First steps toward implementation of LITMUS-NL (Wouda et al., 2024)

Purpose: Language Impairment Testing in Multilingual Settings (LITMUS) instruments were developed to improve the identification of developmental language disorders in multilingual children. The current study investigated the usability and feasibility of the online Dutch version of several of these instruments (LITMUS-NL) according to speech-language pathologists (SLPs), thereby taking the first steps toward implementation in clinical practice.

Method: We first conducted a usability study in which 24 SLPs performed the LITMUS-NL tests while using a think-aloud protocol. They subsequently filled out a questionnaire to investigate the degree of usability and added value of LITMUS-NL. After adapting LITMUS-NL based on the results of the usability study, a feasibility study was carried out in which 25 other SLPs each used LITMUS-NL with three multilingual children. Afterward, they completed a feasibility questionnaire and questionnaires about the reactions of the children.

Results: In the first study, many usability issues emerged, mainly concerning technical problems, instructions, and test construction. Despite these issues, the SLPs evaluated the degree of usability and added value as positive. The feasibility study revealed a lower degree of usability and, despite the adaptations, feasibility issues in the same categories.

Conclusions: By involving the intended users in the process toward implementing a new product, we identified (and solved) many issues that would interfere with successful implementation in daily clinical practice. A systematic, iterative approach toward implementation helps identify what is deemed important by the intended users of a new product and bridges the gap between research and practice.

Supplemental Material S1. Domains, parameters, and instruments for data-collection in the usability study.

Supplemental Material S2. Domains, parameters, and instruments of the feasibility study.

Wouda, L., Boerma, T., Gerrits, E., & Blom, E. (2024). First steps toward implementation of the online test battery LITMUS-NL: A usability and feasibility study. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 9(5), 1439–1455. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_PERSP-23-00308