Are smartphone-based healthcare applications designed for older adults in India? A user goals-oriented heuristic evaluation

Smartphone usage for communication and content consumption is growing among older adults in India. However, most older adults still hesitate to use smartphone-based healthcare applications. The Indian healthcare sector is undergoing a transformation through various digital initiatives and services. With India's ageing population on the rise, evaluating the usability of healthcare applications for older adults is crucial. This study aims to identify the primary healthcare goals of older adults, evaluate usability issues hindering the accomplishment of their goals within the existing healthcare applications, and provide recommendations for resolving the usability issues. This study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, a card sorting activity with twenty-five older adults identified four primary user goals. These goals were: booking nearby doctor appointments, consulting doctors online, ordering medicines, and booking health checkups. In the second phase, a user goals-oriented heuristic evaluation of existing healthcare applications was performed by seven expert evaluators using older adult's persona cards. This study highlights key usability issues in existing healthcare applications and provides recommendations to improve their usability for older adults in India. These insights can help guide designers, developers, and researchers to create accessible healthcare applications and promote digital healthcare adoption among older adults.