Usability & Human-Computer Interaction Flashcards
7 cards from real Clinical Informatics Certification practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Usability & Human-Computer Interaction flashcards as text
Which usability concept refers to the degree to which a design's appearance communicates how it should be used?
Answer: Affordance
Affordance describes perceived properties of an object that suggest how it can be used, such as a button that looks pressable.
What does 'task analysis' in HCI primarily seek to understand?
Answer: The steps users take to complete goals within a system
Task analysis breaks down user workflows into sequential steps to identify cognitive demands, decision points, and potential design improvements.
A physician must remember a patient's ID number from one screen to enter it on the next screen. Which Nielsen heuristic is violated?
Answer: Recognition rather than recall
Requiring users to recall information across screens violates recognition over recall; the system should keep relevant data visible or transfer it automatically.
In a usability study, a 'within-subjects' design means:
Answer: All participants test all versions of the interface
In a within-subjects design, the same participants are exposed to all conditions, reducing variance due to individual differences.
Which accessibility standard is most commonly referenced when designing EHRs for users with disabilities in the US?
Answer: WCAG 2.1
WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) provides the widely adopted criteria for making digital health interfaces accessible to users with disabilities.
A clinical system presents a confirmation dialog before permanently deleting a patient record. This design pattern best exemplifies which heuristic?
Answer: Error prevention
A confirmation step before an irreversible destructive action prevents accidental data loss, directly implementing the error prevention heuristic.
The concept of 'mental model' in HCI refers to:
Answer: A user's internal representation of how a system works
A mental model is the user's internal understanding of a system's behavior; good design aligns the system's actual model with users' expected mental models.