Research methods for involving hearing impaired children in IT innovation

Involving hearing impaired children in research is not straightforward, as these children often have deficiencies in spoken and written language. Therefore, researchers cannot rely on commonly used research methods that are based on verbal communication. In this paper we describe a series of research activities that were conducted to understand the world of experience of hearing impaired children in order to generate ideas for innovative IT applications. A user-centered design approach was followed, in which potential users and stakeholders were involved as much as possible. The methods that were used to understand the target group are discussed with respect to the experience of the researchers. Successes and lessons learned are described and recommendations for involving target groups with whom researchers and designers cannot communicate as they are used to, are provided. © 2010 ACM.