Background: E-commerce is an evolving market; the number of retailers and the growth in online shopping has built up a competitive market. It is therefore essential for companies to continuously develop their online activity to remain and attract new customers. To do so, companies need to create value for the customers and meet their demands: therefore it is of great importance for companies to understand consumers’ buying behavior, and moreover investigate in which factors are related to the consumers’ online purchase intention.   Purpose: The purpose is to explain the relationship between trust, perceived risk, shopping enjoyment, site design quality and online purchase intention.   Hypotheses: The authors of this study set up the following hypotheses: H1+: Trust is positively related to consumers’ online purchase intention. H2-: Perceived risk is negatively related to consumers’ online purchase intention. H3: Shopping enjoyment is related to consumers’ online purchase intention. H4+: Site design quality is positively related to consumers’ online purchase intention. Methodology: Survey study. Conclusion: Hypothesis 1 was supported in this study. Hypothesis 2 was not supported in this study. Hypothesis 3 was supported in this study. Hypothesis 4 was supported in this study.

One of the most emphasised software testing activities in an Agile environment is the usage of the Test Driven Development (TDD) approach. TDD is a development activity where test cases are created by developers before writing the code, and all for the purpose of guiding the actual development process. In other words, test cases created when following TDD could be considered as a by-product of software development. However, TDD is not fully adopted by the industry, as indicated by respondents from our industrial survey who pointed out that TDD is the most preferred but least practised activity. Our further research identified seven potentially limiting factors for industrial adoption of TDD, out of which one of the prominent factor was lack of developers’ testing skills. We subsequently defined and categorised appropriate quality attributes which describe the quality of test case design when following TDD. Through a number of empirical studies, we have clearly established the effect of “positive test bias”, where the participants focused mainly on the functionality while generating test cases. In other words, there existed less number of “negative test cases” exercising the system beyond the specified functionality, which is an important requirement for high reliability systems. On an average, in our studies, around 70% of test cases created by the participants were positive while only 30% were negative. However, when measuring defect detecting ability of those sets of test cases, an opposite ratio was observed. Defect detecting ability of negative test cases were above 70% while positive test cases contributed only by 30%. We propose a TDDHQ concept as an approach for achieving higher quality testing in TDD by using combinations of quality improvement aspects and test design techniques to facilitate consideration of unspecified requirements during the development to a higher extent and thus minimise the impact of potentially inherent positive test bias in TDD. This way developers do not necessarily focus only on verifying functionality, but they can as well increase security, robustness, performance and many other quality improvement aspects for the given software product. An additional empirical study, evaluating this method, showed a noticeable improvement in the quality of test cases created by developers utilising TDDHQ concept. Our research findings are expected to pave way for further enhancements to the way of performing TDD, eventually resulting in better adoption of it by the industry.

Η Ποιότητα Λογισμικού αποτελεί σήμερα ένα πολύ σημαντικό και ενδιαφέρον κεφάλαιο στην Επιστήμη των Υπολογιστών. Με το πέρασμα του χρόνου, καθώς επίσης και με την εξέλιξη της τεχνολογίας η ανάγκη για την εξασφάλιση της ποιότητας σε πρώτο στάδιο, και ακολούθως η ανάγκη για σωστή αξιολόγηση και επιτυχή διασφάλιση της ποιότητας λογισμικού γίνονται όλο και μεγαλύτερες και αποτελούν βασικότατες επιδιώξεις επιχειρήσεων, οργανισμών και προγραμματιστών. Ο όρος Ποιότητας Λογισμικού μπορεί να αποκτήσει πολλές διαστάσεις και ερμηνείες, αναλόγως τις επιδιώξεις, τους στόχους και τις ανάγκες του κάθε χρήστη. Η διπλωματική αυτή επικεντρώνεται στην ανάλυση της αξιολόγησης και της διασφάλισης της ποιότητας λογισμικού, παρουσιάζοντας τρόπους και μοντέλα, με τη βοήθεια των οποίων είναι εφικτή η αποτελεσματική αξιολόγηση και διασφάλιση της ποιότητας. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο αναλύονται οι όροι «αξιολόγηση» και «διασφάλιση» της ποιότητας λογισμικού και παρουσιάζονται οι απαιτήσεις στα πλαίσια του ελέγχου και της εξασφάλισης της ποιότητας ενός έργου. Επιπροσθέτως, παρουσιάζεται η σπουδαιότητα της αξιοπιστίας και της αξιολόγησης λογισμικού, αναλύεται η διαδικασία της επαλήθευσης και επικύρωσης κατά το σχεδιασμό λογισμικού και περιγράφεται η διαδικασία ελέγχου. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο, παρουσιάζονται τα υπάρχοντα μοντέλα αξιολόγησης λογισμικού που είναι τα περισσότερο δημοφιλή και γνωρίζουν ευρεία εφαρμογή. Αναλύεται ο όρος «μετρική», παρουσιάζονται οι συχνές τάσεις στην Τεχνολογία Λογισμικού, τα χαρακτηριστικά των αντικειμενοστρεφών μετρικών της Τεχνολογίας Λογισμικού, ενώ τέλος περιγράφεται η Διαδικασία της Εξασφάλισης Ποιότητας. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται το Διεθνές Πρότυπο ISO/IEC 9126, το οποίο κατέχει δεσπόζουσα θέση ανάμεσα στα άλλα Πρότυπα Ποιότητας, παρουσιάζει μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον και είναι από τα δημοφιλέστερα. Περιγράφονται τα χαρακτηριστικά του Προτύπου ISO/IEC 9126 και οι βασικές του λειτουργίες. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται η συνοπτική περιγραφή και η λεπτομερής αξιολόγηση του Διεθνούς Πρότυπου ISO/IEC 9126, παρουσιάζονται τα τμήματα τα οποία το απαρτίζουν, ακολουθεί μία επισκόπηση πειράματος και γίνεται ανάλυση των αποτελεσμάτων που προκύπτουν ύστερα από χρήση του προτύπου αυτού. Ακόμη, γίνεται αναφορά στα μειονεκτήματα του μοντέλου και στα προβλήματα που προκύπτουν από τη χρήση του, ενώ παρατίθεται και η προσωπική μου εκτίμηση όσον αφορά το Πρότυπο αυτό. Στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται παρουσίαση της Αναλυτικής Διεργασίας Ιεραρχίας και της Πολυκριτήριας Ανάλυσης. Περιγράφεται η διαδικασία της επέκτασης του Διεθνούς Πρότυπου ISO/IEC 9126 για την ανάπτυξη ενός γενικευμένου μοντέλου ποιότητας η οποία λαμβάνει χώρα με την εφαρμογή της Πολυκριτήριας Ανάλυσης και αποσκοπεί σε περισσότερο βελτιωμένη αξιολόγηση και καλύτερη διασφάλιση της Ποιότητας Λογισμικού. Ακολουθεί η ανάλυση του μοντέλου της Αναλυτικής Διεργασίας Ιεραρχίας, η λειτουργία του μοντέλου αυτού και η επεξήγηση του. Στο έκτο και τελευταίο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται ένα προτεινόμενο από εμένα μοντέλο το οποίο έρχεται να αντισταθμίσει τα μειονεκτήματα που προσφέρουν τα παραπάνω μοντέλα, συνδυάζοντας τα πλεονεκτήματα τους. Περιγράφεται σε πρώτη φάση ο σημαντικός ρόλος του λήπτη αποφάσεων ,ο οποίος είναι καθοριστικός για την παραμετροποίηση του μοντέλου, αναλύονται τα πλεονεκτήματα των προηγούμενων μοντέλων τα οποία συνδυάζονται στο μοντέλο αυτό για την αντιστάθμιση των μειονεκτημάτων και περιγράφονται τα χαρακτηριστικά του προτεινόμενου μοντέλου αξιολόγησης της Ποιότητας Λογισμικού. Τέλος, ακολουθεί ένα παράδειγμα εφαρμογής του μοντέλου σε κώδικα λογισμικού και σχολιασμός των αποτελεσμάτων που προκύπτουν από την εφαρμογή του μοντέλου αυτού, συγκριτικά με τα αποτελέσματα που προκύπτουν από την εφαρμογή του Προτύπου ISO/IEC 9126. / The quality of Software constitutes a very important and interesting capital in the Science of Computers today. With the passage of time, as well as with the development of technology, the need for the guarantee of quality in the very first stage, and accordingly the need for a correct evaluation and a successful guarantee of quality of software become always bigger and constitute the most basic objectives of enterprises, organisms and programmers. The term Quality of Software can acquire a lot of dimensions and interpretations, depending on the objectives, the goals and the needs of each user. This dissertation, focused on the analysis of evaluation and the guarantee of quality of software, presents ways and models, with the help of which the effective evaluation and guarantee of quality are feasible. In the first chapter the terms “evaluation” and “guarantee of” quality of software are analyzed and the requirements concerning the control and guarantee of quality of work are presented. Besides, the importance of reliability and the evaluation of software are presented and the process of verification and ratification at the planning of software are analyzed and described in terms of the process of control. In the second chapter, the existing models of evaluation of software that are the most popular and know wide application are presented. The term “metric” is analyzed and the frequent tendencies in the Technology of Software are presented. Furthermore, the characteristics of object-oriented metrics of Technology of Software are described, along with the Process of Guarantee of Quality. In the third chapter the International Model ISO/IEC 9126 is presented. The International Model ISO/IEC 9126 possesses dominating position between the other Models of Quality, presenting big interest and is among the most popular Models of Quality. In addition, the characteristics of Model ISO/IEC 9126 and its basic operations are described. In the fourth chapter the concise description and the detailed evaluation of International Model ISO/IEC 9126 are presented, along with its component. Moreover, a review of experiment is described thoroughly and the results of the experiment are analysed and evaluated. Finally, the disadvantages of model as well as the problems that result from its use are reported, while also my personal estimation and opinion concerning the Model is stated. In the fifth chapter the process of Analytic Activity of Hierarchy is presented. Also, the process of the extension of the International Model ISO/IEC 9126 for the growth of a generalised model of quality with the use of Analytic Activity of Hierarchy is described. This generalised model aims at a more improved evaluation and better guarantee of Quality of Software. Finally, the analysis of the model of Analytic Activity of Hierarchy, its function and its functionality follow. In the sixth and last chapter, a proposed model is presented which compensates for the disadvantages of the previous models, providing all the stated advantages of the previous models. Firstly, the important role of the maker of decisions, which is decisive for the parametrization of model, is mentioned. The advantages of the previous models which are also provided by the proposed model are described and in addition, the characteristics of the proposed model concerning the evaluation of the Quality of Software are explained. Finally, a comparison of the results that stem from the application of model in a software product and the results that stem from the application of the Model ISO/IEC 9126 in the same software product are reported.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A presente dissertaÃÃo trata da proposiÃÃo de diretrizes para a melhoria do setor serviÃo em HabitaÃÃes de Interesse Social (HIS) tendo-se por base a anÃlise quantitativa e qualitativa de autoconstruÃÃes. Està em andamento, na atualidade, uma mudanÃa na lÃgica de concepÃÃo de novos produtos, na qual as informaÃÃes de clientes em potencial tÃm sido mais amplamente consideradas. No Ãmbito da arquitetura e construÃÃo, sobretudo com a participaÃÃo ativa da iniciativa privada na produÃÃo de HIS, tem-se dado uma maior importÃncia para a consideraÃÃo das necessidades dos futuros usuÃrios na etapa de planejamento e projeto de novas edificaÃÃes. Um tipo de instrumento utilizado para a aferiÃÃo da adequabilidade do espaÃo construÃdo e a satisfaÃÃo dos usuÃrios consiste na AvaliaÃÃo de PÃs-OcupaÃÃo (APO). Pesquisas que relatam os resultados deste tipo de aferiÃÃo, no entanto, tÃm apontado para a insatisfaÃÃo dos usuÃrios com relaÃÃo ao setor serviÃo em HIS. Objetivando propor diretrizes projetuais para este setor, optou-se, assim, por analisar o setor serviÃo em habitaÃÃes autoconstruÃdas como forma de obter informaÃÃes de clientes em potencial para este segmento do mercado imobiliÃrio. Estabeleceram-se duas etapas complementares de coleta e anÃlise de dados: a primeira, quantitativa, e a segunda, qualitativa. O setor serviÃo foi analisado em um total de 80 habitaÃÃes autoconstruÃdas atravÃs de levantamento fÃsico, registro fotogrÃfico e realizaÃÃo de entrevistas com os moradores. O levantamento dos dados permitiu uma anÃlise quantitativa, com base em indicadores tÃcnicos, e qualitativa, com base em entrevistas. Ao final, foi feito um estudo comparativo de todas estas informaÃÃes com diretrizes mÃnimas para o setor serviÃo definidas pela literatura, de forma a validÃ-las e ampliÃ-las. Entende-se que a principal contribuiÃÃo da presente pesquisa consiste na melhoria dos espaÃos de HIS com base em informaÃÃes de clientes em potencial, agregando, assim, valor ao produto final: a edificaÃÃo. / This dissertation deals with the proposition of guidelines for the improvement of the service area in social housing and was based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of self-built houses. Currently, the design logic of new products has been changing, and the potential customerâs information have been more widely considered. In the building and construction field, especially because of the growth ofthe private sector participation in the production social housing, Ithas been given greater importance to the consideration of the future usersâ needs at the stage of planning and designing new buildings. One type of instrument used to measure the suitability of the building and the userâs satisfaction is the Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE). Surveys report that the results of this type of measurement, however, have pointed to the usersâ dissatisfaction in the regard of theservice area in social housing. This research aims to propose design guidelines for this sector, so it has been decided to analyzeof the service areain self-built housing, considering that It would be possible to generate information about potential customers in social housing. Two complementary stages of data collection and analysis were settled: the first one, quantitative, and the second one, qualitative. The service area was analyzed in a total of 80 self-built dwellings through physical survey, photographic records and interviews with residents. The survey data allowed a quantitative analysis, based on technical indicators, and a qualitativeanalysis, based on the interviews. Finally, a comparative study was made of all this information opposed to guidelines for the service area defined in the literature in order to validate them and enlarge them as well. It is understood that the main contribution of this research is the improvementsocial housing environments based on potential customersâinformation, adding value to the final product: the building.

The issue of design quality in construction projects has long been a major concern for designprofessionals (Gann et al. 2003). The emphasis on improvement of processes in constructionin order to manage or reduce “cost, time and waste” in projects, at times has led to concernsthat the design of a building could become a matter of less importance due to such processimproving measures (Gann et al. 2003, p.319) “Design Quality” in architecture andconstruction is an ambiguous and “dynamic concept” in relation to its context, continuouslygoing through changes (Rönn 2010, p.48; Slaughter 2004).Quality itself is related to value and multiple definitions of it (Rönn 2010). It is often possiblefor both people and professionals to feel and experience design quality in buildings ratherintuitively, but to frame it in a recognizable manner has always proved challenging (Rönn2010). Essentially, human behavior apart from being influenced by the physical environmentis also influenced by the social context existing within the physical environment (Vischer2008).These challenges further extend to judgement, assessment and measurement of design quality,and setting out the relevant criteria for them (Rönn 2010, Slaughter 2004). Therefore, it’sdifficult for building designers, to structure design solutions that could guarantee theachievement of such ambiguous concept (Rönn 2010). / Frågan om designkvalitet i byggprojekt har länge varit ett stort bekymmer för designers (Gannet al. 2003). Betoningen på förbättring av processer inom konstruktion för att hantera ellerminska ”kostnad, tid och slöseri” i projekt har ibland lett till en oro för att utformning ochdesign av en byggnad kan bli av mindre betydelse på grund av sådana processförbättrandeåtgärder (Gann et al. 2003, p.319) ”Designkvalité” i arkitektur och konstruktion är ett tvetydigtoch ”dynamiskt koncept” i förhållande till sitt sammanhang, som ständigt genomgårförändringar (Rönn 2010, s.48; Slaughter 2004).Kvalité i sig är relaterad till värde och flera definitioner av det (Rönn 2010). Det är ofta möjligtför både människor och yrkesverksamma att känna och uppleva designkvalité i byggnaderganska intuitivt, men att rama in den på ett igenkännbart sätt har visat sig utmanande (Rönn2010). I huvudsak påverkas det mänskliga beteendet utöver den fysiska miljön även av densociala kontexten som finns inom den fysiska miljön (Vischer 2008).Dessa utmaningar sträcker sig vidare till bedömning, värdering och mätning av designkvalitéeroch fastställande av relevanta kriterier för dem (Rönn 2010, Slaughter 2004). Därför är detsvårt för byggnadsdesigners att konstruera designlösningar som garanterat kan uppnå ett sådanttvetydigt koncept (Rönn 2010).

Design quality work has sought to identify the impact of building design on users during the last 25 years. However, it has rarely considered the role that social context plays in this relationship, an issue that dovetails with the emerging concept of "social value". To drive learning in design, the social value of buildings requires measurement and dissemination, yet existing post-occupancy methodologies have focused on technical building performance rather than user experience. A shift in evaluative focus is needed. The social value of buildings is conceptualised as the mutual interaction between physical building design, active building users and the dynamic social relations that exist within the community of building users. This research has investigated the effective measurement of the social value of buildings and its potential influence on learning in design and commissioning processes, through the critical application of a social impact methodology called Social Return on Investment (SROI). Three case buildings were selected from the nonclinical healthcare sector with differing levels of user-centred design to trial SROI and develop a framework for its application to the built environment. SROI is designed to quantify complex social outcomes, identified through qualitative stakeholder engagement, and generate a transferable metric in the form of a monetised return-on-investment ratio. A methodological account is given of the challenges faced when applying it to the case buildings and the modifications required as a result, representing a unique information source about applied social value research in buildings. However, the effectiveness of SROI at measuring the social value of buildings is questioned due to the process of simplification required to turn qualitative user narratives into monetised data. Its potential utility as a decision-making tool in the built environment is investigated through engagement with design and commissioning professionals. The findings suggest that SROI has limited utility in design-related decisions, but considerable potential as a high level investment tool to inform funding and commissioning decisions. Due to the accessibility of its methodology and transferability of its results, SROI is well-placed as a tool for end user clients, commissioners and investors, as much as design experts. SROI represents a development in lay (e)valuation practices in the built environment, with broader implications for user-centred learning in the context of the growing wellbeing agenda.

Ageing has become a significant research area in the last few decades. The most important reason that makes ageing issue significant is the increasing rate of the older indviduals within the population all around the world. Statistical data on ageing both in Turkey and in the world reveals that, in the near future, the number of population over 65 will increase dramatically. It can be asserted that there will be an urgent need of specifically designed accommodation for this portion of the population. Hence, this thesis intends to search for and practice a design solution for the elderly housing. One of the instruments that supported the formulation of such a solution is the subject of &lsquo / universal design&rsquo / . Within the scope of this study, the principles of universal design and its relationship with ageing are defined, examined and evaluated. It is accepted that living environment has effect on the enhancement of the individual&rsquo / s quality of life. For this reason, the relationship between person and environment is briefly discussed in congruence with principles of universal design and provision of quality of life. Accessibility, safety, privacy, autonomy and independence are the common concerns of universal design and provision of a higher quality of life. With review of the definitions of specific elderly housing types, another approach for this study is to make a case study of the existing architectural solutions for the elderly housing. This helped to understand architectural approaches to the relationship between ageing and environment in the world. In the light of the findings, an architectural project, presenting a habitable environment for the elderly, is proposed. For the project, the concept of &ldquo / assisted living&rdquo / as a new category for elderly housing, is chosen.

München: Auf dem Messegelände findet eine Audi Management Konferenz (MMK) in statt. Das Audi Journal berichtet zum ersten Mal von der MMK. Der Aufbruch: Rupert Stadler – der Vorstandsvorsitzende der AUDI AG – zeichnet in seiner Rede ein Bild über den Weg in die Zukunft. Die Themenschwerpunkte: digital, global, ultra, premium – was steckt dahinter? (AUDI AG 2014)

München: Auf dem Messegelände findet eine Audi Management Konferenz (MMK) in statt. Das Audi Journal berichtet zum ersten Mal von der MMK. Der Aufbruch: Rupert Stadler – der Vorstandsvorsitzende der AUDI AG – zeichnet in seiner Rede ein Bild über den Weg in die Zukunft. Die Themenschwerpunkte: digital, global, ultra, premium – was steckt dahinter? (AUDI AG 2014)

REST (Representational state transfer) is an architectural style for distributed hypermedia systems. The simplicity of REST allows straightforward communication between HTTP clients and servers using URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) and HTTP methods, e.g., GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. To do the communication effectively between clients and servers, there is a set of best design practices (design and linguistic patterns) shall be followed, and a set of poor design practices (design and linguistic antipatterns) shall be avoided. This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between design and linguistic quality in Google RESTful APIs. To find this relation, a tool is developed to detect patterns and antipatterns in REST APIs both in terms of design and linguistic quality. The input of this tool is qualitative data (Google APIs) and its output is quantitative data. Using this quantitative data, a statistical study is then performed to detect the relation. The tests that are conducted to obtain the final results are Chi-squared and Phi Coefficient tests. The result of Chi-squared that considered all the groups of patterns and antipatterns shows that there is a statistically significant relation between design and linguistic quality. However, when we assess the individual pair of patterns and antipatterns, our Phi Coefficient tests show that for most of the cases, there is no or negligible relationship between linguistic and design patterns and antipatterns.