Authoritative References
McGrew, J. (2001), Shortening the human computer interface design cycle: A parallel design process based on the genetic algorithm, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 45th Annual Meeting, 603-606.
Online Resources
Usability.gov: Use Parallel Design< Explains the rationale for parallel design.
Nielsen, J., & Faber, J. M. Improving system usability through parallel design<. Originally published in IEEE Computer Vol. 29, No. 2 (February 1996), pp. 29-35. The paper is a case study that provides some data on the cost and and impact of parallel design on the usability of an interface.
Published Studies
Nielsen, J. & Faber, J. M. (1996). Improving System Usability Through Parallel Design<. IEEE Computer Vol. 29, No. 2 , pp. 29-35
Nielsen, J., Fernandes, T., Wagner, A., Wolf, R., and Ehrlich, K. 1994. Diversified parallel design: contrasting design approaches. In Conference Companion on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Boston, Massachusetts, United States, April 24 - 28, 1994). C. Plaisant, Ed. CHI '94. ACM, New York, NY, 179-180.
Ovaska, S. and Raiha, K.J. (1995). Parallel design in the classroom, Proc. CHI 1995, ACM Press , 264-265.
Tohidi, M., Buxton, W., Baecker, R., and Sellen, A. (2006). Getting the right design and the design right. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montréal, Québec, Canada, April 22 - 27, 2006). R. Grinter, T. Rodden, P. Aoki, E. Cutrell, R. Jeffries, and G. Olson, Eds. CHI '06. ACM, New York, NY, 1243-1252.