< Methods

Why?

Find general information, guidance and best practices.

How?

Make a search plan and identify relevant keywords. Find and judge material. Within the sources, look for interesting references and repeat the search process with keywords you found in the texts. Finally, select which materials to read in detail, plan the reading and summarise your findings during reading.

Ingredients

• A willingness to read.
• Search engines (e.g. Google Scholar, your library’s search engines).
• The ability to select what is really important for you case and to leave the rest unread.
• Identifying the ‘gatekeepers’ (parties who guarantee the quality of certain information).
• Knowing when to stop.

In practice

A company that is focusing on user experience in the medical domain conducts a literature study to identify best practices to use when informing patients about health issues.

Phase(s) of use

In the following project phase(s) literature study can be used:

• Design