The importance of recruiting the right patients for the usability test.
As our client wanted to test the smartphone app before actual use in a clinical trial, it was important to conduct the research with the intended app users. The user profiles were defined based on the requirements of the clinical trial, which led to four participant profiles.
Patients with this neurodegenerative condition can potentially have issues traveling by themselves, which could be problematic for interviews conducted at a central location studio. For this study, in-home interviews were not recommended as we wanted to ensure a similar setup across all interviews. Participants were asked to come to the interview with a study partner (family, friend, caregiver). Those who were not willing or could not come accompanied were offered transportation to and from the study location.
Based on all study requirements and limitations (time, budget), uintent created a recruitment screener reflecting as closely as possible the clinical trial requirements. Recruitment of all participants was performed by our preferred medical recruitment partner who is experienced in recruiting patients (and their sub-groups) from this indication, in London. Several methods were leveraged (panels, patient advocacy groups, physician referral, etc.) and we achieved full recruitment.
Before the interview, participants were asked to complete a clinical anchor assessing different types of cognitive abilities. The results helped to calibrate the research sessions (avoid floor/ceiling effects) and increase granularity of disease severity for analysis. Results from the sessions and from the clinical anchor were analyzed together.