# Usability from the citizens point of view in digital healthcare and social services - Savonia AMK

> Usability in digital healthcare and social services relates strongly to the services perceived usefulness and utility.

## The Shift to Digital Services
Digital services and mobile applications have become integral to daily life across various sectors. Many service providers have reduced in-person services in favor of digital offerings, as they are accessible to most citizens and help reduce manual labor. This digitalization challenges public service vendors to transform their service production methods (Rust & Kannan 2002, 3, 235).

In healthcare and social services, expectations for digitalization are high, with rapid adoption aimed at achieving cost-efficiency and promoting self-management for citizens (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2023, 10-21). However, if these services lack usability, citizens tend to dismiss them.

## Factors Increasing Usability
Research indicates that the most important factor for citizens is the ability to access basic information easily, presented in non-medical, understandable language through dynamic or interactive elements (Bondre et al. 2022, 11; Păsărelu et al. 2023, 10-11).

Key usability drivers include:
* **Utility and Relevance:** Services that offer relevant content tailored to user needs.
* **Case Management:** Features that guide the user to the appropriate service, solution, or professional (Bondre et al. 2022; Brooks et al. 2023a, 13).
* **Engagement Tools:** Regular notifications and reminders.
* **Design:** User-friendly, aesthetic interfaces that are easy to navigate (Raghunath et al. 2020, 426; Hentati et al. 2021, 7; Shi et al. 2021, 4).

## Factors Reducing Usability
Usability is most commonly reduced when a service is difficult to use, unappealing, or repetitive. Technical barriers—such as difficulties in acquiring the service or requirements for high technical understanding—also negatively impact the user experience (Shi et al 2021, 4; Bondre et al. 2022, 15).

Other factors that reduce usability include:
* Insufficient user guidance.
* Lack of customization opportunities.
* Absence of reminders and notifications.
* Overwhelming amounts of information, particularly when presented in text-heavy formats or using medicalized terminology (Hentati et al. 2021, 7; Brooks et al. 2023, 11).

## Conclusion
Digital services only achieve their goals if they provide value to the citizen and are designed to match the needs of specific user segments. Usability evaluations and qualitative studies involving real service users are essential to identify barriers and needs. Future development should prioritize clear, understandable information and intuitive navigation that shields the citizen from complex organizational hierarchies.

This article is based on Eveliina Hotanen’s Master’s Thesis: [https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202404106230](https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202404106230)

## Authors
* **Eveliina Hotanen**, student in Master’s Degree Programme in Digital Health, Savonia University of Applied Sciences
* **Elisa Snicker**, Lecturer, CBC, MSc (Econ and Bus Admin), MSc (Health Sci.), Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Unit of Continuous Learning, Master School, Kuopio
* **Liisa Klemola**, Lecturer, PhD, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Unit of Continuous Learning, Master School, Kuopio, Finland

## References
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