Later I conducted user testing sessions. The first user testing session used UI wireframes. The second user testing session used a functional prototype.

Wireframe Method

I interviewed 6 Portal customer teams, 3 Programs and 3 Public health tech companies.

I recruited the teams by availability (work together). I was required to abide by the Paperwork Reduction Act regulations limiting my user participant count to 9 participants total. We used internal users as the testing environment was just implemented and we were working out kinks before showing to external users.

During the session I:

• Asked of the teams’ broader organization, industry, public health domain and how they have sent or received data to Portal Company prior (if they have)

• Asked what pain points do they have in sending and receiving public health data

• Facilitated a user testing session providing access to the wireframes where users sorted features shared their thoughts on each page and were guided to complete a few simple tasks

Some features were not available on the prototype but was still asked on participants:

• Upload Files page

• Support page or pop-up

• Manage Users & Data page

• Profile & Settings page (was available but in JSON format)

Wireframe Findings

I recorded participants’ comments and documented them. I synthesized the major themes. A few themes were:

• route should be renamed

• having a customizable timeframe filter

• having a timeframe that can narrow down to the hour for users sending or receiving thousands of submissions daily

• showing the type of error

• some click on the Failed button under status rather than the 3 vertical dots

• file icon not very clear and can mean multiple things

• sort not useful for users sending or receiving a lot of submissions regularly

• want to be able to filter by other metadata fields

• submission detail stages look clickable but are not

• profile or somewhere can show details of what data streams and features one has access to

Prototype Method

I interviewed 7 members of 3 teams internal of Portal teams: Customer Support, Upload API, and Portal Company lead.

I recruited the teams by availability (work together). I was required to abide by the Paperwork Reduction Act regulations limiting my user participant count to 9 participants total. We used internal users as the testing environment was just implemented and we were working out kinks before showing to external users.

During the session I:

• Asked of the how the teams will use Portal and interact with the Portal ecosystem currently and anticipated in the future

• Asked what pain points do they have in receiving public health data, data monitoring, and resolving issues

• Facilitated a user testing session providing access to the test environment site where users sorted features shared their thoughts on each page and were guided to complete a few simple tasks

Some features were not available on the prototype but was still asked on participants:

• Upload Files page

• Support page or pop-up

• Profile & Settings page

• Manage Users & Data page

Prototype Findings

I recorded participants’ comments and documented them. I synthesized the major themes. A few themes were:

• confusing unusable half screen login page

• may require more than one authentication company

• not clear what will come from the bell icon

• would like error displayed on the dashboard for easy visibility to take action

• display actions needed (or lack thereof) for the user to support error

• a customer support ticket attached to a particular error file

• ability to adjust pagination of Track Submissions

• search of some sort is needed

• tell users if one needs to resubmit