Heuristic Evaluation of the Usability of the Autonomous System: An Assistive Technology for People with ALS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36557/2674-9432.2026v5n1p2431-2450Palavras-chave:
Usability; Heuristic evaluation; Autonomus; Assistive technology; ALS.Resumo
This article presents a heuristic usability evaluation of the Autonomus System, an assistive technology developed by Technological Innovation Laboratory in Health (LAIS/UFRN) to support communication through eye blinking for people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The objective was to identify the system's strengths and weaknesses in order to propose improvements that increase its accessibility and effectiveness. The research was based on Nielsen's Heuristics, using a questionnaire administered to five expert evaluators. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, range, variance, and confidence interval), complemented by classification of problem severity. The results indicated satisfactory performance, with emphasis on the visibility of system status and consistency of the interface, although aspects such as clarity of instructions, efficiency, and documentation require adjustments. The conclusion is that Autonomus represents a low-cost national solution with significant potential for social impact, but that it must evolve to fully meet the needs of users at different stages of the disease.
Downloads
Referências
REFERENCES
Lawrence D, Tavakol S. Design Needs – Building the Picture. Em: Balanced Website Design [Internet]. London: Springer London; 2007 [cited September 7, 2025]. p. 105–40. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-795-4_6
Grilo A. Experiência do usuário em interfaces digitais: compreendendo o design nas tecnologias de informação [Internet]. SEDIS-UFRN, organizador. Natal; 2019 [cited June 29, 2025]. Available at: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/27011
Brooke J. SUS-A quick and dirty usability scale. Usability evaluation in industry. 1996;189(194):4–7.
de Carvalho LR, Évora YDM, Zem-Mascarenhas SH. Assessment of the usability of a digital learning technology prototype for monitoring intracranial pressure. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem [Internet]. 2016 [cited September 7, 2025];24. Available at: https://www.scielo.br/j/rlae/a/VX8LgNGtLBMyyDMG7RN3z6P
Shneiderman B. Creating Creativity: User Interfaces for Supporting Innovation [Internet]. 2000. Available at: http://www.ozemail.com.au/
Shneiderman B, Plaisant Chapter C. Designing the user interface: strategies for effective human-computer interaction. India; 2010.
Norman DA. The Design of Everyday Things : Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Basic Books; 2013.
PROJETO REVELA. Autonomus [Internet]. [Cited on September 16, 2025]. Available at: https://revela.lais.ufrn.br/projetos/autonomus/
PROJETO REVELA. Projeto RevELA [Internet]. [Cited on September 16, 2025]. Available at: https://revela.lais.ufrn.br/projeto-revela/
Alper S, Raharinirina S. Assistive technology for individuals with disabilities: A review and synthesis of the literature. Journal of Special Education Technology. 2006;21(2):47–64.
Alper S, Raharinirina S. The Assistive Technology Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-394). Vol. 21, Journal of Special Education Technology. 1995.
Araujo LAD, da Costa Filho WM. A LEI 13.146/2015 (O estatuto da pessoa com deficiência ou a lei brasileira de inclusão da pessoa com deficiência) e sua efetividade. Direito e Desenvolvimento. 2016;7(13):12–30.
Nielsen J. Enhancing the Explanatory Power of Usability Heuristics. 1994.
Nielsen J. Usabilidade na web. Elsevier; 2007.
Nielsen J. Usability 101: Introduction to usability. 2012 [cited on May 12, 2025]; Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/
Nielsen J, Molich R. Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces. Em: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. 1990. p. 249–56.
Nielsen J. Usability inspection methods. Em: Conference companion on Human factors in computing systems. 1994. p. 413–4.
da Silva AP, Barbosa BJP, Hino P, Nichiata LYI. Usabilidade dos aplicativos móveis para profissionais de saúde: Revisão integrativa. J Health Inform. 2021;13(3).
Nielsen J. Usability heuristics for user interface design [Internet]. 2024 [Cited on September 14, 2025]. Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
Pinhata Gabrielle. 10 heurísticas de Nielsen: Melhorando a usabilidade de suas interfaces [Internet]. 2023 [Cited on September 14, 2025]. Available at: https://www.programmers.com.br/blog/10-heuristicas-de-nielsen-melhorando-a-usabilidade/
Nielsen J. How to conduct a heuristic evaluation. Nielsen Norman Group. 1995;1(1):8.
Likert R. A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives of Psychology. 1932;22 140:55.
Nielsen J. Severity ratings for usability problems. Papers and Essays [Internet]. 1995 [cited on May 12, 2025];54:1–2. Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-to-rate-the-severity-of-usability-problems/
Barbalho I, Valentim R, Júnior MD, Barros D, Júnior HP, Fernandes F, et al. National registry for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review for structuring population registries of motor neuron diseases. BMC Neurol. 1o de dezembro de 2021;21(1).
Fernandes F, Barbalho I, Barros D, Valentim R, Teixeira C, Henriques J, et al. Biomedical signals and machine learning in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review. Vol. 20, BioMedical Engineering Online. BioMed Central Ltd; 2021.
Hardiman O, Al-Chalabi A, Chio A, Corr EM, Logroscino G, Robberecht W, et al. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2017;3(1):1–19.
Wijesekera LC, Nigel Leigh P. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2009;4(1):3.
Fernandes F, Barbalho I, Bispo Júnior A, Alves L, Nagem D, Lins H, et al. Digital Alternative Communication for Individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: What We Have. Vol. 12, Journal of Clinical Medicine. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI); 2023.
Barbosa E. Fonoaudiologia & Home Care [Internet]. Thieme Revinter; 2018. Available at: https://books.google.com.br/books?id=fKdTDwAAQBAJ
Rabelo H, Cordeiro AMR, Oliveira AC, dos Santos Fernandes FR, de Castro Lins HW, Barbalho IMP, et al. Casas Inteligentes para pessoas com Esclerose Lateral Amiotrófica (ELA): Uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura. INTERFERENCE: A JOURNAL OF AUDIO CULTURE. 2025;11(2):47–64.
Gosmanova KA, Carmack CS, Goldberg D, Fitzpatrick K, Zoltan B, Zeitlin DM, et al. Eeg-based brain-computer interface access to tobii dynavox communicator 5. Em: Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America. 2017. p. 1–4.
Medeiros PA de L, Silva GVS da, Fernandes FR dos S, Sánchez-Gendriz I, Lins HWC, Barros DM da S, et al. Efficient machine learning approach for volunteer eye-blink detection in real-time using webcam. Expert Syst Appl. 1o de fevereiro de 2022;188.
Medeiros P, Silva G, Fernandes F, Gendriz I, Barros D, Lins H, et al. Computer Vision and AI Applied to Blink Detection for Communication Interface for ALS Patients. 2020;
LoPresti EF, Mihailidis A, Kirsch N. Assistive technology for cognitive rehabilitation: State of the art. Vol. 14, Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. 2004. p. 5–39.
Ull C, Hamsen U, Weckwerth C, Schildhauer TA, Gaschler R, Waydhas C, et al. Approach to the basic needs in patients on invasive ventilation using eye‐tracking devices for non‐verbal communication. Artif Organs. 2022;46(3):439–50.
Inal Y. Heuristic-based user interface evaluation of the mobile centralized doctor appointment system: A case study. The Electronic Library. 2019;37(1):81–94.
Ball LJ, Nordness AS, Fager SK, Kersch K, Mohr B, Pattee GL, et al. Eye gaze access of AAC technology for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Med Speech Lang Pathol. 2010;18(3):11.
Borasio GD, Voltz R, Miller RG. Palliative care in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurol Clin. 2001;19(4):829–47.
Bouraghi H, Rezayi S, Amirazodi S, Nabovati E, Saeedi S. Evaluating the usability of a national health information system with heuristic method. J Educ Health Promot. 2022;11(1):182.
dos Santos Medeiros SR, Rabelo H, Medeiros A, Lima C, Júnior H, Martins CA. Proposta de Avaliação Heurística de uma Plataforma Web para a Difusão do Pensamento Computacional no Ensino Fundamental. Em: Congresso sobre Tecnologias na Educação (Ctrl+ e). SBC; 2020. p. 395–404.
Nielsen J. Why you only need to test with 5 users [Internet]. Useit. com Alertbox; 2000 [Cited on September 10, 2025]. Available at: https://gruponng.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Why-You-Only-Need-to-Test-with-5-Users.pdf
Interaction Design Foundation. What is Usability Testing?. . 2016 [Cited on September 10, 2025]. Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/usability-testing
Magalhães MN, De Lima ACP. Noções de probabilidade e estatística. Vol. 5. Editora da Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo, Brazil; 2002.
Silvestre A. Análise de dados e estatística descritiva. Escolar editora; 2007.
Kaur P, Stoltzfus J, Yellapu V. Descriptive statistics. Int J Acad Med. 2018;4(1):60–3.
Downloads
Publicado
Como Citar
Edição
Seção
Licença
Copyright (c) 2026 Humberto Rabelo, Antonio Manuel Rochette Cordeiro , Marcelo Raí Araújo, Daniela Aisha Silva de Souza Rabelo, Hertz Wilton de Castro Lins , Janaína Luana Rodrigues da Silva Valentim, Karla Mônica Dantas Coutinho, Luciana Protásio de Melo , Ricardo Alexsandro de Medeiros Valentim
Este trabalho está licenciado sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Você tem o direito de:
- Compartilhar — copiar e redistribuir o material em qualquer suporte ou formato para qualquer fim, mesmo que comercial.
- Adaptar — remixar, transformar, e criar a partir do material para qualquer fim, mesmo que comercial.
- O licenciante não pode revogar estes direitos desde que você respeite os termos da licença.
De acordo com os termos seguintes:
- Atribuição — Você deve dar o crédito apropriado , prover um link para a licença e indicar se mudanças foram feitas . Você deve fazê-lo em qualquer circunstância razoável, mas de nenhuma maneira que sugira que o licenciante apoia você ou o seu uso.
- Sem restrições adicionais — Você não pode aplicar termos jurídicos ou medidas de caráter tecnológico que restrinjam legalmente outros de fazerem algo que a licença permita.
