Context mediated usability testing.

Usability testing is an important part of health information technology HIT design. However, usability issues will vary by the contexts where a system is used. To date there are few studies that have described contextual factors of usability testing. This paper uses a case study of a surgical information system to develop a model of four contextual categories that impact usability testing. We discuss each of the contexts in detail and then suggest how they can be used to develop a general framework to enable better understanding of the role of context in usability testing and evaluation of HIT.