Participatory Icon Design for Medical Information Systems

Medical information systems which support high quality electronic health records are significant part of hospital processes. Usable and efficient user interfaces should be developed by implementing user centered development methodologies to gather the reliable and accurate data in medical information systems. It is known that better humancomputer interface can be designed by the user-participatory development processes. The proper design of icons would provide necessary results in reducing possible interaction problems. Especially in medical information services, relatively short data entry time and accuracy are crucial parameters on system success. This study includes the icon selection process for a medical information system developed for the emergency service of a hospital located in Istanbul, Turkey. The experiment is tested on 78 subjects who were selected from the healthcare staff. Medical terms are given to