Cognitive Walkthrough Versus Usability Testing: Evaluating a GI Symptom-Tracking Application for Caregivers

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This research compares two usability evaluation methods, Cognitive Walkthrough (CW) and Usability Testing (UT), in identifying design issues in a gastrointestinal symptom-tracking application for caregivers of people with neurodevelopmental disorders. Digital health tools increasingly support caregivers in tracking symptoms and managing care, but poor usability can compromise the integrity of the health data these tools are designed to capture. Three CW evaluators and seven UT participants completed the same six tasks with the application. Across both methods, 17 usability issues were identified: six detected by both CW and UT, four unique to CW, and seven unique to UT. CW surfaced system-level and workflow problems such as broken flows, missing feedback, and misleading navigation, while UT revealed experiential challenges, including confusion, frustration, and misunderstandings about the application’s intended purpose. This study also describes how issues confirmed by both methods were used to prioritize redesign decisions under resource constraints.