Acufenometry in the Self-management of Tinnitus: A Revised Interface to Improve the User Experience

Tinnitus is an annoying ringing in the ears, in varying shades and intensities. Tinnitus can affect a patient's overall health and social well-being. The diagnostic procedure of tinnitus usually consists of three steps: an audiological examination, psychoacoustic measurement, and a disability evaluation. The authors recently started a project whose aim is to provide a low-cost device and an app to patients, supporting the self-management of tinnitus. In this short paper, we report on the study finalised to evaluate the improved design of the acufenometry examination (i.e., the identification of the frequency and intensity of the tinnitus). By measuring the task with the Single-Ease Question metric, the average rating increased from 2.86/5 for the first implementation, to 3.96/5 for the re-design and re-implementation (p = 0.0005). The results show that the perceived usability of the acufenometry task actually improved from the initial implementation to the new one.