Eight Design Principles for Effective Drug Safety Dashboards

Why It Matters

Designing effective dashboards for complex data, such as drug safety surveillance, requires a deep understanding of user needs and how they interact with information. This research provides a framework for creating such tools that are not only functional but also intuitive and actionable for diverse user groups.

Key Finding

The research established eight core design principles for drug safety dashboards, derived from user feedback and affordance theory, which significantly improved the usability of a prototype.

Key Findings

• Developed 8 design principles (DPs) for drug safety dashboards.
• DPs address immediate use, pattern identification, trend tracking, user-controlled views, data granularity, visual attention guidance, public value, and decision-making support.
• A high-fidelity prototype achieved an 84% usability score via heuristic evaluation.

Research Evidence

Aim: To develop and iteratively refine design principles for drug safety surveillance dashboards through active end-user involvement, utilizing affordance theory.

Method: Design Science Research with iterative design and evaluation cycles.

Procedure: Conducted co-design workshops, usability testing with think-aloud protocols, and heuristic evaluations involving both professional and non-professional end users across three iterative design cycles. Affordance theory was used to refine design principles based on user feedback and prototype interactions.

Sample Size: 10 participants (4 professional end users, 6 non-professional end users)

Context: Drug safety surveillance and healthcare informatics.

Design Principle

Design for immediate use, pattern identification, trend tracking, user-controlled views, customizable data granularity, guided visual attention, public value, and stakeholder-specific decision support.

How to Apply

When designing any data-intensive dashboard, engage end-users early and often, and consider how the interface's affordances can guide users towards meaningful insights and actions.

Limitations

The study involved a small sample size of end users, and the findings may be specific to the context of drug safety surveillance.

Student Guide (IB Design Technology)

Simple Explanation: To make a good drug safety dashboard, designers should ask users what they need and how they use it, then use design ideas (like how buttons look and work) to make it easy to understand and use.

Why This Matters: This research shows how important it is to involve users in the design process to create effective tools that help people make important decisions, like monitoring drug safety.

Critical Thinking: How might the 'bootstrap problem' for new users of drug safety dashboards be addressed in other complex data visualization contexts?

IA-Ready Paragraph: This design project draws upon established principles for effective dashboard design, particularly those identified in research on drug safety surveillance. The developed design principles, such as designing for immediate use, enabling pattern identification, and supporting user-controlled views, provide a robust framework for creating intuitive and actionable interfaces. By incorporating these principles and engaging in iterative user testing, the aim is to develop a solution that enhances user understanding and decision-making capabilities.

Project Tips

• Clearly define your target user groups and their specific needs.
• Use iterative prototyping and testing to refine your design based on user feedback.

How to Use in IA

• Reference the design principles identified in this study as a foundation for your own dashboard design.
• Justify your design choices by relating them back to these principles and user needs.

Examiner Tips

• Ensure your design process clearly demonstrates user involvement and iterative refinement.
• Explain how your design choices address specific user needs and usability heuristics.

Independent Variable: ["Design principles (e.g., immediate use, pattern identification, user control)","Affordance theory application"]

Dependent Variable: ["Dashboard usability score","User interaction patterns","Effectiveness in guiding decision-making"]

Controlled Variables: ["User expertise level (professional vs. non-professional)","Type of data being visualized (drug safety)","Iterative design cycles"]

Strengths

• Employs a rigorous Design Science Research methodology.
• Integrates user-centered design with theoretical frameworks (affordance theory).

Critical Questions

• To what extent are these design principles generalizable to dashboards in other critical domains?
• How can the 'signalizing uncertainty' principle be effectively implemented across different visualization types?

Extended Essay Application

• Investigate the impact of specific affordances on user trust and perceived reliability in data dashboards.
• Explore the ethical considerations of designing decision-support tools for public health surveillance.

Source

Design Principles for Interactive Dashboards in Drug Safety Surveillance: Design Science Research · JMIR Medical Informatics · 2026 · 10.2196/75936