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The case described shows that our research reporting on the limitations and challenges associated with traditional approaches to presentation and management of information search results for different types of users has led to design and implementation of non-conventional user interface technology - INVISQUE (Interactive Visual Search and Query Environment [7]). This technology has had a direct influence and usage in a range of domains including information seeking in Citizens Advice Bureaux and in the security domain both nationally (UK Ministry of Defence) and internationally (US Dept. of Homeland Security). The research has created a community of practice around the emerging field of Visual Analytics and has formed the basis of a successful FP7 project (EC grant €13.1M) bringing together a consortium of 18 industrial, internationally leading Visual Analytics researchers (e.g. PNNL, University of Konstanz, City University London), and police end-user partners, from across the UK, Europe and the US.
Research in Sheffield since 1993 has focused on developing information-rich systems and services from a user-oriented perspective rather than a more technology-driven approach. This has ranged from the development of theoretical models that describe information behaviour and processes, to the design and evaluation of information-rich systems and services that are based on information behaviour models and that involve end users throughout the design process. The impact includes: (1) enhancements in the practices adopted in systems development within cultural heritage institutions (The National Archives, UK) and libraries (Online Computer Library Centre, US; M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, UK), (2) improved support for further development and commercialisation of technologies by IT companies (Gnowsis, Austria; Intempra, Italy), and (3) downstream impacts in the form of knowledge transfer leading to new projects to further develop existing technologies and systems (led by Language Technology Centre, UK).
Research in UCL Information Studies enables innovative forms of cultural interaction which encourages a deeper, more personal experience for the public. Our crowd-sourcing transcription project, Transcribe Bentham, has enabled a worldwide audience to participate in the transcription of previously unstudied manuscripts. Our QRator project has empowered museum visitors to think of exhibits as social objects, discussing them with other visitors and curators in three important museums via social media. Both have been recognised and imitated as ground-breaking methods of creating partnerships between the public, the academy and cultural heritage institutions.
Twelve years of our research into users' information behaviour has helped a wide variety of learners and Internet users to interact better with web-based information by equipping them with the skills and knowledge to develop their own agile models of information behaviour in the web environment. It has produced practical tools such as a toolkit for service providers, a methods book and awe-based resources evaluation framework that are employed nationally and internationally in secondary and higher education. The research is benefiting librarians, educators and learners dealing with complex information environments. Within the LIS (Library and Information Science) community, researchers, academics and practitioners are also benefiting from training current and next generation practitioners in the user engagement methods developed during the research.
The primary impact is AmbieSense Ltd., a start-up that has had up to 8 employees/consultants. The Company pioneered ambient, context-aware mobile applications and has been able to maintain its technological edge throughout. Secondary impact is through products developed and used by companies including Lonely Planet, Oslo Airport. AmbieSense Ltd. products and services have wide reach and social impact: Tourist trails; outdoor museums; educational historic trails. Customers include public sector: Aberdeen City Council. Benefits are a quality content experience delivered in a context-sensitive manner (social/economic). The significance is: information-rich touristic physical space; an enriching educational experience, connecting pupils with environments. Other technologies have also been built on the AmbieSense platform and patents have cited the underpinning work, demonstrating impact on professional services.
Research in the area of mobile digital storytelling conducted at Swansea University has shown that hundreds of millions of people are disempowered by lack of appropriate digital devices, services and infrastructure. In a programme of research starting with real users in communities in rural India, Southern Africa and rural UK, we designed, developed and tested new systems, leading to the integration and delivery of new techniques and platforms by major service providers, including IBM. Open source software developed to simplify media creation and sharing is being used by communities around the world, and has been downloaded more than 14,000 times. The research has increased awareness of "digital divide" issues and has changed attitudes in technology companies and public audiences.
Organisations in the social housing sector have a model of how to use information to monitor the outcomes of their activities. Drawing on research which places information in its organisational context, the mechanism of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships has been used to enable Nottingham City Homes to pioneer the evaluation of its activities focusing on a major investment programme called Decent Homes. Cited in Parliamentary debates, not only has the impact shifted the strategic direction of the organisation's activities, but also it has been adopted as a model of best practice for the sector.
Human-computer usability research within the university's Sensory Disabilities Research Unit (1993-2002) led to the construction of accessibility guidelines that are widely used, with an estimated reach to a maximum of 30 million people in the EU. PAS 78: Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites and BSI BS8788 Web Accessibility Code of Practice met 2010 web accessibility law in the UK and subsequent EU legislation. Similarly, BS EN 15823:2010: Braille on Packaging for Medicinal Products met UK, EU and International Standards for Braille on medicine packaging. Further research resulted in award-winning guides for blind users of Windows software that improves accessibility to work.
A global consortium of libraries has adopted the innovative TOTEM registry data model to address urgent issues surrounding the preservation of digital artefacts. The core challenge for digital archiving is to match potentially obsolete software that originally created artefacts — `complex' objects with sound and visuals as well as data information — with later computing platforms that can thus preserve them. The TOTEM project has effected major change in the technical specifications of preservation: its technical strategy for `emulation' enhances previous processes through which old files are `migrated'. End-users confirm that TOTEM has had significant cultural and technical impact on the preservation practices of national libraries including the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia, and US National Archives and Records Administration. Benefit to these organisations is technical, societal and economic, contributing to viable, long-term solutions in digital preservation policy.
Scotland's Health On the Web (SHOW) was the first Healthcare Information Network of its kind and was developed in an EU project between 1996 and 1999. The original aim was to develop ways of exploiting the Web to provide trustworthy and authoritative health information in a way that was easy to find. The resulting system was adopted as the major vehicle of NHS Scotland for providing healthcare information to public and professionals. Serviced by a specially appointed team, it currently supports around 400 sites, and in recent years usage has been high, averaging around 50 million website hits per month.