Fourteen usability principles for the design of electronic medical records

The research team at the National Center for Cognitive Informatics and Decision Making in Healthcare, based upon an evidence review, proposed these 14 usability principles which may guide the design and implementation of EHRs:

1. Consistency—Design consistency and standards utilization
2. Visibility—System state visibility
3. Match—System and world match
4. Minimalism—Minimalist design
5. Memory—Memory load minimization
6. Feedback—Informative feedback
7. Flexibility—Flexible and customizable system
8. Message—Useful error messages
9. Error—Use error prevention
10. Closure—Clear closure
11. Reversibility—Reversible actions
12. Language—User language utilization
13. Control—User control
14. Documentation—Help and documentation

Adapted from ( Zhang J, Walji MF. TURF: toward a unified framework of EHR usability. J Biomed Inform 2011;44:1056–67)