Development of MijnAVL, an Interactive Portal to Empower Breast and Lung Cancer Survivors: An Iterative, Multi-Stakeholder Approach
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: MijnAVL (MyAVL) is an interactive portal being developed to empower cancer survivors. Literature review and focus groups yielded the selection of features such as access to the electronic medical record (EMR), patient reported outcomes (PROs) and related feedback, and a physical activity support program. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to present a final design of MijnAVL based on (1) health professionals' evaluation of proposed features, (2) cancer survivors' evaluation of a first draft, and (3) cancer survivors' evaluation of a functional online prototype. METHODS: Professionals from various disciplines gave input to the content of and procedures related to MijnAVL. Subsequently, 16 cancer survivors participated in an interview to evaluate content and graphic design of a first draft (shown with screenshots). Finally, 7 survivors participated in a usability test with a fully functional prototype. They performed predefined tasks (eg, logging in, finding a test result, completing a questionnaire) while thinking aloud. Descriptive statistics and simple content analysis were used to analyze the data of both the interviews and the usability tests. RESULTS: Professionals supported access to the EMR (eg, histology reports, lab results, and their letters to general practitioners). They also informed the development of PROs and the physical activity support program. Based on the first draft, survivors selected the preferred graphic design, approved the features and provided suggestions for the content (eg, explanation of medical jargon, more concise texts, notification by emails). Usability tests revealed that it was relatively easy to navigate the website and use the different features. Recommendations included, among others, a frequently asked questions section and the use of hyperlinks between different parts of the website. CONCLUSIONS: The development of MijnAVL, an interactive portal to empower breast and lung cancer survivors, was performed iteratively and involved multiple groups of end-users. This approach resulted in a usable and understandable final version. Its effectiveness should be determined in further research.
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According to Kuijpers et al, professionals might be primarily interested in dashboards indicating worsening symptoms, while survivors seem interested in monitoring changes in symptom experience and functional health, preferring both worsened and improved scores.
“Nevertheless, and according to Kuijpers et al [74], although professionals might be primarily interested in dashboards indicating a worsening of symptoms to help patients reduce symptom burden, survivors seem to be interested in monitoring changes in their symptom experience and functional health, preferring to see both worsened and improved scores depicted in such visualizations.”
From Development and Evaluation of the Usefulness, Usability, and Feasibility of iNNOV Breast Cancer: Mixed Methods Study (2022) · cites this paper as [74]
The MijnAVL platform was iteratively developed with survivor input as a patient-facing web portal to enhance usability and provide accessible educational content.
“the MijnAVL [21] platform was iteratively developed with survivor input as a patient-facing web portal to enhance usability and provide accessible educational content.”
From User-Centered Design for Digital Patient-Navigation Tools in Oncology: Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
OncoKompas [13] and MijnAVL [21] involved cancer survivors directly in iterative prototype testing to refine content, navigation features, and overall functionality.
“Tools such as OncoKompas [13] and MijnAVL [21] exemplify this approach, with cancer survivors directly involved in iterative prototype testing to refine content, navigation features, and overall functionality.”
From User-Centered Design for Digital Patient-Navigation Tools in Oncology: Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
Iterative development of MijnAVL presented by Kuijpers et al [21] led to usability improvements, including the addition of FAQs and hyperlinks to improve patient experience.
“Likewise, iterative development of MijnAVL presented by Kuijpers et al [21] led to usability improvements, including the addition of FAQs and hyperlinks to improve patient experience.”
From User-Centered Design for Digital Patient-Navigation Tools in Oncology: Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [21]
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- Authors
- Kuijpers, W., Groen, W. G., Oldenburg, H. S., Wouters, M. W., Aaronson, N. K., & van Harten, W. H.
- Affiliations
- The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NL)
- Venue
- JMIR Research Protocols
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2015-01-22
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e14
- ISSN
- 1929-0748 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4319089
- OpenAlex
- W2066886659
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 10.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- JMIR Research Protocols (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- KWF Kankerbestrijding
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Electronic Health Records Systems
- Keywords
- cancer survivorship, breast cancer survivors, lung cancer survivors, patient empowerment, patient-reported outcomes, usability testing
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