<p>Being able to keep your balance is something most of us take for granted. People with inner ear problems due to an accident or surgery or other dizziness have to live with this problem on a chronic basis. A balance prosthesis, worn around the torso, giving feedback about their upright position via tactile vibrators has been shown to help these people keep their balance.</p><p>The goal and purpose for this thesis has been to conduct research on how to improve the existing balance prosthesis and adapt it to fit the user. The research has been conducted with the focus on human factors, meaning with the users’ experience as the premier aspect.</p><p>To be able to reach a good solution with a prototype that would be an improvement compared to the existing device, a vest, several stages have been passed. At first twelve criteria were set up to establish human factors and hedonomic requirements. To fulfill these requirements, surveys with users were conducted. An extensive phase of prototyping and material research informed the design of a final concept.</p><p>The final concept was a prototype balance belt that contains six vibrators, called tactors, and models of the other electronic components. The belt has an elastic band as a base and then a black spandex fabric that covers all components. A Velcro band and a buckle are used to open and close the belt. Finally the belt has a beige spandex cover that can be pulled on and off. This cover makes the belt easy to keep clean because the cover can be washed.</p><p>The prototype is made in three different sizes so it can fit most people in the US population.</p><p>In the near future it will be important to make an evaluation of the balance belt with users. It needs to be tested if the vibrators are possible to feel and how it feels to wear the belt for a longer time. An aid to help pulling the cover onto the belt also has to be developed because putting on the cover is a bit difficult right now.</p>

Being able to keep your balance is something most of us take for granted. People with inner ear problems due to an accident or surgery or other dizziness have to live with this problem on a chronic basis. A balance prosthesis, worn around the torso, giving feedback about their upright position via tactile vibrators has been shown to help these people keep their balance. The goal and purpose for this thesis has been to conduct research on how to improve the existing balance prosthesis and adapt it to fit the user. The research has been conducted with the focus on human factors, meaning with the users’ experience as the premier aspect. To be able to reach a good solution with a prototype that would be an improvement compared to the existing device, a vest, several stages have been passed. At first twelve criteria were set up to establish human factors and hedonomic requirements. To fulfill these requirements, surveys with users were conducted. An extensive phase of prototyping and material research informed the design of a final concept. The final concept was a prototype balance belt that contains six vibrators, called tactors, and models of the other electronic components. The belt has an elastic band as a base and then a black spandex fabric that covers all components. A Velcro band and a buckle are used to open and close the belt. Finally the belt has a beige spandex cover that can be pulled on and off. This cover makes the belt easy to keep clean because the cover can be washed. The prototype is made in three different sizes so it can fit most people in the US population. In the near future it will be important to make an evaluation of the balance belt with users. It needs to be tested if the vibrators are possible to feel and how it feels to wear the belt for a longer time. An aid to help pulling the cover onto the belt also has to be developed because putting on the cover is a bit difficult right now.

A framework was developed called the Extended Hedonomic Hierarchy (EHH) that provides a basis for evaluating pleasurable human-system experience. Results from a number of experiments within this framework that evaluated specific dimensions of the framework are reported. The 'Exposure' component of the EHH framework and hedonics of the system were investigated to see how changes would affect other dimensions, such as the occurrence of flow, the mode of interaction, and the needs of the user. Simulations and video games were used to investigate how repeated exposure affects flow, interaction mode, and the user needs. The Kansei Engineering method was used to measure user needs and investigate the effect of different hedonic properties of the system on user needs and flow. Findings reveal that: (a) pleasurable human-system experience increases linearly with repeated exposure to the technology of interest; (b) an habituation effect of flow mediated by day; (c) motivation to satisfy human need for technology is hierarchically structured and contributes to pleasurable human-system experience; (d) interactivity is hierarchically structured and seamless mode of interaction is a behavioral outcome of pleasurable human-system experience; (e) there are individual differences among users that affect the likelihood of experiencing pleasurable human-system interaction; (f) performance is positively correlated to flow and (g) the method of kansei engineering provides data from which informed decisions about design can be made and empirical research can be conducted. Suggestions for (a) making Hedonomics a reality in industry, the workplace, and in the field of Human Factors, (b) future research directions for Hedonomics, and (c) principles and guidelines for the practice of Hedonomics are discussed.

Au-delà de l’utilisabilité, la question du ressenti émotionnel est devenue prépondérante pour les équipes de conception d’applications souhaitant se différencier par la qualité d’utilisation. Mais malgré l’importance des enjeux, les bonnes pratiques de conception pour l’émotion ne sont pas ou peu documentées. L’objet de ce travail de thèse consiste donc à concourir à la définition des stratégies de design émotionnel d’interface susceptibles de susciter un ressenti positif des utilisateurs. Deux étapes sont considérées :1. l’identification de patterns de design émotionnel, au travers des pratiques existantes des designers et des modèles théoriques afférant ; 2. la définition d’une méthode d’évaluation des patterns de design préalablement identifiées. Considérant l’hédonomie comme paradigme succédant à l’utilisabilité, nous proposons une synthèse de patterns de design émotionnel structurés autour de la notion de personnalité applicative. Les patterns d’empathie et de sympathie apparaissent ainsi particulièrement pertinents. En ce sens, nous proposons une déclinaison de l’hédonomie pour le « design sympathique » d’interfaces. Une seconde étape de ce travail s’oriente vers l’évaluation des patterns de design. Nous proposons ainsi une sélection de méthodes de mesure de l’émotion adaptées aux spécificités d’une utilisation d’interface. Les expérimentations menées permettent de proposer une méthode d’évaluation du ressenti suscité par le design d’interface. Enfin, nous proposons des orientations de recherche alternatives ou complémentaires afin de guider les futurs travaux vers la définition de recommandations pour le design émotionnel d’interface. / Beyond usability, the question of the emotion has turned preponderant for application design teams wishing to get differentiated by the quality of use. But despite the important issues, good practices of design for emotion are not or poorly documented.The purpose of this thesis is therefore to contribute to the definition of emotional interface design strategies to create a positive feeling by the users.Two steps are considered:1. the identification of emotional design patterns, through the practices of designers and the related theoretical models;2. the definition of a method of assessment for the previously identified design patterns.Considering hedonomics as a new paradigm succeeding to usability, we propose a synthesis of emotional design patterns structured on the notion of applicative personality. Empathy and sympathy patterns thus appear particularly relevant. In this sense, we propose a variation of hedonomics for the “sympathetic design” of interfaces.A second phase of this work is oriented towards the evaluation of design patterns. We offer a selection of emotion measurement methods adapted to the specificities of an interface use. The conducted experiments allow to propose a method of evaluation of the emotion elicited by the interface design.Finally, we propose alternative or complementary research directions to guide future work towards the definition of recommendations for emotional interface design.