Assessing the Usability of a Comprehensive Research Management System: A Mixed-Use Study in Iran
الموضوعات : Expert Systems
Mehdi Beyramijam
1
,
Mohammad Sadegh Sohrabi
2
,
محمد بابامیری
3
,
Arezo Farhadi
4
1 - Dept. of Health in Emergency and Disaster, School of Public Health, University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
2 - Occupational Health and Safety Research Center, Institute of Health Sciences and Technology, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
3 - Department of Ergonomics, School of Public Health, Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health Sciences and Technology, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
4 - Ph.D. student, Department of Medical Library and Information Science, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
الکلمات المفتاحية: Research Management System, User-Computer Interface, Usability, convergent mixed methods study, Ergonomics,
ملخص المقالة :
Background and Objective: Usability is a key dimension of the quality of research systems. This study aimed to explain usability and examine users' experiences and challenges in interacting with the "Pajouhshiyar" research affairs management system at several medical universities in Iran.
Methods: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitatively, 169 users (76 men, 93 women) were assessed using a questionnaire for evaluating the usability of web-based software; independent t-tests examined differences by gender and by role. Qualitatively, 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted via purposive sampling and analyzed using content analysis.
Results: The mean “Relative Usability” score was 33.19 % (low to moderate). The lowest subscale was “Ease of Use” (23.82 %), and the highest was “Content/Output Quality” (42.40 %). In between-group comparisons, women scored higher than men across most domains (no significant differences for “System Terminology and Information” and “System Capabilities”). Likewise, officers/managers outscored researchers on most scales (no significant differences for “System Terminology and Information,” “Personalization,” and “Error Management”). The qualitative analysis yielded five main categories: complex pathways/menus and similarity of options; system errors and saving/storage problems; insufficient training and support; strengths in documentation and national integration; and improvement suggestions including process simplification, redesign of search/reporting, personalized dashboards, and attention to a mobile version.
Conclusions: Despite strengths in documentation and integration, deficits in ease of use and learnability hinder optimal efficiency and satisfaction. User-centered workflow redesign, improved error handling and feedback, structured training, and continuous user experience monitoring could enhance system adoption, user satisfaction, and productivity.
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