Digital Twin for Person-Centred Homecare : Usability and Interface Design for Caregiver Support

Sammanfattning

Digital twin technology is increasingly recognized for its potential to support continuous monitoring, early risk detection, and informed decision-making in healthcare. In homecare settings, caregivers and care managers must monitor multiple older adults while ensuring safety, well-being, and timely interventions. However, many existing digital twin systems primarily emphasize technical functionality and data accuracy, with limited attention to usability and interface design. This thesis addresses this gap by designing and evaluating a user-centred digital twin dashboard prototype for person-centred homecare, focusing on caregivers and care managers as primary users. The study investigates how interface design principles can enhance usability, minimize cognitive load, and effectively communicate deviations from daily routines, including sleep patterns, vital signs, and environmental conditions. A high-fidelity interactive prototype was developed using Figma, incorporating a login screen, an overview dashboard with alert filtering, and detailed customer views. Usability testing was conducted with six homecare professionals from Falun municipality. Participants completed predefined tasks and provided feedback using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). The results indicate good overall usability and low perceived cognitive load. All participants completed the assigned tasks successfully without assistance. Participants highlighted the clear presentation of alerts, intuitive navigation, and effective visual hierarchy supported by colour-coded information. Overall, the proposed digital-twin dashboard prototype supports caregivers’ monitoring and prioritization tasks in homecare settings, with good usability and low perceived cognitive load.