gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Since ProSkive’s first release (2019), the Data Integration Centers (DIC) of the MIRACUM consortium have been using this tool as main portal for the management of research project proposals requiring clinical data [1]. These centers are responsible for data collection, provision, usage and exchange across the consortium. They use several technologies and open source software such as ProSkive to manage their tasks [2].

Among its large range of stakeholders, ProSkive counts 6 main user groups, each of them playing an essential role in the validation and approval process flow of a project request. The workflow itself can differ from DIC to DIC within the consortium, however the performed key actions are more or less the following: submission of a request, returning a request to its applicant for revision, revision and re-submission, assignment to voting committee(s), casting of a vote/veto, casting of a final/master vote [1].

How fast a proposal moves through the listed workflow steps strongly depends on corresponding user groups ability to perform their respective tasks in short periods of time. ProSkive ensures end users awareness of awaiting tasks through automatic E-Mail notifications during key actions. In addition to E-Mails, ProSkive provides filter and search functionalities to help users quickly find relevant applications and perform targeted tasks. It was however noticed, despite the mentioned features, that requests often remain unseen/forgotten, causing the approval workflow to pause unnecessarily. There is therefore a need to increase the user’s awareness of awaiting tasks and stimulate him/her to perform them promptly.

Methods: In an attempt to provide an answer to this need, the idea of a dashboard feature was explored with representatives of few DIC in form of online focus group sessions. Each user group’s perspective was discussed thoroughly [3]. User requirements were collected. A first prototype dashboard for ProSkive was conceptualized and developed.

Results: It consists of several views, each corresponding to a user group/role. Upon signing in, users are greeted with the dashboard view for their role. It displays all relevant applications in 4 organized blocks, with emphasis on requests needing imminent attention/action. Period filters allow to view recent activities until 12 months back.

Discussion and conclusion: In order for the dashboard to fulfill its informative and stimulative purpose, viewing it shouldn’t depend on users’ willingness to navigate to it. Greeting users with the dashboard upon signing in thus ensures that they see it at least once per session. The implemented dashboard prototype doesn’t only display time critical information, but also allows the execution of shown tasks directly from within it. While E-Mail notifications about awaiting tasks could be saved for later and then easily forgotten, the dashboard stimulates users to perform a task immediately upon noticing it. The combination of those two features should therefore be a decent answer to unnecessary workflow pauses. The dashboard was made available in a recent minor release. Feedback is currently being collected and will be evaluated for further development. Efficiency improvements haven’t been measured yet, however the dashboard’s positive effect on ProSkive’s usability is already noticeable.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

The authors declare that an ethics committee vote is not required.