This qualitative study is constructive in its nature and it aims to find how remote workers perceive usability of communication features across different tools and platforms. Answering two main research questions; How do remote users perceive usability of communication features across different communication tools and platforms? and How, according to users, that features can be improved?, this research aims to link them with scholarly literature, find potential knowledge gaps and highlight improvement areas. Learnability, efficiency, universality and general satisfaction are researched within five participants, coming from different sectors and occupations. Usability in IS context connects ICT with HCI. Trends, challenges and solutions in remote work field lead us to different practices in work and knowledge sharing. Thematic analysis brings seven main themes that show satisfactory results in general. However, dissatisfaction is addressed to efficiency and universality with functionality of communication tools and platforms which falls within ICT, and learnability within its human component, HCI. Furthermore, three step solution is proposed: organizational readiness, standards in communication practice and soft skills. Contributions of this research confirm importance of human component that defines usability in remote field. General usability and satisfaction with ICT and its components is confirmed and improvement areas are addressed within HCI. This research serves as a good base for research of usability of same communication features across different channels however, comparing on-site and remote workers within specific fields.

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This study explores the possibility of designing an empowering community on a hormone-tracking application. I hereby draw inspiration from the ethos of the radical consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s to move away from the traditional individualistic approach to hormonal health. The study adopts a research-through-design approach that integrates a combination of sensitizing user engagement, somaesthetics and speculative design. By conducting interviews centred on individuals’ lived experiences surrounding hormonal health and a design workshop that emphasises collaboration and inclusion in the design process, I discuss the potential for creating a digital community that promotes a holistic and collectivist perspective for hormone-tracking applications. The aim is not to make users reliant on the community to give them knowledge. Rather, the community should enable users to collectively create a consciousness around their hormonal health and use this to empower them to better understand their hormones. The findings highlight that the design should be guided by the principles of connecting only a few people that share similar experiences and have different levels of knowledge to establish genuine human connections and collectively construct hormonal consciousness. Lastly, our study concludes that akin to the women’s health movement, the act of bringing together a group of people to discuss their health and bodies is in itself an empowering and inspiring act that fosters a sense of community. / Den här studien undersöker möjligheten att utforma en stärkande gemenskap för en hormonspårningsapplikation. Jag hämtar härmed inspiration från de radikala medvetandehöjande gruppernas etos på 1970-talet för att gå bort från det traditionella individualistiska förhållningssättet till hormonell hälsa. Studien anammar en forskning-genom-design-metod som integrerar en kombination av sensibiliserande användarengagemang, somestetik och spekulativ design. Genom att genomföra intervjuer centrerade på individers upplevelser kring hormonell hälsa och en designworkshop som betonar samarbete och inkludering i designprocessen, diskuterar jag möjligheten för att skapa en digital gemenskap som främjar ett holistiskt och kollektivistiskt perspektiv för hormonspårningstillämpningar. Syftet här är inte att göra användarna beroende av samhället för att ge dem kunskap, utan att ge dem möjlighet att starta en konversation om hormonell hälsa och koppla ihop dem för att få stöd i sina upplevelser. Resultaten visar att designen bör vägledas av principerna om att koppla samman endast ett fåtal personer som delar liknande erfarenheter och har olika kunskapsnivåer för att etablera äkta mänskliga kopplingar och kollektivt skapa kunnighet och kompetens inom hormonell hälsa. Slutligen drar studien slutsatsen att i likhet med kvinnohälsorörelsen är handlingen att sammanföra en grupp människor för att diskutera deras hälsa och kroppar i sig en förstärkande och inspirerande handling som främjar en känsla av gemenskap.

This study examines the extent of which older internet users can identify dark patterns in e-commerce sites. The purpose of this is to understand which types of dark patterns that older people 55+ can identify to which degree after receiving adequate knowledge about the subject of deceptive design and specifically dark patterns, and also if there is any connection between the results and factors such as demographic differences and the communicative nature of each dark pattern. This study shows the type of dark patterns that was identified correctly the most by the respondents was Low-stock message, which we categorized as having linguistic communicative attributes. The least correctly identified type of dark patterns was Aesthetic manipulation with its graphic communicative nature. Over all the respondents were able to identify dark patterns correctly to an extent of 50 %, and no distinctive demographic patterns relating to the outcome were found other than that higher education seemed to equal higher results. Regarding how the communicative attributes of each dark pattern affected the respondents' results, we did find that dark patterns of linguistic type were easier for the respondents to identify, whereas graphical dark patterns were the hardest. To gather the data a web-based survey was used and distributed through Facebook which generated 28 respondents in total. The data was then analyzed using frequency tables and simple descriptive statistics, and some of them were later translated into diagrams to visualize the results in an effective way.

Driving is becoming increasingly automated and the automated driving system is gradually replacing the driver, which will inevitably have a significant impact on the driving experience. This study investigates the design of a dashboard for the highly automated vehicle that would provide the driver with relevant information during the human-machine handover. After reviewing previous studies, analyzing the state-of-the-art and generating user scenarios, we developed design guidelines, prototypes and user experience videos. This video served as a "research instrument" to test with users and explore and learn about consequences and interpretations. The test results suggest that the mental workload paid by the user for the task shows a trend of reduction from level 3 to level 4. The reduced workload can ensure more effective alerts and alarms, which can potentially make driving safer. Regarding the implementation of the design, conclusions are mainly drawn on three aspects: the necessity to combine several modalities at automation level 4, the need to redefine the color of the assisting AR bars we designed due to the indistinguishability of the red and orange ones, and the disagreement on whether and how to display speed information at handover. The practice and application of our prototype in scenarios supports previous studies and provides a reliable, creative solution for other researchers and designers. / Bilkörningen blir alltmer automatiserad och det automatiserade körsystemet ersätter gradvis föraren, vilket oundvikligen kommer att påverka körupplevelsen avsevärt. I den här studien undersöks utformningen av en instrumentpanel för det högt automatiserade fordonet som skulle ge föraren relevant information under överlämnandet mellan människa och maskin. Efter att ha undersökt tidigare studier, analyserat den senaste tekniken och genererat användarscenarier har vi utvecklat designriktlinjer, prototyper och videor för användarupplevelser. Denna video fungerade som ett "forskningsinstrument" för att testa med användare och utforska och lära sig om konsekvenser och tolkningar. Testresultatet tyder på att den mentala arbetsbelastning som användaren betalar för uppgiften visar en tendens till minskning från nivå 3 till nivå 4. Den minskade arbetsbelastningen kan garantera effektivare varningar och larm, vilket kan göra körningen säkrare. När det gäller genomförandet av konstruktionen, dras huvudsakligen slutsatser om tre aspekter: nödvändigheten av att kombinera flera modaliteter på automationsnivå 4, behovet av att omdefiniera färgen på de assisterande AR-stänger som vi utformade på grund av att de röda och orange inte går att skilja från varandra och oenigheten om huruvida och hur hastighetsinformation ska visas vid överlämning. Praktiken och tillämpningen av vår prototyp i scenarier stöder tidigare studier och ger en tillförlitlig, kreativ lösning för andra forskare och designers.

This thesis investigates the impact of data physicalizations in the form of an exercise data tracker, on user motivation compared to traditional exercise tracking devices (ETDs) to and their effect on exercise motivation. By employing a case study with diverse participants, this research evaluates whether the three-dimensional nature of data physicalizations significantly influences user motivation or if similar results can be obtained using traditional solutions or devices. Through a pre-interview Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, qualitative interviews, and thematic analysis, six significant themes emerged, presence, emotional connection, data clarity, metric variety, aesthetics, and novelty. The results suggest that data physicalizations have the potential to motivate users, but are currently at a disadvantage compared to traditional ETDs due to limitations in data precision and variety. The study also highlighted the design challenges in developing effective data physicalizations. Future research should explore design features highlighted in this study that could potentially maximize motivation.

This work aimed to investigate how Slow Technology, designed with textiles and temporality, can increase reflection in the interaction between humans and technology. This was important to investigate because the amount of information, and the speed at which it is delivered and expected to be processed, exceeds our capacity. This contributes to the fact that the space for reflection is getting smaller and smaller in our efficient contemporary world. Using other types of materials, such as textiles, enables the investigation of which qualities of use and properties can be highlighted and increase reflection. The work was conducted with Research Through Design as a research strategy and a prototype was created to conduct user tests. Furthermore, data was collected through observations and semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in four themes that together indicated that the participants experienced increased reflection when interacting with the prototype.

Distance learning is facing a critical moment finding a balance between high quality education for remote students and engaging them in hands-on learning. This is particularly relevant for project-based classrooms and makerspaces, which typically require extensive trouble-shooting and example demonstrations from instructors. We present RobotAR, a teleconsulting robotics system for creating Augmented Reality (AR) makerspaces. We present the hardware and software for an AR-compatible robot, which behaves as a student’s voice assistant and can be embodied by the instructor for teleconsultation. As a desktop-based teleconsulting agent, the instructor has control of the robot’s joints and position to better focus on areas of interest inside the workspace. Similarly, the instructor has access to the student’s virtual environment and the capability to create AR content to aid the student with problem-solving. We also performed a user study which compares current techniques for distance hands-on learning and an implementation of our system.

People's decisions do not happen in a vacuum; there are multiple factors that may affect them. There are external determinants, such as cost/benefit calculation of decision outcomes. There are also internal factors, such as attitudes, personality, emotions, age, and nationality. Frequently, the latter have a final say on the decision at hand, and similar determinants are triggered during the digital interaction when people make decisions about their privacy. The current digital privacy landscape is filled with recurring security breaches and leaks of personal information collected by online service providers. Growing dependency on Internet-connected devices and increasing privacy risks prompted policy makers to protect individuals' right to privacy. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation requires companies to provide adequate information about their data collection and processing practices to users, to increase privacy awareness and enable better decision making. Regardless, currently there is no sufficient, usable technology, which could help people make improved privacy decisions, decreasing over-disclosure and oversharing. Hence, multidisciplinary researchers aim at developing new privacy-enhancing solutions. To define such solutions and successfully convey data provision and processing practices, potential risks, or harms resulting from information disclosure, it is crucial to understand cognitive processes underpinning privacy decisions. In this thesis, we examine privacy decisions and define factors that influence them. We investigate the attitude-behaviour relationship and identify privacy concerns affecting perceptions of privacy. Additionally, we examine factors influencing information sharing, such as emotional arousal and personality traits. Our results demonstrate that there is a relationship between privacy concerns and behaviours, and that simplified models of behaviour are insufficient to predict privacy decisions. Our findings show that internal factors, such as nationality and culture, emotional arousal, and individual characteristics, affect privacy decisions. Based on our findings, we conclude that future models of privacy should incorporate such determinants. Further, we postulate that privacy user interfaces must become more flexible and personalised than the current solutions. / Growing dependency on Internet-connected devices and increasing privacy risks prompted policymakers to protect individuals’ right to privacy. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation requires companies to provide users with adequate information about data collection and processing practices to increase privacy awareness and enable better decisions. Hence, multidisciplinary researchers aim at developing new privacy-enhancing solutions. However, to develop such solutions it is crucial to understand cognitive processes underpinning privacy decisions. This thesis objective is to investigate privacy behaviours. We identify privacy concerns affecting perceptions of privacy and examine factors influencing information sharing. We show that simplified models of behaviour are insufficient predictors of privacy decisions, and that demographic characteristic, emotion and personality affect privacy attitudes and behaviours. Based on our findings we conclude that future models of privacy and designs of privacy user interfaces must incorporate such behavioural determinants.

The perception of a good user experience can be fundamental in an app for users to be willing to engage in it and use it more than one time. An important part of the user experience is the interactions of the used interface. In this study, the goal has been to answer the question 'How can swipe gestures be used in a book recommendation system to introduce users to new content and allow them to sample it'. To answer the question, a user study with 18 participants has been done in which prototypes based on three different swipe gestures, defined by Google, have been tested: edge swipe, overscroll collapse and paging swipe. The study is based on the previous studies 'Clicking, Assessing, Immersing, and Sharing' by Oh et al. and 'Power of the Swipe: Why Mobile Websites Should Add Horizontal Swiping to Tapping, Clicking, and Scrolling Interaction Techniques' by Dou and Sundar. The study shows that it is possible to design swipe gestures in a recommendation tool for books in such a fashion that it engages the users. The study also shows that the participants thought that the prototype with the paging swipe was statistically significantly more easy to browse and that their attention was less diverted while browsing the content of that prototype. How swipe gestures can be used in a book recommendation system for the intended purpose depends on the purpose and the context of the tool. One way to do it would be to create a tool based on the paging swipe gesture with factors such as content, attractiveness and intuitiveness of the interface in mind. / Upplevelsen av god användarvänlighet kan vara fundamental i en app för att användare ska vilja engagera sig i den och använda den fler än en gång. En viktig del av användarupplevelsen är interaktionerna i det använda gränssnittet. Målet i den här studien har varit att besvara frågan 'Hur kan swipegester användas i ett bokrekommendationsverktyg för att introducera användare till nytt material och låta dem sampla det'. För att besvara frågan har en användarstudie med 18 deltagare genomförts i vilken prototyper baserade på tre, av Google definierade, swipegester har testats: edge swipe, overscroll collapse och paging swipe. Studien är primärt baserad på de tidigare studierna 'Clicking, Assessing, Immersing, and Sharing' av Oh et al. och 'Power of the Swipe: Why Mobile Websites Should Add Horizontal Swiping to Tapping, Clicking, and Scrolling Interaction Techniques' av Dou och Sundar. Studien visar att det är möjligt att designa swipegester i ett bokrekommendationsverktyg på ett sådant sätt att det engagerar användare. Studien visar också att deltagarna fann prototypen med paging swipe statistiskt signifikant enklare att utforska och att deras uppmärksamhet var mindre delad när de utforskade innehållet i den prototypen. Studien skulle dock behöva genomföras med fler deltagare. Hur swipegester kan användas i ett bokrekommendationsverktyg beror på verktygets syfte liksom på kontexten det ska användas i. Ett sätt som swipegester skulle kunna användas på är i ett verktyg baserat på paging swipegester i vilket hänsyn tagits till faktorer som innehåll, attraktionskraft och gränssnittets intuitivitet.