Usability in RFP's: The Current Practice and Outline for the Future

Studies show that healthcare and other government systems suffer from poor usability. In this research, we aim to understand the reasons and propose solutions to this problem. We conclude so far that (1) the critical phase where to address usability in government system development contracting is request for proposals (RFP), (2) the appropriate place for usability in a RFP is requirements rather than selection criteria and (3) usability requirements should based on user performance, rather than on design principles, usability guidelines, process requirements, or such. We find that defining user performance based usability requirements is a challenging task and a most relevant subject for further research.

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