The use of online applications has grown rapidly during the last years, where 91% of the Swedish population uses internet on a daily basis, both on computers and mobile devices. Naturally, this has come to affect multiple sectors, including the educational one. The usage of online applications as tools for education, can further benefit its availability as its material is available independent of both time and location. This study aims to analyse how e-learning platforms should be designed for high responsivity, to be available for multiple device types, and connection qualities. The work is conducted as a case study, where an e-learning platform is developed to be used for courses held at Linköping University. To evaluate the platform, user tests were conducted on six students, along with performance measurements, to analyse the platform both on a subjective and technical level. The results show that consistency plays a significant part of the responsivity of elearning platforms, both internally and in relation to similar applications. In a consistent design, users can reuse their developed habits, both from other applications, and across devices, making users more effective, and lower the learning curve of the platform. To mitigate loading times of heavier assets such as images, results indicates that lazy loading may benefit the user experience if further developed along with loading indications.

Denna studie undersöker hur gamification kan tillämpas på ett konsultbolag för att öka engagemang hos medarbetarna. Metoder från spelarcentrerad design och konceptutveckling användes för att undersöka om det fanns engagemang på IT-konsultbolaget som studien utfördes hos och vilken eller vilka drivkrafter för motivation som bör användas vid gamifieringen. En konceptutvecklingsprocess genomfördes vilket resulterade i en konceptidé som sedan utvärderas med medarbetarna vid IT-konsultbolaget. Studien visar att IT-konsultbolaget bör använda gamification för att medarbetarna ska kunna lära känna varandra och därmed öka gemenskapen. Vidare studier rekommenderas att undersöka hur man vid ett stort företag där många olika sorters människor, och därmed spelartyper, finns bör använda sig av gamification för att tilltala dem alla.

Negotiation is an essential part of the user journey in online booking experiences, while it is often perceived as non-engaging and stressful because of the great amount of details that need to be taken care of, which would result in frustration and other negative experience. Aiming to increase the user engagement in the booking negotiation process, this study explored the applicability of gamification in an online booking negotiation tool for booking artists, by following the MDA game design framework (mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics) and taking a three-round user-centred iteration. The resulting gamification design was built as hi-fi clickable prototype and was evaluated by 30 participants with both qualitative and quantitative methods, in comparison to a prototype of conventional negotiation tool with the same functionality but without gamified elements. Although limitation existed in the study due to the given resources, the results showed an overall advantageous performance of the gamified version over the conventional version, and therefore indicated a positive influence of gamification upon user engagement, when being applied to an online booking context. The findings from the design iteration as well as the results from the final evaluation provided implications for future studies. / Förhandlingar är en väsentlig del av användarresan i online bokningsupplevelser, medan det ofta uppfattas som oengagerande och stressigt på grund av den stora mängd detaljer som måste tas hand om, vilket leder till frustration och annan negativ upplevelse. Med syftet att öka användarengagemanget i bokningsförhandlingsprocessen undersökte denna studie tillämpningen av gamifieringen i ett online-bokningsförhandlingsverktyg för bokning av artister genom att följa MDA-spelkonstruktionsramen (mekanik, dynamik, estetik) och ta en treårig användarcentrerad iteration. Den resulterande gamifieringsdesignen byggdes som en hi-fi-klickbar prototyp och utvärderades av 30 deltagare med både kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder i jämförelse med en prototyp av ett konventionellt förhandlingsverktyg med samma funktionalitet men utan gamend-element. Trots att det fanns begränsningar i studien på grund av de givna resurserna, visade resultaten en generellt fördelaktig prestanda av den gamifierade versionen över den konventionella versionen, och indikerade därför ett positivt inflytande av gamifieringen vid användarengagemang när den applicerades i en online-bokningskontext. Resultaten från designteerationen samt resultaten från den slutliga utvärderingen gav indikationer för framtida studier.

Knowledge visualization as a recent branch of visualization science was established by Burkhard [1] at 2004. In his theory, animation was mentioned as one of major visual formats for knowledge transfer. However, there is a lack of  further research about its impact on the transfer of knowledge. The aim of this study is to understand key characteristics that constitute to the mental model of non-experts on domain knowledge. Subsequent to this, it is investigated how animations support knowledge transfer to non-experts. In this study, home automation planning is used as a case to explore the characteristics that best constitute a good animation for knowledge transfer. The results showed that non-experts’ general attention was placed on cause and effect relations of a typical automatic lighting control and non-experts had misconceptions possibly because of different life experience, knowledge background, information vagueness, and overconfidence. The event segmentation in non-experts’ mental model was used to guide animation design which resulted in higher perceived clarity, less misconceptions during knowledge transfer to non-experts. In addition, our results from exploratory observation indicated that animations have potential to facilitate collaborative knowledge transfer and decision making process. / Kunskapsvisualisering som en ny filial av visualiseringsvetenskap grundades av Burkhard [1] år 2004. I hans teori nämndes animering som ett av de stora visuella formaten för kunskapsöverföring. Det saknas dock ytterligare forskning om dess inverkan på kunskapsöverföring. Syftet med denna studie är att förstå nyckelegenskaper som utgör den mentala modellen för icke-experter på domänkunskaper. Därefter undersöks hur animeringar stöder kunskapsöverföring till icke-experter. I denna studie används hemautomatiseringsplanering som ett fall för att utforska de egenskaper som bäst utgör en bra animation för kunskapsöverföring. Resultaten visade att icke-experters generella uppmärksamhet placerades på orsak och effekt relationer av en typisk automatisk belysningsstyrning och icke-experter hade missuppfattningar möjligen på grund av olika livserfarenheter, kunskapsbakgrund, informationsvaghet och övertygelse. Händelsegmenteringen i icke-experters mentalmodell användes för att styra animationsdesign som resulterade i högre uppfattad klarhet, mindre missuppfattningar vid kunskapsöverföring till icke-experter. Dessutom visade våra resultat från förklarande observation att animeringar har potential att underlätta samverkande kunskapsöverföring och beslutsprocess.

The accuracy of recommender systems has been largely discussed and the user experience of the recommended systems is now becoming a new focus. Combining recommendations with information visualization (InfoVis) can be a way to improve the acceptance of the system. This thesis investigates how InfoVis can support the recommended systems, aiming at improving the enjoyment and engagement of the user experience. Three prototypes are designed to evaluate the impact of using InfoVis and fluid interactive InfoVis on user engagement and enjoyment with exploratory of recommended books. The methods of product reaction card and Likert questionnaire are used during the evaluation. Results suggest that InfoVis is a viable way to improve the engagement and enjoyment of the book recommended system and it should be further researched. / Precisionen för rekommenderingssystem har diskuterats i hög grad och användarupplevelsen för rekommenderingssystem har nu blivit ett nytt fokus. Att kombinera rekommendationer med informationsvisualisering (InfoVis) är ett möjligt vis att förbättra systemets acceptans. Denna rapport undersöker hur informationsvisualisering kan kompletterarekommenderingssystemen, med fokus på att förbättra användarglädjen och engagemanget i användarupplevelsen. Tre prototyper designas i syfte att evaluera påverkan som InfoVis, och fluid interactive InfoVis, har på engagemang och användarglädje i och med exploration av rekommenderade böcker. Produktreaktionskort och Likertfrågeformulär användes under evalueringen. Resultaten indikerar att InfoVis är en möjlig lösning för att förbättra engagemang och användargläjde i samband med bokrekommendationer, och att det bör undersökasytterligare.

Forskning om spelifiering är ett snabbt växande forskningsområde där många studier visar på positiva resultat. Spelifiering är en teknik som används då det är önskvärt att påverka beteenden hos människor. I denna studie undersöks huruvida spelifierande element kan motivera studenter att vara mer fokuserade på sina studier. Frågeställningen är på vilka sätt påverkas studenters koncentrationsförmåga genom användandet av spelifierande element i sina studier, och vilka är effekterna vid borttagande av elementen i studien? Genom ett experiment undersökte vi om de spelifierande elementen i applikationen Forest: Stay Focused är tillräckligt motiverande för deltagarna att hålla sig fokuserade på sina studier. Studien utfördes under två veckors tid. Tio deltagare deltog i studien, varav hälften fick börja med att studera med en timer utan spelifierande element och resterande fick använda applikationen med spelifierande element. Efter att deltagarna använt sig av den ena studietekniken i en vecka fick de använda den andra studietekniken under andra veckan. Detta för att undersöka effekterna på fokuset om de spelifierande elementen tas bort. Resultatet visar att deltagarna var lika fokuserade oavsett vilken studieteknik de använde sig av. Deltagarna tyckte inte att användandet av applikationen hjälpte dem ha bättre fokus jämfört timern, men de föredrog att använda den framför timern. Deltagarna uppvisade ingen förändring av deras fokus vid studierna när de spelifierande elementen togs bort, vilket kan bero på att de elementen var för få i applikationen eller att de inte fått använda sig av applikationen under en längre tid. Studiens ambivalenta resultat tyder på att vidare forskning inom det området behövs. Trots dessa resultat är vår slutsats att applikationens spelifierande element inte är tillräckligt motiverande för att förhindra studenter från att förlora fokus under sina studier. / Gamification is a rapidly expanding research area where many studies have shown positive results. Gamification is a technique used when it is desirable to influence human behaviors and this study examines if the elements of gamification can motivate students to be more focused on their studies. The question at issue is in which ways does the implementation of gamification affect the concentration levels of students during their studies, and what are the consequences of the removal of said gamification? Using an experiment, we investigated whether the gamification elements of the application Forest: Stay Focused were sufficient to motivate our participants to stay focused during their studies. The study was conducted over two weeks. Ten students participated in the study, half of which began to study with a timer without any gamified elements, and the rest were to use the application with gamified elements. After the students used one of the study techniques for one week, they were to use the other technique during the second week. The reasoning behind this was to investigate if there were to occur negative effects on the students focus if the gamified elements were removed. The results showed that the participants were equally focused no matter what study technique they used. The participants of the study did not think that the use of the application made them more focused compared to the timer, although they preferred to use the application over the timer. The participants showed no change in how focused they were during their studies when the gamified elements were removed, which may be due to too few gamified elements in the application or that the participants had not gotten used to the study technique of using the application. The study's ambivalent results indicate that further research in this area is needed. Despite these results, we conclude that the application's gamified elements are not sufficiently motivating to prevent students from losing focus during their studies.

Studies about the dynamics of human-robot interactions have increased within the past decade as robots become more integrated into the daily lives of humans. However, much of the research into learning and robotics has been focused on methods that would allow robots to learn from humans and very little has been done on how and what, if possible, humans could learn from programmed robots. A between-subjects experiment was conducted, in which two groups were compared: a group where the participants learned a simple pick-and-place block task via video of a human-teacher and a group where the participants learned the same pick-and-place block task via video from a robotic-teacher. After being the taught the task, the participants performed a 15-minute distracter task and then were timed in their reconstruction of the block configuration. An exit survey asking about their level of comfort learning from robot and computer entities was given upon completion. Results showed that there was no significant difference in the rebuild scores of the two groups, but there was a marginally significant difference in the rebuild times of the two groups. Exit survey results, research implications, and future work are discussed.

In recent years, multi-touch has been heralded as a revolution in humancomputer interaction. Multi-touch provides features such as gestural interaction, tangible interfaces, pen-based computing, and interface customization – features embraced by an increasingly tech-savvy public. However, multi-touch platforms have not been adopted as "everyday" computer interaction devices; that is, multi-touch has not been applied to general-purpose computing. The questions this thesis seeks to address are: Will the general public adopt these systems as their chief interaction paradigm? Can multi-touch provide such a compelling platform that it displaces the desktop mouse and keyboard? Is multi-touch truly the next revolution in human-computer interaction? As a first step toward answering these questions, we observe that generalpurpose computing relies on text input, and ask: "Can multi-touch, without a text entry peripheral, provide a platform for efficient text entry? And, by extension, is such a platform viable for general-purpose computing?" We investigate these questions through four user studies that collected objective and subjective data for text entry and word processing tasks. The first of these studies establishes a benchmark for text entry performance on a multi-touch platform, across a variety of input modes. The second study attempts to improve this performance by iv examining an alternate input technique. The third and fourth studies include mousestyle interaction for formatting rich-text on a multi-touch platform, in the context of a word processing task. These studies establish a foundation for future efforts in general-purpose computing on a multi-touch platform. Furthermore, this work details deficiencies in tactile feedback with modern multi-touch platforms, and describes an exploration of audible feedback. Finally, the thesis conveys a vision for a general-purpose multi-touch platform, its design and rationale.

The purpose of this study is to determine under what conditions multiple minimally intrusive physiological sensors can be used together and validly applied for use in areas which rely on adaptive systems including adaptive automation and augmented cognition. Specifically, this dissertation investigated the physiological transitions of operator state caused by changes in the level of taskload. Three questions were evaluated including (1) Do differences exist between physiological indicators when examined between levels of difficulty? (2) Are differences of physiological indicators (which may exist) between difficulty levels affected by spatial ability? (3) Which physiological indicators (if any) account for variation in performance on a spatial task with varying difficulty levels? The Modular Cognitive State Gauge model was presented and used to determine which basic physiological sensors (EEG, ECG, EDR and eye-tracking) could validly assess changes in the utilization of two-dimensional spatial resources required to perform a spatial ability dependent task. Thirty-six volunteers (20 female, 16 male) wore minimally invasive physiological sensing devices while executing a challenging computer based puzzle task. Specifically, participants were tested with two measures of spatial ability, received training, a practice session, an experimental trial and completed a subjective workload survey. The results of this experiment confirmed that participants with low spatial ability reported higher subjective workload and performed poorer when compared to those with high spatial ability. Additionally, there were significant changes for a majority of the physiological indicators between two difficulty levels and most importantly three measures (EEG, ECG and eye-tracking) were shown to account for variability in performance on the spatial task.

Progress monitoring in construction involves a set of inspection tasks with repetitive in-person observations on the site. The current manual inspection process is time-consuming, inefficient, inconsistent, and has many safety risks to project inspectors. Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are networks of integrated physical and cyber components, such as robots, sensors, actuators, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the building itself. Introducing CPS for construction progress monitoring can reduce risks involved in the process, improve efficiency, and enable remote progress monitoring. A robotic CPS uses a robot as the core component of the CPS. But human interaction with technology plays an important role in the successful implementation of any technology. This research studied the human-centered design of a CPS from a human-computer interaction perspective for facilitating construction progress monitoring that puts the needs and abilities of humans at the center of the development process. User experience and interactions play an important role in human-centered design. This study first develops a CPS framework to autonomously collect visual data and facilitate remote construction progress monitoring. The two types of interactions occur between the human and the CPS – the human provides input for the CPS to collect data referred to as mission planning, and CPS provides visual data to enable the human to perform progress analysis. The interaction may occur through different modalities, such as visual, tactile, auditory, and immersive. The goal of this research is to understand the role of human interactions with CPS for construction progress monitoring. The study answers five research questions – a) What robotic CPS framework can be applied in construction progress monitoring? b) To what extent is the proposed CPS framework acceptable as an alternative to traditional construction progress monitoring? c) How can natural interaction modalities like hand gestures and voice commands be used as human-CPS interaction modalities for the proposed CPS? d) How does the human interaction modality between the proposed CPS and its user affect the usability of the proposed CPS? e) How does the human interaction modality between CPS and its user affect the performance of the proposed CPS?. To answer the research questions, a mixed-method-based methodology is used in this study. First, a systematic literature review is performed on the use of robots in inspection and monitoring of the built environment. Second, a CPS framework for remote progress monitoring is developed and evaluated in lab conditions. Third, a set of industry experts experienced with construction progress monitoring are interviewed to measure their acceptance of the developed CPS and to collect feedback for the evaluation of the CPS. Fourth, two methodologies are developed to use hand gesture and voice command recognition for human-CPS interaction in progress monitoring. Fifth, the usability and performance of the CPS are measured for identified interaction modalities through a human subject study. The human subjects are also interviewed post-experiment to identify the challenges they faced in their interactions with the CPS. The study makes the following contributions to the body of knowledge – a) key research areas and gaps were identified for robots in inspection and monitoring of the built environment, b) a fundamental framework for a robotic CPS was developed to automate reality capture and visualization using quadruped robots to facilitate remote construction progress monitoring, c) factors affecting the acceptance of the proposed robotic CPS for construction progress monitoring were identified by interviewing construction experts, d) two methodologies for using hand gestures and voice commands were developed for human-CPS interaction in construction progress monitoring, e) the effect of human interaction modalities on the usability and performance of the proposed CPS was assessed in construction progress monitoring through user studies, f) factors affecting the usability and performance of the proposed CPS with different interaction modalities were identified by conducting semi-structured interviews with users. / Doctor of Philosophy / Progress monitoring in construction involves inspecting and observing the construction site in person. The current manual inspection process is slow, inefficient, inconsistent, and risky for inspectors. Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are networks that integrate physical and digital components like robots, sensors, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Implementing CPS in construction progress monitoring can reduce risks, improve efficiency, and enable remote monitoring. A robotic CPS uses a robot as its core component. However, acceptance of the technology by people in the industry is crucial for successful implementation. Past literature has suggested human-centered design of technology for better acceptance of the technology. This research focuses on the human-centered design of a robotic CPS for construction progress monitoring, by focusing on the role of human-CPS interactions. User experience and interactions are important in human-centered design. The study develops a CPS framework that autonomously collects visual data and facilitates remote progress monitoring. The interactions between humans and CPS involve the human providing input for data collection (called mission planning) and the CPS providing visual data for progress analysis. The research aims to understand the role of human interactions with CPS in construction progress monitoring and answers five research questions. To answer these questions, a mixed-methods methodology is used. The CPS framework is developed and evaluated in lab conditions, industry experts are interviewed for their acceptance and feedback, methodologies are developed to recognize hand gestures and voice commands for human-CPS interaction, and usability and performance of the CPS are measured through human subject studies. Key contributions are made in this research in terms of identification of the application domains of CPS in inspection and monitoring of buildings and infrastructure, a CPS framework for remote progress monitoring, identification of the factors affecting acceptance of CPS in construction progress monitoring, development of methodologies to use hand gestures and voice commands for interactions with CPS, assessment of the effect of interaction modalities on the user experience with the CPS.