1. Medical Terminology App
Research Proposal
Liza Pesenson
October 2015

2. 11
Background
 We are in the process of creating an app that will test student
pronunciation while they are learning medical terminology
 It will give them feedback on how accurately they pronounce a word
 They can see a list with difficult medical words from their Allied Health
Courses
 The app is both standalone and accessible from the wider-reaching
app
 For the eventual integrated design, the pronunciation testing is just
one of many ways students can study their courses

3. 22
Assumptions
 This product (or version of it) is only geared towards native, American-English
speakers
 Students taking medical courses (a.k.a. med students) have a need to know
how correct or incorrect their pronunciation is
 Med students need to prioritize pronunciation in their course work

4. 33
 To determine the best feedback design to present
students based on how accurately they pronounced the
word
 To evaluate how well they navigate the standalone app
 To evaluate how well they navigate to the app from the
online course
Objectives
1
2
3

5. 44
Predictions
To stimulate discussion with the project team around expectations, study design, assumptions, etc.
Selected Research Questions Predicted Outcomes
What will be the best feedback
design to present students based on
how accurately they pronounced the
word?
Where do you expect students to
have the most trouble in navigating
the app?
Where do you expect students to
have the most trouble in navigating
to the app from the online course?

6. 55
Usability Testing
Summative Research

7. 66
Proposed Research Methodology – Option A
 Method:
– Option A: In-lab
 Participants:
– Students from nearby colleges. Preferably pre-med, but can take anyone
 Recruitment:
– 5-8 students
– Is there a list of current students who will do studies for money?
– Contact pre-med clubs, contact relevant Facebook & LinkedIn group owners
– Craigslist
– Will need to compensate for travel time to lab as well

8. 77
Timeline estimate
 2-week timeline
– Prep
• 1 day
– Recruitment
• 4 days
– Testing
• 2 days
– Analysis & Report or debrief
• 3 days

9. 88
Proposed Research Methodology – Option B
 Method:
– Option B: Intercept (Guerilla) usability testing
 Participants:
– Students from nearby colleges. Preferably pre-med, but will have to be more liberal with who
we take
 Recruitment:
– 5-8 students
– Is there a list of students who will do studies for money?
– Go to a campus coffee shop and buy gift cards to give as compensation
– Craigslist

10. 99
 1-week timeline – option 1
– Prep
• 1 day
– Testing
• 2 days
– Analysis & Report or debrief
• 2 days
 1-week timeline – option 2
– Prep
• 1 day
– Testing
• 1 days
– Heuristic Evaluation
• 1 day
– Analysis & Report or debrief
• 2 days
Timeline estimate

11. 1010
Proposed Research Methodology - Details
 To understand feedback design:
– If there are just a few feedback designs to test:
• Show all the options to each student and let them compare
– If there are many feedback designs to test:
• Show only one option to each student and get feedback
– Ask to do Tasks. Compare and contrast. How did each one make them feel? Some 1-5 scale
questions might be helpful in understand nuances in preference. Understand their reasoning.
 To understand navigation:
– Ask to do tasks, like: “let’s say you’re reviewing internal bacteria and come across the term
“helicobacter pylori” which you think you might be tested on. You’ve just downloaded this new
app that’s supposed to help you with pronouncing terms. You decide to use it to learn how to
pronounce “helicobacter pylori.” (give them a device to use) Once you open the app, what
would you do first?
– Then have them navigate with a similar task from the online course

12. 1111
Possible deliverables
 Executive summary
 Summary of findings
 Comparison with Predicted Outcomes
 Opportunities/Recommendations list
– Each recommendation supported by one of the findings
– Including redesign suggestions
 Quotes, Video or Audio snippets, Photos, and/or Screenshots
 Guidance on how to use the findings & recommendations to come up with a
prioritized action plan

13. 1212
Interviews, observations, etc. for a broader definition of the first
objective: “To determine (how to design) the best feedback design to
present students based on how accurately they pronounced the
word”
Formative Research Plan

14. 1313
Proposed Research Methodology
 Method:
– Interview Language Teachers
• Foreign language teachers may have developed a method (or various methods) that help them teach
pronunciation, correct students in a tactful way, etc.
 This method will have been based on their teaching experience and over-arching observations
about different ways that students learn
– Then user test the designs that come out of this
 Participants:
– 3-5 foreign lang. or ESL teachers, but especially Latin, Italian, or Greek teachers
– 15-20 min each
 Recruitment:
– Reach out to teachers online or through community colleges
– Reach out to those who run meet-ups or clubs for students

15. 1414
Assumptions
 Many medical terms come from Latin and Greek
 Do not have other resources from the Research team like student personas
which characterize learning styles, & do not have time to make these

16. 1515
 2.5-week timeline
– Prep
• 1 day
– Recruitment
• 4 days
– Research Gathering (Interviews, etc.)
• 2 days
– Analysis & Report or debrief
• 5 days
Timeline estimate

17. 1616
Finding
What, exactly, in the research was
surprising, new, or different from
the current design direction?
Opportunity
Generalizing the finding
to inspire a new way of
thinking about it
Rationale
Framing the opportunity with
best-practices or generalized
explanation
Suggestions
A jumping-off point for
teams that may want it
A
Most students took over 30
seconds to click on “Medical
Speak” (the name of the app)
in the side bar on their online
course
Rethinking the app
name in a way that
resonates more with
Med students
A functionally
representative name will
reduce cognitive load and
make it easier to find in the
online course and the app
store
Convey the core
concepts: pronunciation,
medicine, “audio
flashcards,” etc.
B
Half of the students tested
said they wanted to hear the
pronunciation multiple times
before trying it
Cater to those who
might not be ready to
try the pronunciation
right away
If there are students who
prefer to hear it multiple
times, the current model
(just hearing it once and
then trying it yourself)
might not work for them
- Add a “repeat” button
or allow a tap on the
word to repeat the
pronunciation
- Remember this
preference for future
personalization
C Etc…
Sample Opportunities List

18. 1717
Action Plan development
Guidance and tips for teams that want it. Facilitation also an option, depending on resources
1. Collect all the opportunities
2. Prioritize opportunities
3. Generate / Brainstorm solutions
4. Prioritize solutions

19. 1818
Prioritization
 Using a prioritization matrix
– Involve many or few people
– Highlight easy wins
– Prioritize work flow

20. 1919
Brainstorming tips for solution generation
#1 Assign a Moderator
#2 Identify Goals
#3 Set a Time Limit
#4 Write Down and/or Sketch
Everything
#5 Don’t Judge
#6 Embrace the Ridiculous
#7 Start General, End Specific
#8 Look for Synergy Potential
#9 Avoid Group Think
#10 Include an Outsider
More details at: http://designshack.net/articles/inspiration/10-tips-for-effective-creative-brainstorming/

21. 2020
Future research
 Understand how to customize for non-English speakers
 Interview ESL Students
 Good perspective on how it can be hard to pronounce English words
 Interview American students studying Italian and Greek
 What techniques worked best for them in reducing their accent and
learning how to pronounce new words
 Interview accent coaches for actors …small group, probably hard to
schedule & expensive though
 Linguistics instructors – IPA & mouth muscle directions

22. 2121
Other ideas
 It’s one of the many ways students can study their courses. So connect
the pronunciation to other parts of the class. Like recent texts or spots
where they recently saw that word in their studies
 Be able to hear pronunciation while reading a text (like the dictionary
lookup feature in kindle but with voice)
 Create personas for students that characterize them by learning type,
etc.
 Should we look at teaching methods too, or just stick to testing
methods? Maybe we don’t need to teach how to pronounce every
word. Maybe can break it down into some heuristics or rules of thumb