Abstract

Today, websites related to health care are a great resource for information, especially for those who have health difficulties. The majority of people use the internet as a reputable source of health information while searching for information. One of the most common health problems people nowadays struggle with is mental health disorders including anxiety, depression, etc. Because mental health issues are so prevalent in today’s society, it is important to test the usability of existing mental health websites. In this study, usability issues with the two popular mental health websites mentalhelp and goodtherapy are highlighted, and the best possible solutions are suggested. For this purpose, a questionnaire-based study is conducted, and current usability heuristics provided by Jakob Nielsen served as the basis for the study’s questions. The 5-point Likert scale-based questionnaire also contains the permission form, pre-study questionnaire, tasks to be completed and post-study questionnaire. The 25 participants were initially given a pre-study questionnaire and an informed consent form. Following that, visitors completed a post-study questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale on each website. Additionally, some solutions are provided to get around usability criteria that will assist the designer in resolving these problems in the future and giving consumers of mental health websites a better user experience.

Keywords: Human Computer Interaction, Mental Health, Website Usability, Heuristic Evaluation, Interface Design, Questionnaire, Usability Heuristics, Interaction Design.