Usability testing of touchscreen DriveSafe DriveAware with older adults : a cognitive fitness to drive screen

Background: DriveSafe DriveAware (DSDA) is a cognitive fitness-to-drive screen that can accurately predict on-road performance. However, administration is restricted to trained assessors. General practitioners are ultimately responsible for determining fitness to drive in many countries but lack suitable tools. We converted DSDA to touchscreen to provide general practitioners and other health professionals with a practical fitness-to-drive screen. This necessitated the development of an automatic data collection system. We took a user-centred design approach to test usability of the system with older adults, the group most likely to take the test. Method: Middle-aged and older adult volunteers were asked to try an iPad application to assist in the development of a fitness-to-drive screen. Seventeen males and 18 females (mean age 70 years) participated in four trials; each participant was tested only once. We tested all text and function changes until all older adults could successfully self-administer the screen. Results: Older adults found basic touch-screen functions easy to perform, even when unfamiliar with the technology. Conclusion: Usability testing allowed us to develop a user-friendly touchscreen data collection system and ensured that design errors were not missed. Psychometric evaluation of data gathered with touchscreen DSDA was conducted in a separate study prior to use in clinical practice.