Seminar 1 - MDI

In part 2.2 of the book the authors try to come up with a framework to aid the design process, in which the first step is to ask yourself what problems there are with already existing solutions. I guess that is a good starting point, but it assumes that the technology already exists. We cannot exclude the possibility that someone has to design an interface for a new technology. If we take for example the creation of mobile phones, it is true that telephones existed a long before that, but i claim that mobiles are so different that we could not draw conclusions as to how to design the interface of a mobile based on experience from the designs of telephones.

Question: In chapter 7 the authors mention informed consent forms, are these obligatory for interviews? If yes, how should they look like?

In part 8.6 of the book the authors describe three different theoretical frameworks for qualitative data analysis, grounded theory, distributed cognition and activity theory. I wonder if one of them is preferred for a certain kind of research, or if choosing a framework is a matter of personal taste.

In part 10.3 of the book the authors claim that there is a difference between objective measures of usability and user’s perception of the interaction. I wonder what that difference is. It seems to me that it is possible to measure the user’s perceptions objectively.