User-Centered Design and Evaluation of an Interactive Dashboard to Support Leprosy Monitoring and Control in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5753/reic.2026.6858Keywords:
Leprosy, Data Visualization, DashboardsAbstract
Leprosy remains a significant public health issue in Brazil, with a high number of cases reported annually, posing challenges in monitoring and control. Data-driven strategies are essential for enhancing disease surveillance and supporting the goals outlined in the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-2030. Current tools to monitor leprosy in Brazil have several limitations and there is no documentation on the user requirements and empirical evaluation results of such tools. This can compromise leprosy monitoring effectiveness, timely response and data-informed decision-making in public health. This study presents the specification, development and evaluation of an interactive dashboard that leverages data from Brazil’s Disease Notification System (SINAN) to provide a detailed visualization of leprosy cases. The dashboard includes critical metrics on patient demographics, geographical distributions, and disease progression, facilitating data-driven decision-making. The process ensured that the final dashboard aligned with the specific needs and tasks of health professionals managing leprosy cases. The dashboard supports data analysis and trend visualization, empowering users to track leprosy patterns, manage cases more effectively, and anticipate resource needs. Usability tests indicated that users were able to complete analytical tasks using the dashboard with satisfactory degree of success. This work demonstrates the value of data visualization in public health information systems, providing a replicable model for tracking leprosy. The attributes, tasks and visual representations proposed can be reused by other researchers and practitioners to build similar tools. Also, by offering rapid access to actionable insights, the tool can enhance response capabilities and resource planning for leprosy and similar health challenges.
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