Case Studies
The following case studies show you different aspects of interaction design, as carried out in practice – both in research and in industry. The first three are summarised in the book, but here we present a more detailed description. The other case studies are from previous editions of the book, and contain some broken links.
Each case study includes a downloadable PDF file, and a screen-readable version to be browsed online.
12.1: Paper Prototyping as a core tool in the design of Mobile phone user interfaces
Paper prototyping is increasingly being used by cell phone companies as a core part of their design process.
12.2 Deaf Telephony: Community-Based Co-Design
The Deaf Telephony project set out to assist South African Deaf people to communicate with each
other, with hearing people and with public services. The team currently comprises researchers from
the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the Technical
University of Delft (TU Delft) and the Deaf Community of Cape Town (DCCT-an NGO).
13.1 Integrating UX design into a DSDM project
Integrating user experience (UX) design into agile working is a challenge faced by many agile teams, not just those using DSDM. Although the work of UX designers and developers complements each other, the different goals, processes and working practices of developers and UX designers pose challenges in practice.
Ensuring Accessibility and Section 508 Compliance for the Recovery.gov web site
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Act) became law on February 17, 2009 with the intention of infusing $787 billion into the United States economy to create jobs and improve economic conditions. The Act (informally known as “the Stimulus Bill”) established an independent board, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, to oversee the spending and detect, mitigate, and minimize any waste, fraud, or abuse.
Designing mobile applications for multiple form factors
Trutap is a social networking service for 350+ different models of mobile device, which aggregates online blogging, instant messaging and social services like Facebook, allowing its users to interact with these even when away from the PC.
Blind users experience the Internet
Vanessa Evers and Hans Hillen from the University of Amsterdam discuss the redesign of a website’s information architecture to provide audio navigation to assist blind users...
Universal Usability: Web Fun for Individuals with Down Syndrome
Assadour Kirijian and Matthew Myers, from A.K.A. New Media Inc. in Toronto, Canada, usability consultants and specialists in Down Syndrome worked with individuals with Down Syndrome to create a set of online tools to help individuals with Down Syndrome learn and practice the basic skills required to use the Internet...
Supporting Collaboration for choosing Holidays
The goal of the eSPACE project was to help agents and customers collaborate more effectively when developing complex, tailor-made products like round the world holidays, hi-fi systems, insurance portfolios, fitted kitchens, or digital TV packages.
Using XP to develop context-sensitive adverts for the web.
This case study focuses on the visual design of a context-sensitive
advert for the Web
Using the “Technology as Experience” framework
To show how the framework can be used to think about and inform design, we present two case studies...
Data gathering for the Safer Handover project
The Safer Handover project was initiated by the UK's NHS Connecting for Health. They wanted to know whether there was a 'common core data set' i.e. a set of data that health professionals would need to know at every point of transfer i.e. whenever a patient moved from one health setting to another eg. home to hospital, ambulance to emergency department, one department in a hospital to another, or whenever there was a change of shift.
Establishing Requirements for a mobile learning system
MobiLearn was a European-funded research and development project that explored new ways of using mobile environments to meet the needs of learners working by themselves and with others.
Evaluating YouTube
YouTube's mission is to create 'an online video community' that allows members to communicate about the videos on bulletin boards and via social-networking tools.
Developing Cross-Cultural Children’s Book Communities
The ‘International Children’s Digital Library’ (ICDL) is an online library for the world’s children developed by Allison Druin, Ben Bederson, Ann Weeks, and researchers from the University of Maryland.
Communicability evaluation
Clarisse de Souza (2005) and her colleagues have developed a theory of HCI—semiotic engineering—that provides a series of tools for HCI design and evaluation.
Using GOMS in the redesign of a phone-based response system
Usability consultant Bill Killam and his colleagues worked with the US Internal Revenue Services (IRS) to evaluate and redesign the telephone response information system (TRIS).