The eye-tracking test was done in the eye-tracking lab at Monash University. Participants representing a cross-section of the population were presented with one of two types of reports, a pictorial prototype report or a standard HbA1c test result.
Participants viewed and examined the report on a computer screen. While the report was shown, eye-tracking technology recorded the parts of the screen where attention was being directed. A questionnaire (which covered attention, understanding, and attitudes) was then administered, followed by an interview about content of the report. A content recall (memory) test was administered the following day by calling the participant at an agreed time and re-administering the interview questions about content.
The interview and the memory test were digitally recorded for analysis, with the consent of participants. The study was approved by both the University of Melbourne and Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee. Participants were reimbursed for participating in the experiment. Each session took approximately 45 minutes, comprising 15 minutes to examine the report, 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire, and 15 minutes of interview. The content recall (memory) test took 10 minutes.
Initially, each experiment began with a brief background of the study followed by asking the participant for permission to take a photograph of him/her. That image was transferred onto the computer that stored the report. The participant was then asked to read a written statement of the scenario of the disease and the report. After reading the report assigned to each participant, they were asked about their memory of the content, and their views on the report (e.g. its understand ability or informativeness), on appropriately labelled 7-point scales. Then an appointment was made to call the participant the following day to administer the memory test again. The data was analysed quantitatively (Simple Descriptive Analysis, Correlations, Partial Least Squares and Analysis of Variance) and qualitatively (Content Analysis and extreme case analysis) to highlight differences between groups.