9/11 memorial App: A case study of serious smart phone UX design

Abstract

Most smartphone apps can be characterized as flashy, colorful, playful and trendy. A reason for this is the target audience which is still composed of mainly young and IT savvy persons that casually and shortly use an app in their leisure time to stay connected with others, to access information or to play games. Another reason is that apps are typically either inexpensive or free of charge, so word of mouth and good ratings are critical for their success. This case study traces the design and development of a smart phone app that was very different from typical apps - hence the addition of "Serious" to the paper title. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.