System and method for building intuitive clinical trial applications

Abstract

The present invention allows clinical trial organizers to operate a platform for creating trial specific custom mobile applications at a price point that would not be possible if the application were created by programmers on a trial-by-trial basis. The invention shortens build time by creating a hierarchy of questions that changes the next question posed to the user based upon their answer to a previous question thereby reducing the number of questions the user must answer while providing the application creation platform with the detailed information relevant to a specific clinical trial. The platform uses a simulation builder that provides a test version of the application to the user mobile device during the application creation process thereby allowing the user to see the layout of the application as they progress through the building process. While building the application, the user can create a simulated version of the application in real time deliver the same to the mobile device of the user. The system creates a handshaking process that allows the user to create annotations and/or edits in the simulated application that are communicated back to the building platform. Changes made in the simulated application will affect the landing page the user sees when returning to the building platform. The system will collect usability data from a clinical trial application on a plurality of trial subject and trial organizer mobile devices. The system can measure variables such as time on page, misentries, and missed selections of icons to determine common trouble spots for users. That data may be used to redesign the interface or process flow of the application to optimize usability

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for modifying graphic user interfaces, the method comprising:
 generating a simulation of an application executable to provide a display of a graphic user interface that includes an arrangement of application elements;   transmitting the simulation to one or more mobile devices over a communication network;   polling the mobile devices for a user selection corresponding to one or more of the application elements;   querying a database based on the user selections, wherein querying the database includes identifying one or more options for changing one or more of the arrangement of application elements;   receiving one or more selected options corresponding to an identified change; and   updating the display of the graphic user interface in real-time based on the selected options.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating a display of the identified options, wherein the selected options are received via the display of the identified options. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the application is published to a plurality of user devices, and further comprising collecting application usage data from the user devices. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein collecting the application usage data from the user devices includes polling the user devices for the application usage data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising continuing to poll the user devices until a sample size corresponding to the plurality of user devices meets a predetermined sample size threshold. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the application is executable by one or more of the user devices to record the application usage data. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the application usage data includes one or more measurements associated with each of the application elements in the graphic user interface. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 averaging a set of the measurements associated with an identified one of the application elements based on the measurements received from the user devices;   comparing the measurement average associated with the identified application element to a threshold; and   generating an alert based on the comparison, wherein the alert includes one or more links based on the identified application element associated with the measurement average.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising identifying that the application usage data includes an order and set of locations associated with selections made within the graphic user interface, and wherein updating the display of the graphic user interface in real-time further includes rearranging the arrangement of application elements within the graphic user interface based on the identified order and set of locations. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein rearranging the arrangement of application elements within the graphic user interface is further based on a frequency of the identified order and set of locations associated with the user devices. 
     
     
         11 . A system for modifying graphic user interfaces, the system comprising:
 memory that stores a database regarding a plurality of application elements;   a processor that executes a simulation module stored in memory, wherein the processor executes the simulation module to generate a simulation of an application executable to provide a display of a graphic user interface that includes an arrangement of application elements; and   a communication interface that communicates over a communication network, wherein the communication interface:
 transmits the simulation to one or more mobile devices over the communication network; 
 polls the mobile devices for a user selection corresponding to one or more of the application elements, wherein the processor queries the database based on the user selections, wherein querying the database includes identifying one or more options for changing one or more of the arrangement of application elements; and 
 receives one or more selected options corresponding to an identified change; 
   wherein the processor updates the display of the graphic user interface in real-time based on the selected options.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to generate a display of the identified options, wherein the selected options are received via the display of the identified options. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the application is published to a plurality of user devices, and wherein the communication interface further collects application usage data from the user devices. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the communication interface collects the application usage data from the user devices by polling the user devices for the application usage data. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the communication interface continues to poll the user devices until a sample size corresponding to the plurality of user devices meets a predetermined sample size threshold. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the application is executable by one or more of the user devices to record the application usage data. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the application usage data includes one or more measurements associated with each of the application elements in the graphic user interface. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to:
 average a set of the measurements associated with an identified one of the application elements based on the measurements received from the user devices;   compare the measurement average associated with the identified application element to a threshold; and   generate an alert based on the comparison, wherein the alert includes one or more links based on the identified application element associated with the measurement average.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to identify that the application usage data includes an order and set of locations associated with selections made within the graphic user interface, and wherein the processor updates the display of the graphic user interface in real-time by further rearranging the arrangement of application elements within the graphic user interface based on the identified order and set of locations. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the processor rearranges the arrangement of application elements within the graphic user interface=further based on a frequency of the identified order and set of locations associated with the user devices. 
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform method for modifying graphic user interfaces, the method comprising:
 generating a simulation of an application executable to provide a display of a graphic user interface that includes an arrangement of application elements;   transmitting the simulation to one or more mobile devices over a communication network;   polling the mobile devices for a user selection corresponding to one or more of the application elements;   querying a database based on the user selections, wherein querying the database includes identifying one or more options for changing one or more of the arrangement of application elements;   receiving one or more selected options corresponding to an identified change; and   updating the display of the graphic user interface in real-time based on the selected options.