"User Experiences of Spanish-Speaking Latinos with the Frontier Behavioral Health Website"

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About the Author

Raquel L. Dean holds a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in English with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from Eastern Washington University. She currently works for Kalispell Regional Healthcare as a School-based Mental Health Worker and plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in the near future. Her research interests lie in both psychology and technical communication, with topics including: minority mental health, child psychopathology (childhood trauma and anxiety disorders) and evaluating barriers among minorities when accessing and receiving mental health care, by facilitating usability tests to examine information design and observe the users' experience.

Contents

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Test Goals and Objectives

Participants

Scenario and Test Tasks

Metrics

Results

Findings and Discussion

Conclusion

Limitations of Study

Recommendations for Future Research

References

Appendix A: Pre-Test Survey

Appendix B: Recruitment Email

Appendix C: Post-Test Interview

Recommendations for Future Research

The findings of this study have brought forward issues that can be addressed by further research in the field of technical communication. This study points to the importance of information design when it comes to websites, more specifically websites that offer pertinent information regarding mental health services and behavioral healthcare. This research highlights the benefits of facilitating usability tests of culturally diverse users that may need to access this kind of information. When creating a website that is designed to guide users on the process of how to receive and access mental health services, specifically to ethnic minority users, designers must recognize that cultural backgrounds and language differences influence experiences. By expanding this research and exploring the factors that affect ethnic minority experiences when interacting with mental health care websites, organizations can better facilitate usability tests that improve the design of their website, allowing such websites to be more culturally sensitive and accessible.

What usability testing of the website design can do is shed light on potential barriers that can interfere with their diverse users' experiences. There can be issues with the design that can significantly affect the user’s experience to the point where users are deterred from the website due to its inaccessibility or complex design. These barriers can then be directly addressed in order to provide the most satisfying experience to their targeted audience. The facilitation of usability tests would also help identify if there are significant issues with visibility and accessibility that may be contributing to the errors and difficulties users were observed experiencing during my study.

Future usability tests will help solidify the issues and major findings found in this study. More usability tests can shed light on issues that were not caught, due to the limitations of this study, or future tests can fill gaps that were not addressed with this study. Frontier Behavioral Health, like other mental health organizations, can greatly benefit from performing a series of usability tests on their website with representative users. Many mental health and behavioral health care organizations claim to be committed and dedicated to helping their direct, diverse communities, thereby they should invest in producing more research and tests that evaluate their websites, to ensure they are providing a satisfying, efficient, and meaningful experience to their users, as well as meeting their underlying needs.