Cette thèse a pour objectif de donner une définition générale et mesurable de la difficulté du gameplay dans un jeu vidéo. Elle propose une méthode et un outil pour mesurer cette difficulté. La méthode de mesure couramment employée est en effet principalement heuristique et propre au contexte de chaque jeu. Nous proposons une approche générique d’analyse du gameplay qui prend en compte l’apprentissage du joueur et permet une évaluation statistique de la difficulté d’un gameplay. Dans un premier temps, la thèse explore les liens entre difficulté, game design, et plaisir de jouer. Nous étudions diverses formes de difficultés : sensorielles, logiques et motrices. Après diverses expérimentations d’analyse automatique de gameplay, nous détaillons notre modèle de mesure de la difficulté, et l’analyse en challenges et capacités d’un gameplay, ainsi que le logiciel associé. Finalement, nous présentons une expérience, dont l’objectif est de tester la faisabilité et la précision de notre modèle. / The goal of this thesis is to propose a general and measurable definition of the difficulty in video games. The current approach, widely adopted, is mainly heuristic, and depends on each game’s context. We propose a generic way to analyse a gameplay, taking into account the player’s apprenticeship, which allows to statistically evaluate the gameplay’s difficulty. The thesis first explores the links between difficulty, game design and the player’s enjoyment. Then, we study different types of difficulties, sensory, logical and motor. After a few experiments on automatic gameplay analysis, we detail our measurement model, base on the splitting of gameplay into challenges and capacities. We present the developed software, and report an experiment that we ran to test the feasibility and accuracy of our measuring technique.

The conventional approach to vehicle design is restrictive, limited, andbiased. This often leads to sub-optimal utilisation of vehicle capabilities and allocated resources and ultimately entails the repercussions of designing andlater on an using an inefficient vehicle. To overcome these limitations, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the interaction effects at component,subsystem, and system level. In this thesis, the research is focused on identifying appropriate methods and developing robust models to facilitate the interaction analysis. To scrutinise and identify appropriate methods, criteria were developed.Initially, the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) and its variations were examined.While DSM proved to be fundamental for capturing interaction effects,it lacked the ability to answer questions about the structure and behaviour ofinteractions and to predict unintended effects. Therefore, network theory wasexplored as a complementary method to DSM which was capable of providing insights into interaction structures and identifying influential variables. Subsequently, two criteria were established to identify subsystems significant to interaction analysis: high connectivity to other subsystems and multidisciplinary composition. The traction motor was observed to satisfyboth criteria as it had higher connectivity with other subsystems and was composed of multiple disciplines. Therefore, a detailed model of an induction motor was developed to enable the interaction analysis. The induction motor model was integrated into a cross-scalar design tool.The tool employed a two-step process: translating operational parametersto motor inputs using Newtonian equations and deriving physical attributes,performance characteristics, and performance attributes of the motor. Comparing the obtained performance characteristics curve against existing studiesvalidated the model’s reliability and capabilities. The design tool demonstrated adaptability to different drive cycles and the ability to modify motor performance without affecting operational parameters. Thus validating the capability of the design tool to capture cross-scalar and intra-subsystem interaction effects. To examine inter-subsystem interaction, a thermal model of an inverter was developed, capturing temperature variations in the power electronics based on motor inputs. The design tool successfully captured interaction effects between motor and inverter designs, highlighting the interplay with operational parameters. Thus, this thesis identifies methods for interaction analysis and develops robust subsystem models. The integrated design tool effectively captures intra-subsystem, inter-subsystem, and cross-scalar interaction effects. The research presented contributes to the overarching project goal of developing methods and models that capture interaction effects and in turn serve as a guiding tool for designers to understand the consequences of their design choices. / Det konventionella tillvägagångssättet för fordonsdesign är restriktiv, begränsat och partiskt. Detta leder ofta till en suboptimal användning av fordonets kapacitet och tilldelade resurser och innebär i slutändan att konsekvenserna blir att använda ett ineffektivt fordon. För att övervinna dessa begränsningar är det viktigt att få en djupare förståelse för interaktionseffekterna på komponent-, delsystem- och systemsnivå. I denna avhandling fokuserar forskningen på att identifiera lämpliga metoder och utveckla robusta modeller för att underlätta interaktionsanalysen. För att granska och identifiera lämpliga metoder utvecklades kriterier. Till att börja med undersöktes Design Structure Matrix (DSM) och dess variationer. Medan DSM visade sig vara grundläggande för att fånga interaktionseffekter, saknade den förmågan att besvara frågor om interaktionsstrukturer och beteende samt förutsäga oavsiktliga effekter. Därför utforskades nätverksteori som en kompletterande metod till DSM, vilket kunde ge insikter i interaktionsstrukturer och identifiera inflytelserika variabler. Därefter etablerades två kriterier för att identifiera delsystem som är betydelsefulla för interaktionsanalysen: hög anslutning till andra delsystem och mångdisciplinär sammansättning. Dragkraftmotorn observerades uppfylla båda kriterierna eftersom den hade högre anslutning till andra delsystem och var sammansatt av flera discipliner. Därför utvecklades en detaljerad modell av en induktionsmotor för att möjliggöra interaktionsanalysen. Induktionsmotormodellen integrerades i ett tvärskaligt designverktyg. Verktyget använde en tvåstegsprocess: att översätta operativa parametrar till motorinsatser med hjälp av Newtons ekvationer och härleda fysiska egenskaper, prestandakaraktäristik och prestandaattribut hos motorn. Jämförelse av den erhållna prestandakaraktäristikkurvan med befintliga studier validerade modellens tillförlitlighet och förmågor. Designverktyget visade anpassningsbarhet till olika körcykler och förmågan att modifiera motorprestanda utan att påverka operativa parametrar. Detta validerade designverktygets förmåga att fånga tvärskaliga och intra-subsystem interaktionseffekter. För att undersöka inter-subsysteminteraktion utvecklades en termisk modell av en inverter, som fångade temperaturvariationer i kraftelektroniken baserat på motorns styrning. Designverktyget fångade framgångsrikt interaktionseffekter mellan motor- och inverterdesign och belyste samspelet med operativa parametrar. Därmed identifierar denna avhandling metoder för interaktionsanalys och utvecklar robusta delsystemmodeller. Det integrerade designverktyget fångar effektivt intra-subsystem-, inter-subsystem- och tvärskaliga interaktionseffekter. Den presenterade forskningen bidrar till det övergripande projektets mål att utveckla metoder och modeller som fångar interaktionseffekter och i sin tur fungerar som ett vägledande verktyg för designers att förstå konsekvenserna av sina designval. / <p>QC 231003</p>

Thesis (M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Selecting a suitable power source, during the design process, for a stand-alone soya business unit is challenging and complex. Especially with the aim of optimizing electrical and thermal energy, as well as minimizing the life cycle cost. During the design and development of a soya business unit it was realized that a design tool is needed to assist with the decision making process when selecting a power source. Waste heat can be recovered from either or both the exhaust gas and cooling system of the power source and can be utilized in the soya process. Research of available literature revealed no design tool to assist with the decision making process of the stand-alone business unit and consequently lead to this study. This dissertation presents different possible power sources that could be utilized in supplying energy to the business unit, as well as design tools available. Advantages and disadvantages of the different power sources are discussed. The shortfalls of a number of the available design tools are also discussed. A diesel generator set was selected as the preferred power source for the business unit. Criteria for this selection included the price per kWhe generated, the ease of maintenance, the availability of the diesel generators in rural areas and the availability of diesel as a fuel. The diesel engine was characterized through experimental work for a more in depth understanding of the energy profile of the engine at part load conditions. These results were used as guidelines in the development of the design tool. The design tool was developed with the aim of being user friendly and versatile. The time intervals of the required load of the business unit are flexible. Different types of power sources and fuels can be used within the design tool. User defined heat exchangers are utilized to calculate the possible heat recovery from the power source. The design tool matches the available energy of different power sources at part load conditions with the required load profile of the soya business unit. It then eliminates power sources that would not be able to deliver the minimum required energy. The running cost is calculated for each of the remaining power sources and the power source with the minimum annualized cost, which includes capital cost, maintenance cost and fuel cost, is suggested. The design tool was verified against a base load condition of the soya business unit and the suggested power source showed a saving of 31,4% in electrical energy, an increased overall efficiency of 24,9% and a saving in annualized cost of 27,3%. The design tool can be used to optimize specific components and design options within a combined heat and power system. Sensitivity analysis can be performed with the design tool to determine various influences on the designed system. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Selecting a suitable power source, during the design process, for a stand-alone soya business unit is challenging and complex. Especially with the aim of optimizing electrical and thermal energy, as well as minimizing the life cycle cost. During the design and development of a soya business unit it was realized that a design tool is needed to assist with the decision making process when selecting a power source. Waste heat can be recovered from either or both the exhaust gas and cooling system of the power source and can be utilized in the soya process. Research of available literature revealed no design tool to assist with the decision making process of the stand-alone business unit and consequently lead to this study. This dissertation presents different possible power sources that could be utilized in supplying energy to the business unit, as well as design tools available. Advantages and disadvantages of the different power sources are discussed. The shortfalls of a number of the available design tools are also discussed. A diesel generator set was selected as the preferred power source for the business unit. Criteria for this selection included the price per kWhe generated, the ease of maintenance, the availability of the diesel generators in rural areas and the availability of diesel as a fuel. The diesel engine was characterized through experimental work for a more in depth understanding of the energy profile of the engine at part load conditions. These results were used as guidelines in the development of the design tool. The design tool was developed with the aim of being user friendly and versatile. The time intervals of the required load of the business unit are flexible. Different types of power sources and fuels can be used within the design tool. User defined heat exchangers are utilized to calculate the possible heat recovery from the power source. The design tool matches the available energy of different power sources at part load conditions with the required load profile of the soya business unit. It then eliminates power sources that would not be able to deliver the minimum required energy. The running cost is calculated for each of the remaining power sources and the power source with the minimum annualized cost, which includes capital cost, maintenance cost and fuel cost, is suggested. The design tool was verified against a base load condition of the soya business unit and the suggested power source showed a saving of 31,4% in electrical energy, an increased overall efficiency of 24,9% and a saving in annualized cost of 27,3%. The design tool can be used to optimize specific components and design options within a combined heat and power system. Sensitivity analysis can be performed with the design tool to determine various influences on the designed system. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This thesis deals with the topic of website optimization and user testing, with focus on the user experience. The main objective of this thesis is to design a software tool for on-line testing of the user experience of web applications, which currently does not exist on the Czech Internet. The first part deals with the user experience in theoretical aspect. It contains a comparison of experts' opinions on the issue and deals with the definition of basic concepts. The theoretical part contains an analysis of research techniques used in designing the user experience, which is an important output for the second part. Practical part of thesis includes at the beginning a research of the availability of tools to support analyzed research techniques on Czech Internet and assess their suitability for implementation into the designed tool. Afterwards thesis follow up the main goal - the development of a software tool for usability testing of web applications and websites (incl. the proposed business model and potential areas for future development). This tool should among other things provide benefits in terms of speed up and simplification of usability testing, including reducing the costs of testing.

Global warming is one of the gravest concerns that the world is now dealing with. This phenomenon is caused by a variety of factors. Carbon dioxide emitted from transportation networks is a significant contributor to global warming. Transportation systems comprise both the urban mobility sector (including public transportation and private vehicles) and the road transportation system. In line with this issue, governments across the globe have been implementing new technologies and strategies to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, changing passengers’ mobility behaviors through the application of nudging techniques has recently been identified as a feasible option by them. This research seeks to improve the efficiency of nudging approaches used in the mobility sector by assisting local authorities in designing appropriate behavioral interventions. To do so, ten city representatives including sustainability experts, and city managers were chosen, and semi-structured interviews were carried out to thoroughly understand their needs and expectations in terms of selecting the most effective nudges for encouraging citizens to use more sustainable modes of transport. The collected data were analyzed applyingtheThematicmethod. Finally, using the Value Proposition Design model, the design characteristics for the development of an ‘Intervention Design Tool’are determined. Our findings reveal that features such as simulating scenarios and interventions based on the behavior context and then providing users with situation-aware nudges are crucial for the creation of an 'intervention Design Tool’. Furthermore, this device must provide city representatives, as the main user of the tool, with a comprehensive view of the targeted city while alerting them to crucial situations and trends. As a consequence, the benefits that city representatives obtain from using this tool include reducing effort and saving time while increasing the reliability of their decisions.

Inom utveckling av mjukvaruprodukter kan samarbete ofta ske mellan designers och andra tekniska intressenter, såsom utvecklare. En förekommande process under samarbetet är en s.k. handoff, där design överlämnas från designers till utvecklade för att implementera denna i kod. Samarbetet mellan designers och utvecklare kan nuförtiden ske mer tillsammans och vara iterativt. Trots detta kan det finnas flera utmaningar inom samarbetet, såsom att försöka genomföra en exakt omvandling från design till kod. Andra sammanbrott (breakdowns) kan riskera att ske i samarbetet. Ett verktyg som kan användas inom design men som även erbjuder exportering av element och omvandling till kod är Figma. Verktyget beskrivs vara lämpligt för kollaboration, bland annat för designers och utvecklare. Figma menar att designer-utvecklare handoffs kan bli så lätt som en “handskakning”. I det här examensarbetet undersöks vilket roll Figma kan spela i samarbetet mellan just dessa två grupper, och huruvida Figmas verkliga användning skiljer sig från den som beskrivits. Studien försöker besvara hur Figma används i designer-utvecklare samarbetet i slutet av designprocessen och under konstruktionsprocessen, där konstruktionsprocess innebär där implementationen sker, detta enligt egen uppfattning. Semistrukturerade, digitala intervjuer genomfördes med tre designers och fyra utvecklare från företag i Sverige. De flesta deltagarna arbetade på olika företag. Affinitetsdiagram användes för analys. Resultatet visade att designers och utvecklare brukar använda Figma genom designprocessen, men även i skärningspunkten mellan design- och konstruktionsprocessen; designers skapar guidelines i designsystemet och kommentarer för att dela information med utvecklarna. Utvecklarna granskar och godkänner designers skapelser innan de läggs in i designsystemet, eller skapar komponenter själva. Designsystemet kan i sin tur fungera som en mall för utvecklarna när de ska börja koda. Det framgick även att andra faktorer kan spela roll i samarbetet, såsom mänskliga faktorer. Båda parterna använder Figma för att kommunicera med varandra skriftligt och visuellt, bland annat genom kommentarsfunktionen, prototyper och designsystem. Efter diskussion om resultaten visar det sig att Figma används under handoffs, men inte exklusivt. Verktyget kan dessutom användas för mer än att skapa gränssnitt. Det visar sig även att Figma på olika sätt kan främja designers och utvecklare i att tala samma språk; till exempel finns en del namn i Figma som liknar kodspråk. Å andra sidan såg deltagarna rum för förbättring i detta område då det fortfarande finns en del namn och funktioner i Figma som skiljer sig från kodspråk. En annan förekommande utmaning med samarbetet i Figma var synkronisering mellan designers och utvecklares representationer, det vill säga det som designers skapar och det som utvecklare skapar. Med andra ord upplevdes det svårt att fånga upp förändringar som gjorts i Figma eller i kodmiljön, och se till att det finns endast en sanningskälla. Slutsatsen är att Figma används i en kollaborativ designprocess för att kommunicera hur designen bör fungera och se ut visuellt. I konstruktionsprocessen används Figma för att granska olika designartefakter och inspektera designsystemet i Figma, vilka agerar utgångspunkter vid implementation. / In the field of software development, collaboration between designers and other technical stakeholders such as developers is common. During the collaboration, one occurring process is the so-called handoff, in which designers hand over a design to developers in order to implement the design into code. Today, designers and developers can often work together in an iterative fashion. Despite this, challenges may occur during the collaboration, such as when trying to transform design to code. Other breakdowns may also occur during the collaboration. One tool, that is used for design but can also offer exporting of elements and transforming to code, is Figma. The tool is described as being convenient for collaboration, such as designers and developers among other groups. According to Figma, using the tool may transform a designer-developer handoff into a “handshake”. In this thesis, the role of Figma in the designers-developer collaboration and its usage is studied. The goal of the study is to provide an answer to how Figma is used in the collaboration between designers and developers at the end of the design process and during the construction process. The construction process describes the process where the implementation is done, according to the authors' own understanding. Semi-structured digital interviews with three designers and four developers from companies in Sweden were conducted in this study. The majority of the participants worked at different companies. Affinity diagram were used to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that designers and developers usually use Figma throughout the design process, but also in the intersection of the design- and construction process; designers create guidelines in the design system and use comments to share information with developers. The developers review and approve designers’ creations before inserting them into the design system, or they just create the components themselves. Developers can also use the design system as a foundation for coding. Another interesting find was that other aspects outside of Figma, such as human factors, could impact the collaboration as well. Both designers and developers use Figma to communicate by text and through visuals, such as via the comment feature, prototypes and design systems. After discussing the results, it became clear the Figma is used during handoffs but not exclusively so. The tool can also be used for more than just creating interfaces. In many ways Figma can support designers and developers in speaking the same language, such as by having similar names to the ones found in code. On the other hand, the participants saw room for improvement in this area since some features and names in Figma differ from code. Another frequent challenge when collaborating in Figma was the synchronization between designers’ and developers’ representations, where representations are the things that designers and developers create respectively. In other words, designers and developers described challenges in picking up the changes made in Figma or in the development environment, and maintaining a single source of truth. The conclusion is that Figma is used in a collaborative design process to communicate the behaviour and visual aspects of the design. During the construction process, Figma is used to review design artefacts and inspect the design system in Figma, which acts as foundations for implementation.

This thesis project explores combining interactive technology and the natural world, through a more-than-human design approach. This project aims to step away from an industry-driven design by valuing plants as equal in the design process. Throughout this report, an overview of the relevant theory and examples are elaborated on. This overview has informed the project in two ways. It formed the foundation of a concept aiming to improve the user’s interconnectedness with nature and it formed the foundation of an evaluation tool developed for aiding designers in design for plants by addressing three design fields: Design for Care, Design for Cohabitation, and Design for Noticing. The concept and the evaluation tool have been developed in parallel and informed each other throughout the project. The final concept contributes to the discussion about addressing more-than-human actors in design. In this case by addressing plant blindness. The evaluation tool contributes to more-than-human design as a tool to evaluate ideas and projects. This project included an extensive analysis of a design collection, workshops regarding the materiality of living plants and assessment of the evaluation tool, an interdisciplinary design approach, and a prototyping phase during which assumptions regarding the concept were tested.

An ontology describing the constructs and their inter-relationships for business models has recently been built and evaluated: the Business Model Ontology (BMO). This ontology has been used to conceptually power a popular practitioner visual design tool: the Business Model Canvas (BMC). However, implicitly these works assume that designers of business models all have a singular normative goal: the creation of businesses that are financially profitable. These works perpetuate beliefs and businesses that do not create outcomes aligned with current natural and social science knowledge about long term individual human, societal and ecological flourishing, i.e. outcomes are not strongly sustainable. This limits the applicability and utility of these works. This exploratory research starts to overcome these limitations: creating knowledge of what is required of businesses for strongly sustainable outcomes to emerge and helping business model designers efficiently create high quality (reliable, consistent, effective) strongly sustainable business models. Based on criticism and review, this research project extends the BMO artefact to enable the description all the constructs and their inter-relationships related to a strongly sustainable business model. This results in the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology (SSBMO). To help evaluate the SSBMO a practitioner visual design tool is also developed: the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Canvas (SSBMC). Ontological engineering (from Artificial Intelligence), Design Science and Systems Thinking methodological approaches were combined in a novel manner to create the Systemic Design Science approach used to build and evaluate the SSBMO. Comparative analysis, interviews and case study techniques were used to evaluate the utility of the designed artefacts. Formal 3rd party evaluation with 7 experts and 2 case study companies resulted in validation of the overall approaches used and the utility of the SSBMO. A number of opportunities for improvement, as well as areas for future work, are identified. This thesis includes a number of supplementary graphics included in separate (electronic) files. See “List of Supplementary Materials” for details.