Goal Setting And User Testing To Ensure A PACS Interface Satisfactory To Radiologists

To be successful, a Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) workstation must have a user interface which is easy for radiologists to use. This paper describes the iterative design methodology used in the Integrated Radiology Information System (IRIS) project to achieve an easy to use system. Iterative design involves the radiologists in the design effort throughout the project. Iterative user interface design requires a number of activities: goal setting, identification of important user interface issues, prototyping, structured user testing, evaluation of user-test results against the goals, and further prototyping if the goals are not met. These stages are described in detail with examples taken from the IRIS project.