an aim to enrich health information user studies. the results of this study contribute to the areas of academic library services, multilingual health information system design, and task-based health information searching

Investigating User Search Tactic Patterns and System Support in Using Digital Libraries

This study aims to investigate users\u27 search tactic application and system support in using digital libraries. A user study was conducted with sixty digital library users. The study was designed to answer three research questions: 1) How do users engage in a search process by applying different types of search tactics while conducting different search tasks?; 2) How does the system support users to apply different types of search tactics?; 3) How do users\u27 search tactic application and system support for different types of search tactics affect search outputs? Sixty student subjects were recruited from different disciplines in a state research university. Multiple methods were employed to collect data, including questionnaires, transaction logs and think-aloud protocols. Subjects were asked to conduct three different types of search tasks, namely, known-item search, specific information search and exploratory search, using Library of Congress Digital Libraries. To explore users\u27 search tactic patterns (RQ1), quantitative analysis was conducted, including descriptive statistics, kernel regression, transition analysis, and clustering analysis. Types of system support were explored by analyzing system features for search tactic application. In addition, users\u27 perceived system support, difficulty, and satisfaction with search tactic application were measured using post-search questionnaires (RQ2). Finally, the study examined the causal relationships between search process and search outputs (RQ 3) based on multiple regression and structural equation modeling. This study uncovers unique behavior of users\u27 search tactic application and corresponding system support in the context of digital libraries. First, search tactic selections, changes, and transitions were explored in different task situations - known-item search, specific information search, and exploratory search. Search tactic application patterns differed by task type. In known-item search tasks, users preferred to apply search query creation and following search result evaluation tactics, but less query reformulation or iterative tactic loops were observed. In specific information search tasks, iterative search result evaluation strategies were dominantly used. In exploratory tasks, browsing tactics were frequently selected as well as search result evaluation tactics. Second, this study identified different types of system support for search tactic application. System support, difficulty, and satisfaction were measure in terms of search tactic application focusing on search process. Users perceived relatively high system support for accessing and browsing tactics while less support for query reformulation and item evaluation tactics. Third, the effects of search tactic selections and system support on search outputs were examined based on multiple regression. In known-item searches, frequencies of query creation and accessing forwarding tactics would positively affect search efficiency. In specific information searches, time spent on applying search result evaluation tactics would have a positive impact on success rate. In exploratory searches, browsing tactics turned out to be positively associated with aspectual recall and satisfaction with search results. Based on the findings, the author discussed unique patterns of users\u27 search tactic application as well as system design implications in digital library environments

Examining the Design and Usability of Telemedicine Communications: A Mixed-methods Study

This dissertation describes a mixed-methods study that examines the usability of telemedicine provider interfaces. This study consisted of content analysis, survey, and think aloud methodologies, which afford a multifaceted corpus of data for which to draw inferences and identify design features and functions that negatively impact usability. Usability is a critical component of the user experience with a telemedicine provider interface and can suede or impede the acceptance and adoption of telemedicine. Telemedicine has the potential to increase quality healthcare access and positive health outcomes for individuals who use it, and usability is a key component of technology acceptance and effective use. Empirical testing of health information technology (HIT) and telemedicine is advocated for as it is the most valuable method of research to understand humans\u27 cognitive processing of information as they interact with technology. In addition, using activity theory and mobile interface theory as a lens in which to understand human activities and interaction with telemedicine provider interfaces, including the telemedicine provider websites and their mobile-responsive websites in this study, is an effective tool for drawing reasonable inferences regarding the usability of telemedicine communications. Considering the rate at which an unprecedented amount of health information becomes available online and HIT facilitates the delivery of healthcare, usability testing and user-centered, iterative design practices become increasingly essential in order to design effective—and safe—health information and technology that enhance the patient-experience, the affordability and accessibility of healthcare, health literacy and patient empowerment, and positive health outcomes. Usability testing plays an increasingly important role in characterizing obstacles to achieving these initiatives of the modern patient-centered health paradigm and telemedicine. The mixed-methods usability testing performed in this study offers a principled approach to usability testing and is ecologically valid because it involves real human subjects. This study fulfills a void in research on the usability of telemedicine communications and reveals usability problems that may not be anticipated by designers of HIT and health information providers. Drawing from the insight gained from this mixed-method study, design features and functions that enhance the usability of health communications are offered. This study draws insight from the human factors, technical communication, and health and medical fields to develop systematic, practical usability testing methods that can be replicated and applied in many fields. The design recommendations resulting from this study will be valuable to programmers; systems analysts; clinicians and nurses; technical communicators; information architects; visual designers; and others in similar roles

Exploring the Information behaviour of expectant and new mothers: a longitudinal study

The rise in online information-seeking raises important questions for information systems researchers, such as how can we tailor information resources to meet the needs of diverse user groups? The study of information behaviour may be able to provide the answers. Information behaviour is the study of human interaction with information resources, the influencers of that interaction, and how information is processed and used. Information behaviour studies place the user at the centre of the investigation. To-date, information processing and use is one area of information behaviour where uncertainty exists, caused by inconsistent defining terminology and a dearth of empirical investigation. This thesis presents an adapted health information behaviour model, a revised version of Wilson (1997). The model highlights the iterative nature of information behaviour while explicating information processing and use. The model is evaluated using a prospective longitudinal case study of expectant and new mothers. As a user group, they are a challenge for information providers attempting to judge their information resource requirements. Expectant and new mothers seek and consume a diverse range of topics from a variety of resources. They do not just seek information for themselves, expectant and new mothers also seek information concerning the health and well-being of their families. The objective of this thesis is identifying design guidelines for eHealth information resources for expectant and new mothers. This is achieved by understanding how expectant and new mothers process information resources. For the purpose of this research, information processing is determined through an analysis of the subjective assessment criteria used to evaluate and compare different information resources. This thesis illustrates connections between subjective assessment criteria and other areas of information behaviour, such as information use outcomes and task type. The longitudinal nature of the study affords the opportunity to observe changes in information behaviour over time