TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating the Impact of Usability on Energy Efficiency of Web-based Personal Health Records
AU - García-Berná, José A.
AU - Ouhbi, Sofia
AU - Fernández-Alemán, José L.
AU - de Gea, Juan M.Carrillo
AU - Nicolás, Joaquín
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is part of the BIZDEVOPS-GLOBAL-UMU (RTI2018-098309-B-C33) project, and the Network of Excellence in Software Quality and Sustainability (TIN2017-90689-REDT). Both projects are supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Usability plays an important role in eHealth applications for their widespread adoption. These software systems have been studied in depth in the literature from this perspective. However, the energy consumption of information systems in the eHealth domain lacks comprehensive research. In this paper, the relationship between the energy consumption of the main components of a PC and the usability evaluations of graphical user interfaces (GUI) were studied in client applications. For this purpose, personal health records (PHR) were used as a case study. A set of 4 web-based PHRs were evaluated with the performance of 20 common tasks in the aforementioned systems. The usability evaluations were carried out by 4 experts. A total of 8 heuristics particularly designed for electronic health record systems and based on the Nielsen usability heuristics were employed. The instantaneous energy values of the power supply and the monitor were collected with an energy consumption measuring equipment. As a result, the following significant correlations were found. In NoMoreClipboard between the Memory heuristic and the power supply (rs = 0.495, p = 0.044), and the Minimalist heuristic and the monitor (rs = − 0.513, p = 0.035). In PatientsLikeMe between the Minimalist heuristic and the power supply (rs = − 0.479, p = 0.083), as well as in the Error heuristic and the power supply (rs = − 0.638, p = 0.014). Finally, in Health Companion between the Match heuristic and the power supply (rs = − 0.481, p = 0.043), and the Error heuristic and the power supply again (rs = − 0.602, p = 0.008). Apart from that, the tasks were divided into those with excellent and fair usability. Those tasks with high usability scores were evaluated to detect whether they also had low energy consumption during task performance. Significant differences were found in PatientsLikeMe with respect to the Error heuristic and the power supply (212.39 ± 18.85W). Significant differences were also found in Health Companion with respect to the Match heuristic and the power supply (199.91 ± 7.19W). The results were discussed to reveal the fundamentals of how implementing usability can impact on energy costs when running client applications.
AB - Usability plays an important role in eHealth applications for their widespread adoption. These software systems have been studied in depth in the literature from this perspective. However, the energy consumption of information systems in the eHealth domain lacks comprehensive research. In this paper, the relationship between the energy consumption of the main components of a PC and the usability evaluations of graphical user interfaces (GUI) were studied in client applications. For this purpose, personal health records (PHR) were used as a case study. A set of 4 web-based PHRs were evaluated with the performance of 20 common tasks in the aforementioned systems. The usability evaluations were carried out by 4 experts. A total of 8 heuristics particularly designed for electronic health record systems and based on the Nielsen usability heuristics were employed. The instantaneous energy values of the power supply and the monitor were collected with an energy consumption measuring equipment. As a result, the following significant correlations were found. In NoMoreClipboard between the Memory heuristic and the power supply (rs = 0.495, p = 0.044), and the Minimalist heuristic and the monitor (rs = − 0.513, p = 0.035). In PatientsLikeMe between the Minimalist heuristic and the power supply (rs = − 0.479, p = 0.083), as well as in the Error heuristic and the power supply (rs = − 0.638, p = 0.014). Finally, in Health Companion between the Match heuristic and the power supply (rs = − 0.481, p = 0.043), and the Error heuristic and the power supply again (rs = − 0.602, p = 0.008). Apart from that, the tasks were divided into those with excellent and fair usability. Those tasks with high usability scores were evaluated to detect whether they also had low energy consumption during task performance. Significant differences were found in PatientsLikeMe with respect to the Error heuristic and the power supply (212.39 ± 18.85W). Significant differences were also found in Health Companion with respect to the Match heuristic and the power supply (199.91 ± 7.19W). The results were discussed to reveal the fundamentals of how implementing usability can impact on energy costs when running client applications.
KW - Energy efficiency
KW - Green software
KW - Personal health records
KW - Software sustainability
KW - Usability
KW - eHealth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105511224&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85105511224&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10916-021-01725-8
DO - 10.1007/s10916-021-01725-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 33959796
AN - SCOPUS:85105511224
SN - 0148-5598
VL - 45
JO - Journal of Medical Systems
JF - Journal of Medical Systems
IS - 6
M1 - 65
ER -