Thesis (Ph.D.)--Drexel University, 2008. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-153).

Creating innovations has becoming increasingly important due to the digital transformation of the business world. In order to create innovations, the Lean Startup approach has been successfully used. It is an approach for quickly evaluate ideas to see if there is any business case behind them. But, how could the Lean Startup approach be used in large companies to help improve internal development? Internal development is for creating, maintaining and improving systems and processes used within companies. They are usually developed following the Waterfall method, which is slow and does not generate enough ideas. Through semi-structured interviews, the Lean Startup approach designed at a case company and their internal development team's needs, have been identified. These interviews later served as a foundation for comparing the Lean Startup approach used at the case company and the needs of their internal development team. As a result, guidelines have been compiled on how the Lean Startup approach could be adapted to suit the needs of the case company's internal development team. This thesis presents the guidelines.

This work aims to answer the question whether the recommendations for writing a text for a dyslexic reader affects the readability of said text. An eye tracking study was conducted upon texts that were manipulated according to or opposing the guidelines that the Swedish dyslexia association (Dyslexiförbundet) has developed in the project Begriplig text. Participants were 8 dyslexic and 9 non-dyslexic readers. The results show little to no improvement in readability following the guidelines. Future works could examine how the perceived readability corresponds to the results of readability measures, such as the ones calculated by the application TeCST. Future work could also conduct the experiment with more participants.

Augmented reality (AR) gaming, where the real world is overlaid with objects or information to create new gaming experiences, is one of the latest trending technologies. This is due to increases in development tools, mobile device availability and mobile device performance. This thesis compared an existing augmented reality treasure hunt game, based on image tracking, with a prototype based on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) to find differences and improvements in this genre. It was found that the SLAM based prototype that drew treasure hunt hints into the world using AR was significantly more fun to use and also more challenging than the game based on image tracking. This could be used to create AR games for broader demographics as well as make existing experiences more immersive and engaging. More studies could be conducted in this area. Both to find more differences between the technologies in different circumstances and also to investigate other AR navigation systems.

Inom psykologin diskuteras ett fenomen benämnt prajming. Detta fenomen beskrivs vara en omedveten form av minne som påverkas av vår perception vid identifieringen av ord och objekt. Exempelvis sker detta när en person får se färgen grön vilket gör att denne snabbare känner ingen ordet gräsmatta. Detta beror på att ordet grön är nära associerat i minnet med gräs. På detta sätt, menar man, påverkar omedvetna associationer våra handlingar omedvetet.   Prajming har tidigare studerats på flertalet områden och både bekräftats och vederlagts. Efter litteraturstudien som initialt genomfördes inför denna studie, har dock inga studier som undersöker prajming i samband med användartester hittats. Det ledde fram till syftet med denna studie som är ”att undersöka om prajming har någon effekt på testdeltagarens utförande i ett användartest”.   Studien genomfördes med hjälp av användartester på en webbsite, sex stycken testdeltagare medverkade i testet. Testdeltagarna delades upp i två grupper, varav den ena gruppen utförde användartest utan att bli prajmade innan testet och den andra gruppen blev prajmade med en kort film innan testet. Resultatet i studien påvisar att de testdeltagare som innan användartestet blivit prajmade lyckades lösa uppgifterna snabbare. Resultatet demonstrerar effekten av prajming.

This thesis aims to explore what advantages could be found in using a three-dimensional visualization of a relation-database, rather than a more conventional means of visualization. This comparison needed two visualization-environments with interactivity capabilities, designed to ease handling customer and system relations for the Forestry Solutions department of CGI Gävle. First, a database was created, using a database-model that CGI provided, which included the structure of the internal relations between customers and systems in the database. This database was then filled with fictive data with corresponding structure, but not including potentially sensitive information. Then methods for gathering and inserting data into the database were created, for use by both solutions. This was crucial for the separation of the graphical interface and the underlying structure, which would keep the possibility to exchange the graphical portion of the system without affecting what lies underneath. The two visualization systems were then constructed in parallel, the 3D-system was mainly constructed in Unity, while the conventional system was constructed only using Visual Studio, for a Windows Forms application. The two systems were then tested by a few CGI employees with different internal roles, where they received a few tasks to complete, while being timed. This was then followed by an interview, where the test subjects had the opportunity to provide us with feedback to both systems design, implementation and which system they preferred using. They were also asked if they had any constructive feedback for further development, which led to us having a deeper understanding of what was necessary for a system of this purpose. This work concluded, based on tests, interview and studies that a three-dimensional visualization, if done correctly, would have great potential. We also concluded based on user feedback that combining both systems into one would have a positive impact on usability. / Detta arbete utfördes med avsikten att utforska vilka fördelar en tredimensionell visualisering av en relationsdatabas har jämfört med ett mer traditionellt gränssnitt. Jämförelsen behövde två visualiseringsmiljöer med interaktionsmöjligheter, anpassade för att underlätta hanteringen av kunder och systemberoenden på avdelningen CGI Forestry Solutions i Gävle. Inledningsvis skapades en databas utefter en databasmodell, innehållande den information och de relationer databasen tänktes innehålla. Denna fylldes sedan med fiktiva data, med rätt struktur, därefter skapades metoder för att hämta information från databasen, följt av metoder för insättning. Detta steg medförde en tydlig separation av databasmetoderna och de kommande visualiseringsalternativen, för att möjliggöra utbyte av gränssnittet utan att behöva ändra dessa metoder. De två systemen konstruerades sedan parallellt för att visualisera denna data: Den tredimensionella lösningen konstruerades i huvudsak i Unity, den andra enbart i Visual Studio i en Windows Forms applikation. Dessa system testades sedan av ett antal anställda på företaget med olika roller, där de fick ett antal uppgifter att utföra under tidtagning i de båda systemen. Testerna efterföljdes av en intervju där testpersonen fick utvärdera användbarheten hos de båda systemen, i den utsträckning att svara vilket system de föredrog, samt komma med konkreta förbättringar systemen hade dragit nytta av. Intervjuerna ledde i sin tur till en djupare förståelse för önskat beteende hos systemen. Arbetet mynnade ut i att en tredimensionell visualiseringsmodell av en relationsdatabas har potential, förutsatt en mer komplett implementation. Det hade varit till fördel att slå samman de båda systemen till ett för att bibehålla de positiva delarna av dem båda, för att samtidigt eliminera några svagheter.

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While digitalization is changing the way we work and live, new methods and strategies are needed for motivating future generations at work. An approach to this is gamification, described as the use of game mechanics and elements for creating motivation and engagement in non-game contexts. In this thesis, theory on gamification is studied along with connecting areas of games, user-centred design and motivation. The theory is used for conducting a case study with a user-centred approach, applied in a design process. The case study investigates the use of an optimization tool for production of district heating, developed by the thesis initiator Sigholm, and used by operating technicians in the control room at power plants. The use and use context of the product is studied where user needs, goals and motivations are addressed and used as design problems to investigate. By applying the theories studied, ideas are generated, visualised, tested and evaluated in a prototype. The results of the case study show that including gamification in a user-centred design process helps in focusing on the user motivations and acts as an inspiration in finding engaging design solutions. Applying gamification in the case study showed that the game mechanics and elements themselves were not appealing to the whole user group, but that solutions directly connected to the user needs and use context were more appreciated. The thesis addresses a wide scope of integrated fields where several areas of further studies are identified.