User-centred design and development of a web-based Western Cape substance use assessment tool(WC-SUDAT)

Worthington, Cameron and Holtzhausen, Leon and Kuttel, Michelle (2024) User-centred design and development of a web-based Western Cape substance use assessment tool(WC-SUDAT), Proceedings of Proceedings of South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference (SAICSIT 2024), July 15–17 2024, Gqeberha, South Africa.

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Abstract

Substance use disorders (SUDs), the uncontrolled use of substances despite harmful consequences, is a significant problem in South Africa, especially in the Western Cape. An important component in the fight against SUDs are questionnaires to assess the risk of an SUD, that are administered by social workers to identify targeted interventions. A web-based questionnaire with automated aggregation of responses can reduce the administrative burden placed on social workers. Here we use a user-centred design approach to build a web-based substance use disorder assessment tool localised to the Western Cape: WC-SUDAT. Our three-phase User Centred Design methodology comprised a first prototype; followed by evaluation of its suitability through a contextual inquiry, a usability test and heuristic evaluation; and then implementation of a final prototype incorporating unanticipated features critical for field use that were identified in the evaluation. This process was effective in generating a final prototype webtool with a dual function as both an SUD assessment tool and an organisational management tool. This deployment-ready prototype is a better fit for the needs of NGOs working with substance abuse disorders than our original conception of the webtool, thus validating a User-Centred design approach.

Item Type:	Conference paper
Subjects:	Human-centered computing > Human computer interaction (HCI) Human-centered computing > Interaction design > Interaction design process and methods > User centered design
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2024 08:46
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2024 08:46
URI:	https://pubs.cs.uct.ac.za/id/eprint/1675

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