Formative interviews for a user-centered design study on developing an effective gateway for health research data search - towards a sustainable wellbeing environment

Despite the abundance of biomedical databases in Taiwan, there is currently no unified portal that effectively facilitates health research data searches to drive scientific discovery and promote a sustainable wellbeing environment. This study aims to design a user-centered gateway for health research data search, focusing on usability and ensuring that the platform supports the retrieval of fit-for purpose datasets while maintaining data privacy, accessibility, and transparency. A user-centered design approach was employed, involving personal interviews with domain experts. An initial set of questions, derived from literature reviews and expert consultations, explored various dimensions of health data usability. The interview results identified key criteria for assessing the effectiveness of health research data searches in supporting sustainable health outcomes. Seven critical factors were identified for quick confirmation of search requirements: follow-up, publisher, purpose, source, time lag, data custodian, and specific requirements. The interviews also highlighted a lack of familiarity with dataset retrieval tools, emphasizing the need for cultivating user knowledge and habits to promote wider adoption and effective use of the gateway. As dataset retrieval needs in Taiwan remain a relatively new area, understanding the characteristics of datasets and tailoring search patterns to meet user requirements are essential. This framework provides a foundation for improving health data accessibility. Future research should explore advanced methodologies for addressing diverse user needs, including intelligent recommendation systems to support a sustainable wellbeing environment.