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Our team of culturally Deaf ASL-signing and hearing non-signing HCI researchers conduct research with the Deaf community to create ASL resources. This case study summarizes reflections, learning, and challenges with HCI user study protocols based on our experience conducting five user studies with deaf ASL-signing participants. The case study offers considerations for researchers in this space related to conducting think-aloud protocols, interviews and surveys, getting informed consent, interpreter services and data analysis and storage. Our goal is to share the lessons we learned, and offer recommendations for future research in this area. Going beyond accommodations and accessibility, we hope these reflections contribute to a shift toward ASL-centric HCI research methodologies for working with the Deaf Community. 

Video components are a central element of user interfaces that deliver content in a signed language (SL), but the potential of video components extends beyond content accessibility. Sign language videos may be designed as user interface elements: layered with interactive features to create navigation cues, page headings, and menu options. To be effective for signing users, novel sign language video-rich interfaces require informed design choices across many parameters. To align with the specific needs and shared conventions of the Deaf community and other ASL-signers in this context, we present a user study involving deaf ASL-signers who interacted with an array of designs for sign language video elements. Their responses offer some insights into how the Deaf community may perceive and prefer video elements to be designed, positioned, and implemented to guide user experiences. Through a qualitative analysis, we take initial steps toward understanding deaf ASL-signers’ perceptions of a set of emerging design principles, paving the way for future SL-centric user interfaces containing customized video elements and layouts with primary consideration for signed language-related usage and requirements. 

Conducting human-centered research by, with, and for the ASL-signing Deaf community, requires rethinking current human-computer interaction processes in order to meet their linguistic and cultural needs and expectations. This paper highlights some key considerations that emerged in our work creating an ASL-based questionnaire, and our recommendations for handling them.