Computerized Maintenance Management System for hospitals in Nepal

Existing CMMS solutions designed for high-income environments, often fail to seamlessly integrate into the unique workflows and needs of low-to-middle income settings (Cohen et al., 2023).

The central problem identified in the Nepalese context is a misalignment between the workflow of BMETs and the CMMS interface. An overwhelming amount of information and functionalities within the system, making it challenging for the BMETs to identify tasks. Reinforced by, that the Nepalese context places less value on data creation and tend to operate more in accordance with tasks that can be observed physically.

To identify and address this problem, a comparative study was conducted between a Dutch hospital and two Nepalese hospitals. Data was gathered using the context-mapping method (Vissers et al., 2005), and a comprehensive understanding of the system’s interface was obtained through the streamlined cognitive walkthrough method (Spencer, 2000). The design goal was to create an inclusive interface for BMETs in Nepal through the visualization of medical device data. Norman and Draper’s design steps (1986) were used to generate an iterative approach for designing an CMMS interface. A mixed-method approach, including the System Usability Scale (Brooke, 1996), was used to evaluate the iterative prototypes and the final interface design.

The results of this study showed, by visualizing medical device data, a transition from a data-centric system to a task-oriented system. BMETs in Nepal confirmed through evaluation that the final design represents an improvement on the systems towards a task-oriented interface that aligns more with their daily workflow.

Students involved:

Anne Moonen (Design for Interaction, graduated September 2023)