Age-related physical and cognitive changes hinder the ability of older adults to operate smartphones. While many user interface (UI) heuristics exist today, there is a need for an updated set designed specifically to assess the usability of mobile devices for an older audience. Smartphone evaluation heuristics for older adults based on age-related changes in vision, hearing, attention, memory and motor control were developed in this thesis by analyzing literature on age-related physical and cognitive changes impacting smartphone usability. Support for heuristics was found by gathering information on how older adults use cell phones through interviews and an online survey. It was demonstrated that strength of support for some heuristics increases with age. The evaluated heuristics provide usability practitioners and designers with a framework for evaluating the usability of smartphones for older adults.

Creating immersive experiences for virtual reality (VR) presents new design opportunities and challenges that do not appear when creating experiences on a screen. Creating prototypes and exploring concepts in VR is today limited to professionals with previous knowledge in 3D application development, and testing 3D experiences requires the usage of an Head-Mounted Display (HMD), which forces professionals to switch medium from the computer to an HMD. With new advances in this field, there have to be new solutions to these challenges. The goal of this thesis is to explore how VR technology can be utilized in the experience design process for VR. This is achieved through a literature study and conducting expert interviews, followed by a hardware evaluation of different HMDs and concept creation using rapid prototyping. From the interviews, a number of issues could be identified that correlates with the research from the literature study. Based on these findings, two phases were identified as suitable for further improvements; Concept prototyping and testing/tweaking of a created experience. Lo-fi and hi-fi prototypes of a virtual design tool were developed for HTC Vive and Google Daydream, which were selected based on the hardware evaluation. The prototypes are designed and developed, then tested using a Wizard of Oz approach. The purpose of the prototypes is to solve some of the issues when designing immersive experiences for HMDs in the suitable experience design phases that were identified by analyzing the interview results. An interactive testing suite for HTC Vive was developed for testing and evaluation of the final prototype, to verify the validity of the concept. Using Virtual Reality as a medium for designing virtual experiences is a promising way of solving current issues within this technological field that are identified in this thesis. Tools for object creation and manipulation will aid professionals when exploring new concepts as well as editing and testing existing immersive experiences. Furthermore, using a Wizard of Oz approach to test VR prototypes significantly improves the prototype quality without compromising the user experience in this medium.

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[ES] El conocimiento se considera un activo esencial en las organizaciones para gestionar adecuadamente las actividades diarias; pero también es importante que las personas cuenten con los conocimientos, formación y entrenamiento necesarios para responder a situaciones imprevistas cuando se produce un incidente, que puede acabar en una situación de emergencia. Los conocimientos adquiridos en la gestión de emergencias mejoran la respuesta de una organización y de su personal. Proporcionar una capacitación adecuada y de calidad en materia de emergencias a todos los implicados, y conocer el nivel actual de capacitación de los recursos humanos son factores vitales en la respuesta a las emergencias. Centrándonos en el enfoque teórico de la capacitación, las organizaciones necesitan implementar un marco que gestione y fomente la formación y entrenamiento de su personal, así como la toma de decisiones en relación con las actividades para la gestión de emergencias. En esta tesis doctoral proponemos el marco de la Mejora Continua para la Capacitación en la Gestión de Emergencias (CiET) que permite personalizar la capacitación de los involucrados (stakeholders) en las diferentes fases de la gestión de emergencias (pre-desastre, respuesta, post-desastre) en una organización. Dicha capacitación ayuda a preparar a las organizaciones, y proporciona información contextual y no contextual a los involucrados sobre cómo responder a los incidentes y cómo volver a la actividad normal lo antes posible. La gestión del conocimiento mejora la sensibilidad al contexto, aumenta la concienciación de las involucrados, apoya la toma de decisiones, mejora la respuesta de éstos, y aumenta la calidad de la gestión de emergencia. Se propone el marco CiET que incluye un modelo de capacitación propio basado en objetivos de aprendizaje personalizados para cada rol de los involucrados en la gestión de emergencias, soportado por una herramienta llamada CiET-Tool. Esta herramienta de capacitación gestiona, organiza y proporciona conocimientos, para transformarlos en formación y entrenamiento que fortalecen las capacidades de los involucrados. Los resultados de la evaluación de la capacitación se gestionan en un cuadro de mando (dashboard) con los principales indicadores de los resultados de los objetivos de aprendizaje, apoyando la toma de decisiones para la mejora continua. Además, el marco CiET puede integrarse con otras herramientas de evaluación de la gestión de emergencias, lo que aumenta su potencial. Finalmente, todas las capacidades a mejorar en los involucrados han sido estudiadas y clasificadas, proponiendo una taxonomía, que se presenta como guía para todo marco de capacitación en gestión de emergencias. / [CA] El coneixement es considera un actiu essencial en les organitzacions per a gestionar adequadament les activitats diàries; però també és important que les persones compten amb els coneixements, formació i entrenament necessaris per a respondre a situacions imprevistes quan es produeix un incident, que pot acabar en una situació d'emergència. Els coneixements adquirits en la gestió d'emergències milloren la resposta d'una organització i del seu personal. Proporcionar una capacitació adequada i de qualitat en matèria d'emergències a tots els implicats, i conèixer el nivell actual de capacitació dels recursos humans són factors vitals en la resposta a les emergències. Centrant-nos en l'enfocament teòric de la capacitació, les organitzacions necessiten implementar un marc que gestione i fomente la formació i entrenament del seu personal, així com la presa de decisions en relació amb les activitats per a la gestió d'emergències. En aquesta tesi doctoral proposem el marc de la Millora Contínua per a la Capacitació en la Gestió d'Emergències (CiET) que permet personalitzar la capacitació dels involucrats (stakeholders) en les diferents fases de la gestió d'emergències (pre-desastre, resposta, post-desastre) en una organització. Aquesta capacitació ajuda a preparar a les organitzacions, i proporciona informació contextual i no contextual als involucrats sobre com respondre als incidents i com tornar a l'activitat normal al més prompte possible. La gestió del coneixement millora la sensibilitat al context, augmenta la conscienciació dels involucrats, dona suport a la presa de decisions, millora la resposta d'aquests, i augmenta la qualitat de la gestió d'emergència. Es proposa el marc CiET que inclou un model de capacitació propi basat en objectius d'aprenentatge personalitzats per a cada rol dels involucrats en la gestió d'emergències, suportat per una eina anomenada CiET-Tool. Aquesta eina de capacitació gestiona, organitza i proporciona coneixements, per a transformar-los en formació i entrenament que enforteixen les capacitats dels involucrats. Els resultats de l'avaluació de la capacitació es gestionen en un quadre de comandament (dashboard) amb els principals indicadors dels resultats dels objectius d'aprenentatge, donant suport a la presa de decisions per a la millora contínua. A més, el marc CiET pot integrar-se amb altres eines d'avaluació de la gestió d'emergències, la qual cosa augmenta el seu potencial. Finalment, totes les capacitats a millorar en els involucrats han sigut estudiades i classificades, proposant una taxonomia, que es presenta com a guia per a tot marc de capacitació en gestió d'emergències. / [EN] Knowledge is considered an essential asset in organizations to properly manage daily activities; but it is also important that people have the necessary knowledge, education, and training to respond to unforeseen situations when an incident occurs, which may end in an emergency. The knowledge acquired in emergency management improves the response of an organization and its personnel. Providing adequate and quality emergency training to all involved and knowing the current level of training of human resources are vital factors in emergency response. Focusing on the theoretical approach to training, organizations need to implement a framework that manages and encourages the education and training of their personnel, as well as decision making in relation to emergency management activities. In this doctoral thesis we propose the Continuous Improvement for Emergency Management Training (CiET) framework that allows to customize the training of stakeholders in the different phases of emergency management (pre-disaster, response, post-disaster) in an organization. Training helps to prepare organizations, and provides contextual and non-contextual information to stakeholders on how to respond to incidents and how to return to normal activity as soon as possible. Knowledge management improves context sensitivity, increases stakeholder awareness, supports decision making, improves stakeholder response, and increases the quality of emergency management. The CiET framework is proposed that includes an own training model based on customized learning objectives for each role of the emergency management stakeholders, supported by a tool called CiET-Tool. This training tool manages, organizes, and provides knowledge, to transform it into training and coaching that strengthen the capabilities of those involved. The results of the training evaluation are managed in a dashboard with the main indicators of the results of the learning objectives, supporting decision making for continuous improvement. In addition, the CiET framework can be integrated with other emergency management evaluation tools, which increases its potential. Finally, all the capabilities to be improved in the stakeholders have been studied and classified, proposing a taxonomy, which is presented as a guide for any emergency management training framework. / Quiroz Palma, PA. (2023). Gestión de Emergencias: Evaluación y mejora continua de la capacitación de los involucrados [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/202603

In the era of digital transformation, the need for more efficient self-service technologies has increased, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the importance of reducing physical interactions. Although there is some research on self-service technologies, there is a lack of research on the usability of internal self-service portals which are used within organizations. This study aims to address this gap by applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the design principles within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field to examine the usability of a self-service portal in a university in Sweden. The study adopts a mixed-method approach, incorporating data collection techniques such as cognitive walkthrough and semi-structured interviews for qualitative data, as well as System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire, and some other quantitative measurements for collecting data. Findings from the quantitative analysis through the System Usability Scale (SUS) results indicate a good to borderline OK design, with user satisfaction affected by the number of clicks and time required to complete tasks.  Findings from the qualitative analysis reveal important factors influencing user experience, including user perception of the portal's design, learnability, impact of access to multiple systems, influence of easy-to-reach IT assistance, impact of insufficient information and guidance, lack of awareness, user desires, and suggestions for the design. The study concludes with the development of design guidelines based on the identified themes, aiming to enhance the usability of the self-service portal. These findings contribute to the understanding of self-service portals' usability within organizational contexts and provide actionable recommendations for improving the design and the user experience.

The fast technology development for military unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) has led to a considerable demand to explore the soldier’s role in an interactive UGV system. This thesis explores how to design interactive systems for UGVs for infantry soldiers in the Swedish Armed Force. This was done through a user-centered design approach in three steps; (1) identifying the design drivers of the targeted military context through qualitative observations and user interviews, (2) using the design drivers to investigate concepts for controlling the UGV, and (3) create and evaluate a prototype of an interactive UGV system design. Results from interviews indicated that design drivers depend on the physical and psychological context of the intended soldiers. In addition, exploring the different concepts showed that early conceptual designs helped the user express their needs of a non-existing system. Furthermore, the results indicate that an interactive UGV system does not necessarily need to be at the highest level of autonomy in order to be useful for the soldiers on the field. The final prototype of an interactive UGV system was evaluated using a demonstration video, a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and semi-structured user interviews. Results from this evaluation suggested that the soldiers see the potential usefulness of an interactive UGV system but are not entirely convinced. In conclusion, this thesis argues that in order to design an interactive UGV system, the most critical aspect is the soldiers’ acceptance of the new system. Moreover, for soldiers to accept the concept of military UGVs, it is necessary to understand the context of use and the needs of the soldiers. This is done by involving the soldiers already in the conceptual design process and then throughout the development phases.