Summary

AnalyzeMyVariant is an online tool to perform cosegregation analysis of genetic pedigree data. For my Master’s Thesis project, I conducted a study to assess the usability perceptions of potential users (genetic counselors and statistical geneticists).

Goal

To assess usability perceptions of AnalyzeMyVariant users.

Industry & Audience

• Industry: Website design; genetics and statistics; usability
• Audience: Genetic counselors and statistical geneticists

Constraints

None

My Role

This was an individual thesis project; I performed all the tasks outlined below.

Process

• Conducted literature review of models of online trust and satisfaction.
• Selected constructs and framed them into a heirarchy to evaluate usability.
• Created survey questions, sourced from literature and adapted to this specific platform to assess each construct.
• Built the survey in REDCap and conducted pilot tests
  • Identified potential participant sources and drafted recruitment materials.
• Conducted follow-up contextual interviews with users to better understand context of use and explore usability issues.
• Analysed data using descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis in ATLAS.ti.
• Presented two potential avenues for redesign to client, each targeting a different user base.

Key Insights

Even though different user groups may have similar levels of familiarity with the concept and may use the tool for the same general purpose, differing contexts of use may drastically affect perceptions of usability and desired changes to the design.

In this project, genetic counselors and statistical geneticists were both target users, as they understood the value of performing cosegregation analysis on their data and would be interested in using such a tool. Ultimately, however, their differing clinical vs. research contexts and other features of their professions led them to want completely different presentations of results which could not be reconciled. I finally ended up proposing two potential options for redesign to target the differing needs of these user groups.