Ventilator availability testing

Test background

To evaluate the human-computer interaction interface design of the device and instructions, Noldus provided technical support to assist a manufacturer in developing a ventilator specifically designed for themusability testingThe test focuses on the safety and operational efficiency of this product, evaluating its overall usability based on the ability of trained participants to use the product and their clinical feedback, in order to meet the requirements of medical device IEC62366.

Simulate real usage scenarios

Sound: Play real environmental noise recorded in the hospital, simulate real scenes

Lighting: Mixing lighting fixtures with ambient light to simulate the lighting conditions in a real ward

Simulated hospital bed: Head model, splinted lungs, trolley, personal protective gloves, 75% medical alcohol and alcohol cotton balls, and other equipment for hospital bed scenes

Test Overview

• Testing equipment: A certain brand of ventilator, supporting equipment, user manual

• Testing location: Usability laboratory

• Lead testers: one moderator, one trainer, and one recorder

• Subject users: 4 users who participated in simple product training and have some understanding of ventilators, and 1 user who did not participate in the training but has some understanding of ventilators

Test task design

Scenario testing tasks (partial)

Human factors research equipment used for testing

•Behavior Observation Analysis System (The Observer XT)

•Medical Device Usability Testing System (Viso)

•Wearable eye tracker (Tobii Glasses)

•Finger Trajectory Tracking and Analysis System (Ethovision XT)

Behavior Observation Analysis System (The Observer XT)It is a data processing platform that utilizes computer software systems and video cameras to record all types of behavior and synchronize other behavioral data. Firstly, The Observer XT allows for flexible and concise coding scheme development.

In this test, a coding system was used to encode different scenario tasks and possible types of usability issues. The Observer XT's comprehensive behavior encoding system supports encoding and labeling of various behaviors such as different event types, different levels of behavior groups, sustained events, or momentary events, which helps to systematically record and label every key step and issue in usability testing.

Secondly, The Observer XT is also a powerful integration platform that supports encoding behavior on a timeline, decomposing event sequences, and integrating different data patterns. Different data modes include eye tracking, finger trajectory tracking, EEG, facial expressions, physiological signals, etc.

The Observer XT integration in this testMedical Device Usability Testing System (Viso)andWearable eye tracker (Tobii Glasses)Real time recording of user operations from multiple perspectives using data. Supporting one click return of the video time point where the problem occurred has helped the test host guide users to recall the situation in which the problem occurred and find the root cause of the problem during post test interviews.


Medical Device Usability Testing System (Viso)It is a professional software used for audio and video recording, event tagging, summarization, and playback. In this test, Viso was used for recording four channels of audio and video, and the condition of each channel was controlled at any time to ensure efficient recording of audio and video files.


Wearable eye tracker (Tobii Glasses)It is an eye tracking system that is easy to wear and use. Through eye tracking, researchers can understand where users are looking at a certain point in time, how long they are looking at something, and the trajectory of their gaze movements.

In this test, analyzing eye movement trajectories and heat maps makes it easier to clarify The cognitive process of the user during testing, such as asking the user about the brightness adjustment process Why did you first notice the tool related options.

Finger Trajectory Tracking and Analysis System (Ethovision XT)It is a professional application software that uses computer vision to automatically recognize and analyze finger movement trajectories. Through finger trajectory tracking, researchers can understand where the user's finger moved to at a certain point in time, the duration of the finger's stay in the area, the trajectory of the finger's movement, the angle and speed of the movement. Assist in determining the severity and nature of usability issues in this test based on finger operation.

Test results and findings (partial)

Overall, this timeventilatorusability testingThe situation is good. The overall pass rate of the task is77% of the high-risk usage issues are due to users not realizing that the SD card is inserted incorrectly.


The eye movement data of the toolbar, compared to version A and version B for the first timeFocus timeSignificant increase, combined with interview data, users indicate that there are other options in version B's toolbarThe placement of options is quite unique and difficult to understand.


The finger trajectory data of the toolbar, compared to version B, version AThe winding degreeLarger, longer operating distance, but at the same time, version B has a longer operating time. comprehensiveTake a look at the versionB is more suitable.


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