A VR car-driving simulator for evaluating the user experience of new drivers by helping them to learn driving rules and regulations. The Classic VR Driver helps new drivers to learn driving rules and regulations using various audio and visual feedback. The simulator helps them to get acquainted with the risks and mistakes associated with real life driving. In addition, the users have to play the game in an immersive environment using a Virtual Reality system. This project attempts to fulfill two important goals. The major goal is to evaluate whether the user can learn driving rules and regulations of the road. The game allows the users to take a road test. The road test determines the type of mistakes the user makes and it also determines if they passed or failed in it. I have conducted A/B testing and let the testers participate in user-interviews and user-survey. The testing procedure allowed me to analyze the effectiveness of learning driving rules from the simulator as compared to learning rules from the RMV (Registry of Motor Vehicles) manual. Secondly, the user experience was evaluated by allowing users to participate in user-interviews and user-surveys. It helped me to understand the positives and drawbacks of the game. These feedback are taken into consideration for future improvement. All these factors were considered to make the game as enjoyable and useful in terms of skill training.

This work is presented in defence of the thesis that it is possible to measure the social expectations and perceptions that humans have of robots in an explicit and succinct manner, and these measures are related to how humans interact with, and evaluate, these robots. There are many ways of understanding how humans may respond to, or reason about, robots as social actors, but the approach that was adopted within this body of work was one which focused on interaction-specific expectations, rather than expectations regarding the true nature of the robot. These expectations were investigated using a questionnaire-based tool, the University of Hertfordshire Social Roles Questionnaire, which was developed as part of the work presented in this thesis and tested on a sample of 400 visitors to an exhibition in the Science Gallery in Dublin. This study suggested that responses to this questionnaire loaded on two main dimensions, one which related to the degree of social equality the participants expected the interactions with the robots to have, and the other was related to the degree of control they expected to exert upon the robots within the interaction. A single item, related to pet-like interactions, loaded on both and was considered a separate, third dimension. This questionnaire was deployed as part of a proxemics study, which found that the degree to which participants accepted particular proxemics behaviours was correlated with initial social expectations of the robot. If participants expected the robot to be more of a social equal, then the participants preferred the robot to approach from the front, while participants who viewed the robot more as a tool preferred it to approach from a less obtrusive angle. The questionnaire was also deployed in two long-term studies. In the first study, which involved one interaction a week over a period of two months, participant social expectations of the robots prior to the beginning of the study, not only impacted how participants evaluated open-ended interactions with the robots throughout the two-month period, but also how they collaborated with the robots in task-oriented interactions as well. In the second study, participants interacted with the robots twice a week over a period of 6 weeks. This study replicated the findings of the previous study, in that initial expectations impacted evaluations of interactions throughout the long-term study. In addition, this study used the questionnaire to measure post-interaction perceptions of the robots in terms of social expectations. The results from these suggest that while initial social expectations of robots impact how participants evaluate the robots in terms of interactional outcomes, social perceptions of robots are more closely related to the social/affective experience of the interaction.

The purpose of this study is to form an understanding for communication managers acceptance of the chatbot. This understanding could be useful if the usage of the chatbot at various companies increases. This study also aims to study the relevance of Davis (1989) Technology Acceptance Model, which is one of the most frequent used theories in acceptance studies.  Hence, this study is based on the following questions: <ul type="disc">How can communication managers' perception of the chatbot be understood? Is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) a useful model for understanding the acceptance level of the chatbot? If not; how can it be developed to achieve this purpose? The study is based on qualitative interviews of four communication managers from different companies in the Stockholm area. The empirical data collected from the interviews has been analyzed according to thematic analysis, and further understood with support of the TAM-model. Due to the qualitative approach, but also according to the purpose of possibly developing the TAM-model, the study has been characterized by openness and ambition to explore the empirical material and theory. The study showed a unified understanding of the chatbot as helpful in simple types of customer communication areas. The technology was also considered to have a future usefulness in this area. The study also came to clarify that the respondents have shared understandings of the chatbot. The views consisted of both advantages and disadvantages of implementing a chatbot to the workplace. The opinions are based on three emerging themes that were considered relevant to the respondents; the efficient business, future vision for the chatbot and secondary view of the chatbot. The TAM-model proved helpful in understanding the empirical evidence and understanding the grounds to acceptance. The study found that the model would be made even more relevant if it would include social influence, in order to understand how the respondent is expected to understand the users experience of the chatbot. Therefore, this study has proposed an extension of the TAM-model that includes the expected user experience. By developing this parameter to the TAM-model the theory is expected to be more rewarding for further similar studies.

Currently for travel planning, guests will research via hotel websites while still preferring to book through third-party sites, which leads to a disconnect between hotels and their guests. A chat widget artifact that is added onto the hotel’s website and linked through messaging applications was created by a start-up company, Bookboost, to bridge this gap. The current intuitiveness of the artifact and future improvements that may increase intuitiveness was investigated through a case study of user and expert analysis. 10 participants – 5 hotel staff users and 5 guest users – were sampled at hotel lobbies via systematic sampling and non-random sampling. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 65 years old, with 30% being millennials. Task analysis, an interview, and a questionnaire were used for user analysis. The researcher acted as an evaluator and examined the artifact for flaws and possible improvements using activity theory’s human-artifact model (HAM). Analyses suggest that current intuitiveness is fairly high, but there is room for improvement. There seems to be a difference between millennials and non-millennials, especially regarding the amount of time taken and preference for the artifact (versus more familiar methods for communicating with others). Interest and comfort in technology usage was a factor in intuitiveness. Generally, those more comfortable with technology had higher zone of proximal development (ZPD) scores. Improvements have been suggested that may increase artifact intuitiveness, although this was not tested due to the scope of the study. Future research can continue to examine if the suggested improvements have indeed increased intuitiveness in the artifact for users of all ages.

Orientadora: Silvana Aparecida Borsetti Gregorio Vidotti / Banca: Sandra de Albuquerque Siebra / Banca: Henry Poncio Cruz de Oliveira / Banca: Fernando Luiz Vechiato / Banca: José Eduardo Santarém Segundo / Resumo: Considerando as facilidades de acesso à informação por meio da internet, bem como a evolução constante das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, reflete-se sobre como os ambientes informacionais digitais devem ser projetados para atender as necessidades de informação de usuários e contemplar suas expectativas no momento da interação. Desse modo, defende-se a tese de que os estudos de Experiência do Usuário podem contribuir para a Arquitetura da Informação no projeto e no desenvolvimento de ambientes informacionais digitais. Assim, na busca de encontrar soluções para o desenvolvimento de ambientes web, com funcionalidades que possam contemplar as habilidades, competências e as preferências dos usuários, este trabalho objetiva: Investigar a contribuição da Experiência do Usuário para a Arquitetura da Informação no projeto e no desenvolvimento de ambientes informacionais digitais com foco nas qualidades objetivas e subjetivas no uso. A partir de revisão bibliográfica, no contexto da Ciência da Informação e seu paradigma sociocognitivo, os objetivos específicos delimitados são: estudar a evolução histórica e as diferentes definições da Experiência do Usuário; analisar os modelos, métodos e ferramentas de avaliação de Experiência do Usuário; apresentar a Arquitetura da Informação Clássica e os seus sistemas e a posição da Experiência do Usuário em relação com a Arquitetura da Informação. Considerando que as experiências são individuais e estão relacionadas com os aspectos cultu... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Considering the facilities of access to information through the Internet, as well as the constant evolution of Information and Communication Technologies, it's possible to reflect on how the digital information environments must be designed to meet users' information needs and to contemplate their expectations at the time of interaction. In this way, the thesis defended is that the User Experience (UX) studies can help the planning of these environments and to contribute to the Information Architecture (IA). Thus, in seeking to find solutions to web environments development, with features that can contemplate the abilities, skills and preferences of users; this study aimed to investigate the UX contribution to the IA in project and development digital information environments with a focus on objective and subjective qualities in use. From literature review in the context of Information Science and its sociocognitive paradigm, the objectives of this research were: to study the historical evolution and the different settings of the UX; to analyze the models, methods and UX's evaluation tools; to present the Classical Information Architecture, its systems and the position of the User Experience related to Information Architecture. Considering that experiences are individual and are related to cultural, social, emotional, and technological aspects, and also to the product quality for both IA and UX to develop a product or digital service; research are necessary on content, contex... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

The automotive industry is facing a period of significant transformation due to the arrival of many new digital technologies. As the focus of automotive engineering has shifted from hardware to software, the conventional processes of making, buying and owning an automobile have changed. Peoples' desires for new automotive experiences are increasing; they demand more sophisticated approaches to the automotive experience beyond merely improving functional requirements for advanced automation systems, interfaces and connectivity. Thus, it is essential to understand human experience in order to help people deal with the high degree of complexity in the driving environment and to help them to cope with unanticipated driving events that involve emotional, psychological or sociological issues. This research takes a human-centred approach to investigating real-life scenarios in which people emotionally engage with automobiles with the aim of developing a relevant set of scenarios for this context. An extensive literature review was conducted of human emotion, memory systems, emotional memory characteristics, scenarios, and scenarios with emotional aspects, followed by a discussion defining scenario development process and affective scenarios. This research provides a methodology for in-depth qualitative studies that develop affective design scenarios with automobiles. As a triangulation approach, two independent studies in different settings explored affective scenario themes in automotive contexts of people's real-life car stories that made them respond emotionally. The themes that were revealed from both studies were consolidated, and exemplary scenarios of 13 consolidated main themes were formulated to illustrate a set of affective scenarios in automotive contexts. This research leads to an enhanced understanding of a set of critical contexts that automotive practitioners should take into account for future automotive design. Suggestions with possible questions based on the research outcome provide opportunities for them to agilely cope with unanticipated future events, whereby highly complex driving environment by connected and autonomous vehicles. This methodology used here can be replicated for future affective scenario studies focusing on specific products, sub-systems or services such as navigation systems or car-sharing services. The results, which have been validated through a triangulation approach, can bolster the automobile design process by addressing potential issues and challenges in automotive experience by facilitating idea generation, enhancing a shared understanding of critical contexts and by assisting decision-making among stakeholders from different departments.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-02-11T08:07:55Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Tiago do Carmo Nogueira - 2015.pdf: 870783 bytes, checksum: 83d88431cf3903f8e00d8afbf2b13a1f (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-02-11T08:09:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Tiago do Carmo Nogueira - 2015.pdf: 870783 bytes, checksum: 83d88431cf3903f8e00d8afbf2b13a1f (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-11T08:09:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Tiago do Carmo Nogueira - 2015.pdf: 870783 bytes, checksum: 83d88431cf3903f8e00d8afbf2b13a1f (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-18 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / Accessing information on the web is still a challenge for people who have some kind of visual impairment. Researches report that only applying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is insufficient; there is a need for more judicious investigation about the user experience in accessible applications. With emergence the of new trends in web design, including responsive design and flat design, it is imperative to investigate the impacts of these new forms of information transmission on the Web. This study aims to identify, classify and compare the differences and similarities of the user experience in Responsive Design with flat and minimalist elements, considering blind and sighted users, correlating emotional impact, usability and performance. Therefore, a case study was conducted, adopting an exploratory approach using the Affect Grid and PANAS methods. The data extraction were made by the Usability and UX questionnaires. Indicators were used for the analysis qualitative and quantitative, which help in understanding the pragmatic phenomena of UX. The results show that in blind users, the average of disorder in responsive websites, increases 20% (twenty percent) when compared to unresponsive. The sighted users, the average irritation, shame, determination and dynamism are higher in responsive websites when compared to unresponsive. Thus, responsive Websites had a median time of completion of the tasks significantly higher than the unresponsive. We conclude that in all subgroups which have been compared by this approach, blind users had significantly lower average value in the range of pleasure in responsive websites when compared to sighted users, making the UX of the blind users worse in responsiveWebsites compared to unresponsive. / O acesso a informações na Web é ainda um desafio para a comunidade de pessoas com algum tipo de deficiência visual. Pesquisas relatam que apenas aplicação das diretrizes de acessibilidade para o conteúdo da Web é insuficiente, necessitando, assim, uma investigação mais criteriosa sobre a experiência de usuário em aplicações acessíveis. Com o surgimento de novas tendências do design na Web, entre elas o design responsivo e o flat design, torna-se imperativo investigar quais são os impactos dessas novas formas de transmissão da informação na Web. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo identificar, classificar e comparar as diferenças e similaridades da experiência de usuários no Design Responsivo com elementos planos e minimalistas, considerando-se usuários cegos e videntes (que enxergam), correlacionando o impacto emocional, a usabilidade e o desempenho. Portanto, foi realizado um estudo de caso, adotando uma abordagem exploratória, utilizando os métodos Affect Grid e PANAS. As extrações dos dados foram realizadas por meio dos questionários de Usabilidade e UX. Para as análises foram utilizados indicadores qualitativos e quantitativos, que auxiliam na compreensão dos fenômenos pragmáticos de UX. Os resultados demonstram que, nos usuários cegos, a média de transtorno em websites responsivos aumenta 20% (vinte por cento) quando comparada à dos não responsivos. Nos usuários videntes, as médias de irritação, vergonha, determinação e dinamismo são maiores em websites responsivos quando comparadas às dos não responsivos. Assim, os websites responsivos apresentaram um tempo mediano de conclusão das tarefas significativamente maior do que os não responsivos. Conclui-se que em todos os subgrupos que foram comparados por esta abordagem, os usuários cegos apresentaram significativamente um menor valor médio na escala de prazer em websites responsivos quando comparados aos usuários videntes, tornando a UX dos cegos pior em websites responsivos quando comparado aos não responsivos.

In this paper we describe UX and design thinking as a method for library development, and we describe the library as a democratic arena and its democratic mission. These ideas and methods are becoming more of common use among libraries. Since public libraries have a democratic mission we find it relevant to examine what view is presented within these new methods of libraries, users and democracy. Design thinking and UX have developed within the private sector, and since libraries in Sweden are financed by the public sector conflicts may arise between the two. The purpose of this paper is to perform an ideology analysis of the document Design thinking for libraries – Toolkit (the Swedish version). This with the purpose to shed light on these aspects, and to find out how they relate to Paulo Freire’s and Henry Giroux’s theories of critical pedagogy and radical democracy with the concepts empowerment and marginalisation. From the analysis, an ideological view emerges that promotes neoliberal values, instead of a more radical democratic view that we would expect to find since the Toolkit is created as a method for library development. Users appear as providers of information, which is then used as a design-tool for this development. Compared to Freire and Giroux, this is not equal to empowerment since focus is not on strengthening users. In addition to this, we have found that problems are not allowed to exist in the Toolkit since they are invariably supposed to be seen as opportunities instead, which gives the impression that marginalisation is a person’s own fault. Furthermore, the Toolkit emphasises the librarian instead of the user, and also requires that the practitioner is open minded, positive and trusts the process. In other words, there is not much room for reflection or critical thinking, either among staff or users, hence, democracy is not promoted.

Le domaine des applications de communication a connu dernièrement de grands bouleversements, ce qui a conduit les chercheurs à suivre un nouveau paradigme d’évaluation, basé sur l’expérience utilisateur. Un grand nombre de méthodes de mesure ont ainsi été mises au point afin de la mesurer, mais demeurent immatures, voire contradictoires entre elles. C’est pourquoi un travail mérite d’être mené afin d’en augmenter la validité et la fiabilité. Ce travail de thèse s’est attaché donc à utiliser plusieurs de ces méthodes, de les combiner et les articuler selon différentes techniques afin d’améliorer la qualité de la mesure. Nous nous sommes appuyés pour cela sur un large spectre d’indicateurs, d’ordre physiologiques, comportementaux et auto rapportés et de deux stratégies de triangulation en particulier : multi-facettes et multi-mesures. Enfin, ces méthodes ont testées dans des cas d’application réels et selon une complexification croissante des procédures et traitements statistiques. Cela a donné lieu à trois études distinctes. La première a consisté à évaluer la pertinence d’un algorithme de recommandation de films face à son concurrent en utilisant une stratégie d’évaluation multi-facettes. Une deuxième étude a été élaborée afin de tester la pertinence de modèles d’évaluation multi-mesures, en évaluant l’utilisabilité de sites universitaires grâce à un logiciel de test utilisateur à distance (Evalyzer) et la combinaison multimodale de divers indicateurs d’utilisabilité. Enfin, une dernière étude a été réalisée afin de valider un protocole de mesure d’immersion multi-mesure (questionnaire, expression faciale, conductance de la peau, rythme cardiaque, comportement oculaire). Ces trois études nous ont permis d’évaluer la pertinence d’un certain nombre de mesures (d'utilisabilité et d’expérience utilisateur), la valeur ajoutée de certaines de leurs combinaisons, ainsi qu’un retour critique sur la procédure de validation multi-facettes utilisée dans cette thèse / The communication application domain has recently experienced some great changes. This shift has led researchers to follow a new evaluation paradigm, based on the user experience. This trend differs fundamentally from its predecessors by its holistic, subjective and positive nature. Many measurement methods have been developed to assess the user experience, but remain immature and even contradictory. Moreover, the basic nature of the user experience has led to the loss of reliability in the exercise of its measurement. This is why studies should be conducted in order to increase the validity and reliability of this new approach. The main aim of this research is to use several methods and to combine and articulate them using various techniques to improve the measurement quality. These studies was based on a broad spectrum of indicators (physiological, behavioral and self-reported) and two triangulation strategies in particular: multi-faceted and multi-measures. Finally, these methods were tested in real applied cases and under an increasing procedure complexity and statistical processing. This research has resulted in three separate studies. The first aims to evaluate the relevance of a movie recommendation algorithm against its competitor using a multifaceted evaluation strategy. A second study was designed to test the relevance of a multi-measures evaluation model by assessing the usability of university sites based on a remote user testing software (Evalyzer) and a multimodal combination of various indicators of usability. A final study was conducted to validate multi-measures immersion protocol (questionnaire, facial expression, skin conductance, heart rate, eye behavior). These three studies have highlighted the relevance of numerous measures (of usability and user experience), the added value of some of their combinations, as well as a critical return to the multi-facet validation procedure used in this thesis

User Experience, UX, som till en början främst användes inom IT-världen och sägs härstamma från HCI (Human Computer Interaction) används idag i allt större utsträckning. Den här studien syftar till att förtydliga vad UX innebär, hur definieras det samt hur ser yrkesrollerna ut inom UX. Denna studie är en jämförelse mellan teori och praktik för att se om praktiken matchar litteraturen. Ytterligare fokus ligger på organisationers UX-mognad samt vad det innebär för någon som är yrkesverksam inom UX. Vad innebär det för designers när mognaden är låg respektive hög? I den här studien användes huvudsakligen metoderna litteraturstudie, semi-strukturerade intervjuer där deltagarna alla är aktiva utövare inom UX och en enkät om upplevd UX-mognad. UX kommer från användbarhet, då användbarhet anses för snävt för att täcka alla områden man jobbar med vid utvecklingen av en produkt eller tjänst. I teorin beskrivs UX till större del som ett användarfokuserat arbetssätt där användaren ses som experten istället för designern. Eftersom det idag finns en uppsjö av digitala produkter och tjänster har UX blivit viktigt för att kunna uppnå ökad konkurrenskraft på marknaden. Därav har allt fler organisationer börjat intressera sig för UX. För att veta vart en organisation befinner sig i UX-mognaden finns en mängd olika UXmognadsmodeller som kan vara användbara för att fastställa detta samt guida hur en organisation kan avancera. Om UX-mognaden är låg innebär det att ingen eller få jobbar med UX i en organisation. Är det få som jobbar med UX innebär det att de får ta på sig en väldigt bred roll, det blir ett väldigt stort ansvar. Är det verkligen rimligt att en person ska behöva bära det ansvaret? Är däremot UX-mognaden är hög så jobbar hela team eller hela organisationen med UX på något sätt. Det underlättar för designer och bidrar till att skapa ett bättre samarbete inom organisationen. Men om allt fler använder sig av UX och det blir en del av flertalet olika yrken, vad kommer då hända med rollen?