Unable to add duplicate names

[nus-pe-bot]

I am unable to add patients with the same name. While this is intentional, it is not uncommon for patients to have the same names during actual usage, and preventing the addition of duplicate names seems highly undesirable and inconvenient for real-life usage. This is especially so when the delete and select commands are based on index instead of patient names, and duplicate names should not raise any issues.

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_{[original: nus-cs2113-AY2425S1/pe-interim#103] [original labels: severity.Medium type.FeatureFlaw]}

[NCF3535]

Team's Response

Thank you for raising this issue. While supporting duplicate names might seem beneficial for real-world usability, we have categorised this as NotInScope because it does not meet the criteria requiring a fix in the current version. Additionally, we have downgraded the severity of this issue from Medium to Low as it does not impact the core functionality of the app and is mitigated by the current implementation. Below, we explain why this issue does not fall into the exceptions outlined in the feature flaw rules:

1. Preventing User Confusion and Errors:

• Preventing duplicate names is critical for maintaining clarity and usability. The current implementation ensures each patient has a unique name, avoiding confusion and potential errors when using commands such as select or delete. This design ensures that users can reliably differentiate between patients, which is critical in a healthcare environment.
• Imagine you are a nurse using this system and see two patients with the same name (as shown below, note that it is an edited image for illustration). How would you know which one to select?

• To ensure patient safety, the app prevents duplicate names, allowing nurses and healthcare professionals to clearly identify and manage patients without ambiguity.

2. Additional Concerns in Medical Settings:

• Risk of Critical Errors: Allowing duplicate names could lead to severe consequences, such as:
  • Administering treatment to the wrong patient.
  • Mismanaging medical records or task assignments.
• Clarity and Safety: Preventing duplicate names ensures clarity and reduces the likelihood of user errors, which is especially critical in a healthcare setting where mistakes can have life-threatening consequences.

3. Significant Design Implications:

• Allowing duplicate names would require extensive changes across multiple components of the app, including:
  • Adjusting the Hospital class to support duplicate entries.
  • Updating the deserialization and backup processes to avoid data corruption or ambiguity when handling duplicate names.
• These changes introduce significant technical complexity and risks, such as:
  • User errors when selecting or updating the wrong patient.
  • Increased confusion for healthcare professionals under time constraints.
  • Potential issues with data integrity and JSON deserialization.

Severity Downgrade and Conclusion: Given the considerations above, we have downgraded the severity of this issue from Medium to Low. This is because the current implementation already prevents duplicate names, ensuring safety and clarity. The app remains fully functional, and users can work around this intended limitation by slightly modifying names (e.g., Alice1, Alice2).

Supporting duplicate names is both non-essential and not a trivial improvement. While we recognise that supporting duplicate names could improve usability for certain cases, implementing this feature would require significant effort and careful design to ensure safety and data integrity. For now, the current implementation strikes the right balance between usability, reliability, and safety.

We appreciate your feedback and recognise the value of this suggestion for future iterations. Any implementation of this feature would need to prioritise clarity and patient safety above all else.

Duplicate status (if any):

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