Examensarbetet handlar om att utforska och utveckla det framtidsvisonära transportsystemet ”GTS Transportsystem” framtaget av GTS Stiftelsen. Detta med hjälp av frågeställningen: Hur ser framtidens GTS Transportsystem ut i ett användarcentrerat perspektiv? Inom en designprocess genomfördes ett omfattande researcharbete för att skapa en förståelse för vilka behov och krav som borde tillgodoses i det framtida transportsystemet. GTS studerades och analyserades för att få en djupare förståelse kring deras visioner, idéer, tekniska lösningar och hur väl genomtänkt de olika delarna var. Intervjuer med målgruppen människor med funktionsnedsättning, synliggjorde olika typer av problem som uppstår i dagens jämförbara transportsystem. Med hjälp av intervjudata och en analys kunde tre fiktiva personas skapas med tillhörande scenarier. En analys av ett framtida GTS scenario ledde till att problem kunde identifieras som sedan låg till grund för vidare arbete med framtagning av olika problemområden. Problemområdet som sedan valdes var stationer och hållplatser (i uppsatsen benämnd Terma). En idégenereringsfas ledde till nya idéer kring flöden, funktioner, gates och arkitektur. Det slutliga resultatet blev ett framtida Terma-koncept med en genomgående utformning för tillgänglighet, trygghet och innovation. I konceptet skapades en gate med fokus på säkerhet, en funktionell och öppen planlösning som förenklar resandet, samt en ny lösning kring kabinernas flöden runt och över byggnaden. Allt detta för att en framtida resa i GTS skall fungera säkert och smidigt. / The research was conducted in order to contribute to the general body of knowledge regarding the prospective transport system GTS Transport System developed by GTS Foundation. This dissertation will explore and further develop the GTS system. This was achieved with the research question: How does the future GTS Transport System look in a user-centered design perspective?   In a design process, a deep and comprehensive research laid the foundation in order to create an understanding of the needs and demands that would need to be fulfilled for the future transport system. The GTS Transport System was carefully studied and analyzed in order to reach a deeper understanding around its visions, ideas and technical solutions. Further it was studied in order to determine how well thought through the different feature where.   Interviews were conducted with a target group of people having a disability; this disclosed certain problems with today’s transport systems. With the support of the data gathered and an analysis, three fictive personas where created with associated scenarios.   An analysis of a future GTS scenario led to the discovery of certain problems and laid the foundation for further establishing areas in need of improvements. The areas that were chosen where stations and stopping places (in the dissertation called Terma).   An idea-generating phase led to new ideas about flow, functions, gates and architecture.   The results of the dissertation led to a concept about how the future transport Terma may be designed. With secure available and innovative gates, a well thought through layout that is available and safe for the people using the transport system. A new concept of flows where created which enabled the vessels to move around and over the building. This results in a smooth and safe travel experience.

This report describes an independent design-project with the purpose of designing a board game design process and as a result a re-design of anindependently developed board game named Northern Star, which under-gone development for three years prior to the project as a hobby-project (and may be subject to a Kickstarter at a later date).Northern Star was initially based on a competitive, strategic, card- and dice-based elements which evolved into a thematic, narrative and semi-cooperative game as a result of the project. Initially this game was developed outside the project in two prior courses (D0046A: Usability and D0051A: Context & Analysis) in which all results can be found in appendix 1). The target-group of the project were groups consisting of social circles with relatively long experience in regards to (mainly thematic) board games. The process used were mainly an agile project plan and weekly design sprints based around an iterative design process (much alike IDEOS (2015) three linear phases of inspiration, ideation and prototyping). However it was used in a non-linear way where the designer freely choose of which of the three phases that was to be used. During the inspiration-phase substantial amounts of data were recorded in a pre-study (see appendix 1) as well as user-needs (see appendix 2) were a benchmark led the designer to a design-specification (which also resulted in a new method in regards to board game design processes) were the projects core-values were defined guiding further development of Northern Star. This was followed by a cyclic process in which a concept were generated for Northern Star which led to rapid prototyping and the realization of a physical product, tested duringworkshops. Here the participants gave feedback in the form of discussions, surveys and video-footage for later analysis which added for additional inspiration in which the cyclic process began anew.This process lead to a re-design of Northern Star (briefly mentioned above) were an interactive board game box allowed for an organic game-play system evolving over time with a lot of focus given on player-interaction, meaningful choice, few components as well as immersion in the form of a graphically rich representation of the theme.A new design-process were developed and given the name: Exit: A board game design process in which a lot of focus was given human-centered and participatory design (supported by the theoretical framework and the project-results). This was realizedas a board game where the designers goal is to get from the beginning step - start (inspiration phase) to exit (end of the implementation phase) in which the designer was given choice of free movement between different phases through a field given the name “warp”. Lastly two questions were answered:•How can participatory and human-centered design (also in regard to research) as well as relevant theory contribute to a redesign for Northern Star as well as a better design-process for those involved in similar fields? •How can norms be identified and used in regards to making a more competitively successful product? Answers revolved around how human-centered design have a lot of similarities to board game design supported by exploration of different perspectivesand gave rise to opportunities for normative design(decreasing stigmatization around board games and resulting in unique solutions).

Pessoas com tetraplegia possuem controle sobre poucas partes do corpo, por isso têm grande dificuldade de interação com o mundo ao seu redor. Interfaces humano-computador que utilizam a capacidade de controle muscular remanescente podem promover um acréscimo importante na autonomia do usuário com tetraplegia. Uma nova forma de interação com o computador é proposta: controle de um dispositivo de entrada por meio do lábio inferior. A ideia não foi partir da tecnologia e agregar recursos, mas sim, partir da pessoa e entender suas necessidades e potencialidades para pesquisar, propor, desenvolver e avaliar alternativas tecnológicas. Com o intuito de investigar se o lábio inferior seria capaz de controlar uma interface de maneira eficiente e precisa, foram desenvolvidos protótipos de um dispositivo de entrada vestível que pudesse ser acionado pelo lábio. Considerando o estado da arte, foi avaliada a capacidade do lábio inferior controlar esta interface proposta como um mouse de computador. Também foi realizada a comparação do controle pelo lábio inferior e pelo polegar utilizando o mesmo dispositivo sob as mesmas condições. O objetivo foi estabelecer referências sobre a capacidade do lábio inferior de controlar uma interface. Foram realizados e analisados os resultados de testes com sujeitos de pesquisa, mensurando e comprovando a capacidade tanto do lábio inferior, como parte do corpo capaz de controlar um dispositivo de entrada, quanto do próprio dispositivo. / People with tetraplegia control few body parts; therefore, they have great difficulty to interact with the environment. Human-computer interfaces that explore the residual muscular control capacity can provide the user with tetraplegia with an important autonomy increase. I propose a new form of interaction, a input device controlled by the lower lip. The idea was not starting from the technology and aggregate resources, but starting from the user needs to research, to propose, to develop and to evaluate technological alternatives. In order to investigate the lower lip ability to efficiently and precisely control an input device, prototypes of a wearable device were developed. I presented an evaluation of the lower lip potential to control a pointing input device, according to the state of the art. The lower lip throughput was compared with the thumb throughput using the same input device under the same conditions. The objective was to establish the baseline for future researches about the lower lip capacity to operate a computer pointing device. The results proved and measured the capacity of the interface as well as the lower lip as a body part able to control a input device.

Pessoas com tetraplegia possuem controle sobre poucas partes do corpo, por isso têm grande dificuldade de interação com o mundo ao seu redor. Interfaces humano-computador que utilizam a capacidade de controle muscular remanescente podem promover um acréscimo importante na autonomia do usuário com tetraplegia. Uma nova forma de interação com o computador é proposta: controle de um dispositivo de entrada por meio do lábio inferior. A ideia não foi partir da tecnologia e agregar recursos, mas sim, partir da pessoa e entender suas necessidades e potencialidades para pesquisar, propor, desenvolver e avaliar alternativas tecnológicas. Com o intuito de investigar se o lábio inferior seria capaz de controlar uma interface de maneira eficiente e precisa, foram desenvolvidos protótipos de um dispositivo de entrada vestível que pudesse ser acionado pelo lábio. Considerando o estado da arte, foi avaliada a capacidade do lábio inferior controlar esta interface proposta como um mouse de computador. Também foi realizada a comparação do controle pelo lábio inferior e pelo polegar utilizando o mesmo dispositivo sob as mesmas condições. O objetivo foi estabelecer referências sobre a capacidade do lábio inferior de controlar uma interface. Foram realizados e analisados os resultados de testes com sujeitos de pesquisa, mensurando e comprovando a capacidade tanto do lábio inferior, como parte do corpo capaz de controlar um dispositivo de entrada, quanto do próprio dispositivo. / People with tetraplegia control few body parts; therefore, they have great difficulty to interact with the environment. Human-computer interfaces that explore the residual muscular control capacity can provide the user with tetraplegia with an important autonomy increase. I propose a new form of interaction, a input device controlled by the lower lip. The idea was not starting from the technology and aggregate resources, but starting from the user needs to research, to propose, to develop and to evaluate technological alternatives. In order to investigate the lower lip ability to efficiently and precisely control an input device, prototypes of a wearable device were developed. I presented an evaluation of the lower lip potential to control a pointing input device, according to the state of the art. The lower lip throughput was compared with the thumb throughput using the same input device under the same conditions. The objective was to establish the baseline for future researches about the lower lip capacity to operate a computer pointing device. The results proved and measured the capacity of the interface as well as the lower lip as a body part able to control a input device.

A literatura de design e de arquitetura sugere a necessidade de realização de estudos mais aprofundados e capilares junto a usuários de baixa renda a respeito da realidade material interior de suas residências, de como se daria a efetiva utilização de bens e objetos pessoais, além de suas aspirações e preferências quanto aos produtos de uso doméstico. Vários autores, neste sentido, ressaltam que a produção brasileira de mobiliário residencial industrializado, também denominado móvel seriado, sobretudo no segmento do consumo popular, não atenderia, integralmente, a seu público principal, concentrado nestas duas faixas socioeconômicas da população. Este alegado descompasso existiria, parcialmente, em razão de designers e fabricantes de móveis populares seriados supostamente desconhecerem as necessidades efetivas dos usuários e as maneiras de interação com seus bens domésticos. Nesta pesquisa, foram investigadas várias situações de uso do referido mobiliário popular industrializado em moradias de usuários selecionados residentes na Grande São Paulo, abordando aspectos tais como: percepções, significados, preferências, avaliações, apropriações, formas de utilização e adequação aos ambientes. Em termos metodológicos, este estudo qualitativo, de caráter essencialmente fenomenológico, mas também observacional, foi constituído pela sistematização e análise associativa de dados obtidos por meio de entrevistas em profundidade semiestruturadas conduzidas com quarenta usuários e doze vendedores. O trabalho de campo foi complementado por observações diretas, produzidas pela pesquisadora, de móveis, objetos e demais arranjos físicos e visuais encontrados nas moradias visitadas e em lojas de móveis populares, com auxílio de registros fotográficos e gravações em áudio. Na análise do conjunto de dados coletados, foram identificados elementos semióticos, estéticos, funcionais, socioculturais e psicológicos, entre outros. Os resultados obtidos permitem iluminar questões efetivas de uso do mobiliário popular, além de hábitos, costumes, preferências estéticas e condições internas das moradias dos usuários participantes. Observou-se, por exemplo, neste sentido, reduzida adequação de parcela significativa do mobiliário às habitações visitadas, bem como presença de improvisações e adaptações a que os usuários comumente recorrem, mesmo em móveis com pouco tempo de aquisição, para que voltem a desempenhar adequadamente suas funções, além de certa resignação de parte dos usuários quanto a deficiências de projeto e de produção verificadas nos móveis, por vezes justificadas, por eles, pelos baixos preços que pagaram. Tais percepções e outros achados disponibilizam, assim, um corpo de insumos para designers e indústria moveleira em geral, sobre necessidades específicas de famílias de baixa renda que encontram, neste mobiliário popular industrializado, sua principal ou única, mesmo que, em casos, precária, opção de compra para atendimento de necessidades básicas de armazenamento de objetos pessoais e de apoio a tarefas domésticas. Espera-se, com esta pesquisa, contribuir para que o projeto e a produção desta classe de produtos ofereça maior adequação ao efetivo modo de vida e necessidades de seus usuários no interior de suas moradias. / The design and architecture literature suggests the need for more in-depth studies with low-income users regarding the material in their homes and how belongings and personal objects would actually be used, as well as what their aspirations and preferences are with regard to domestic products. Several authors in this context emphasize that Brazilian industrial residential furniture production, also called furniture in series, especially in the budget furniture segment, does not entirely meet the needs of its main public, concentrated in these two socio-economic groups. This alleged misalignment would exist partially because of designers and manufacturers of low-cost furniture supposedly being unaware of users\' real needs and ways of interacting with their domestic objects. In this research, several ways of using industrial low-cost furniture in selected users\' homes in Greater São Paulo were investigated, looking at aspects such as: perceptions, meanings, preferences, evaluations, appropriations, forms of use and adequacy of the environments. In methodological terms, this essentially phenomenological, but also observational qualitative study was done by the systematization and associative analysis of data obtained through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with forty users and twelve salespeople. The field work was complemented by the researcher\'s direct observation of furniture, objects and other physical and visual arrangements in the homes visited and in budget furniture stores, and also with the aid of photographs and audio recordings. In the analysis of the collected data set, semiotic, aesthetic, functional, sociocultural and psychological elements were identified, among others. The results obtained provide information about the use of low-cost furniture, and also about habits, customs, aesthetic preferences and internal conditions of the participating users\' homes. It was observed, for example, that much of the furniture in the homes visited was of limited adequacy, and there were often user improvisations and adaptations, even in furniture purchased recently, so that it would more adequately fulfill its function. In addition, the users had a certain feeling of resignation about the furniture\'s design and manufacturing deficiencies, sometimes justified, for them, by the low price they had paid. These perceptions and other findings make available, then, input for designers and the furniture industry, in general, on specific needs of low-income families that have, in this industrialized low-cost furniture, their main or only, though sometimes precarious, purchase option to meet their basic needs for storage of their belongings and support for domestic tasks. It is hoped that this research will contribute to the design and production of this class of products becoming more suited to the lifestyles and needs of users in their homes.

This master thesis presents an exploration of participatory workshops. It focuses on how these may involve a design project’s various stakeholders, and take the design process further by joint activities of mutual learning. The main concern addressed in the thesis is how participatory workshops may be designed and carried through, together with companies working with design. The aim of the exploration is to gain an understanding of the various steps of the design and implementation of workshops, and also how these steps interact during the process. The exploration is mainly based on the design and implementation of three different workshops: One workshop was designed on behalf of a design consultancy as part of the phase of concept, in an ongoing design project about cleaning products. Afterwards the team worked on ideas based on the winning concepts from this workshop. A second workshop was designed for a working team at a company of wood floor production, in order to identify what future steps to take. The outcome emphasized what the team needed as well as desired to be working on next. In collaboration with the same wood floor producer, a third workshop was also designed as a part of the company’s design competition. This workshop aimed to making the competitors share their personal experiences of the theme of the competition. The workshop resulted in a joint creation of understanding and knowledge about the company’s demands and desires of the new product. In order to broaden my perspective on the method, I carried out a number of interviews, for example with MiL Institute, who is working with management training and coaching, and with Ordrum, who offers training in communication. To support mutual learning in the workshops, aspects of knowledge and learning are additionally included in the study. The exploration shows the advantage of using prepared ambiguous materials as part of the framework of a workshop, for supporting divergent thinking; individual and collective storytelling; diversity of ideas; and collaboration between people. Additionally the exploration indicates that people’s involvement in participatory workshops may create more responsibility of the design, through the experience of a shared ownership of the process. Moreover, it points out the challenge of working co-creationally in design work, also through the design process of workshops.

Around one percent of the Swedish population is defined as visually impaired and ten percent of them are classified as blind (Funka, n.d.; SRF, 2017a). A study shows that the prevalence of nearsightedness will increase to around half the population in the world in 2050 (Holden et. al., 2016). This suggests an increased need for solutions that work for people with reduced vision, not only for visually impaired but for a large group of the population. The aim of the project is to conceptualize a technological mainstream solution that supports people when shopping for groceries. The focus is on making this solution accessible for people with low vision. The project was planned based on the human-centered design process described by IDEO.org (2015), with an overall process divided into three phases: inspiration, ideation, and implementation. In the first phase, inspiration, a literature review was done, different field studies and other research methods were carried out. The outcome of the phase was three personas, two scenarios, and a design specification. During the second phase, ideation, the project scope was narrowed down – focusing on physical grocery stores (excluding online stores) and on conceptualizing a smartphone application. An ideation workshop was conducted, followed by concept creation, paper prototyping, scenario writing, user evaluations and a final concept selection. In the last phase, implementation, follow up feedback sessions were held and a simulation test of the final concept was held. Visualizations and presentation of the final concept were done. A list of summarized design principles was created, as support for further work on designing the application for low vision users. The final concept is based on a smartphone application that supports the customer through shopping list management, aisle navigation, item selection and item scanning, for a seamless customer experience for both people with full and low vision. The technology that will be utilized is Pricer AB's electronic shelf labels (ESL) with item positioning, customer navigation, and individual flashing light, combined with the grocery store online database with item descriptions and images. Here follows an example of how the interaction could look like for someone with low vision: He always prepares his shopping list before heading to the store, this way he knows the shopping will be easier for him. In the store, he gets all items on the list presented in the correct order of the store, in that way he knows what to search for. When looking for soy sauce from his shopping list he has trouble remembering where the section is, so he checks it up with the navigation. He realizes that it was just around the corner of where he just passed by. Once at the section he is presented with a list of different soy sauces in the application, matching his location, previous purchases and the soy sauce on his shopping list. He can now select the one that he prefers, and a picture of it appears on the screen, simultaneously a flashing green light appears by the item on the shelf, and he can easily and independently find the way right up to the soy sauce he wants. / Ungefär en procent av Sveriges befolkning är synskadade, och tio procent av dem är så pass gravt synskadade att de kan definieras som blinda (Funka, n.d.; SRF, 2017a). Enligt en studie förväntas närsynthet världen över att öka, och under 2050 vara uppe i hälften av jordens befolkning (Holden et. al., 2016). Detta tyder på ett ökat behov av lösningar som fungerar för personer med nedsatt syn, inte bara för synskadade utan för en stor del av befolkningen. Målet med projektet är att undersöka nuläget och behoven för synsvaga personer när de handlar mat, för att sedan kunna utveckla universell teknisk ­lösning som ska fungera som ett stöd när man handlar mat. Projektet planerades utifrån en människocentrerad designprocess beskriven av IDEO.org (2015), som är indelad i tre faser: inspiration, idégenereringen och genomförande. I den första fasen, inspiration, gjordes en litteraturstudie, flera fältstudier genomfördes, samt andra research metoder. Resultatet här var tre personas, två scenarion och en designspecifikation. Under den andra fasen, idégenereringen, ställdes nya avgränsningar upp för projektet – fokuset riktades nu mot den fysiska butiker (avgränsning från e-handeln) och att målet skulle vara att ta fram en smartphone-applikation. En idéworkshop genomfördes, konceptgenerering, skapande av pappersprototyper, scenarion, utvärdering med användare och ett slutligt konceptval. I sista fasen, genomförande, följdes det slutliga konceptet upp med tidigare deltagare och det slutliga konceptet testades i en simulerad studie. Visualisering och presentation av slutkonceptet gjordes. Designprinciper för utveckling av applikationer för synsvaga sammanfattades, för att fungera som stöd för vidare arbete med utveckling av konceptet. Slutkonceptet bygger på en smartphone-applikation som ska fungera som stöd för kunden, från skapandet av inköpslista, navigering i butiken, val och identifiering av varor och slutligen att scanna varan. I sin helhet skapar detta en komplett lösning i mataffären för både seende och synsvaga kunder. Tekniken som ska utnyttjas för konceptet är Pricer AB's elektroniska hyllkantsetikett-system (ESL-system) med positionering, kundnavigering samt en lysdiod på varje enskild etikett, i kombination med butikens online-databas med produktbeskrivningar och bilder på varorna. Här kommer en beskrivning av hur interaktionen med systemet kan gå till för någon som är synsvag: Han förbereder alltid sin inköpslista innan han går till affärer, eftersom han vet att det underlättar för honom. Väl i butiken får han varorna från inköpslistan presenterade i den ordningen de kommer, vilket förenklar letandeprocessen. När han letar efter sojasås som han har på listan har han svårt att komma ihåg var i butiken han hittar den, så han kollar upp det med navigeringsfunktionen. Han inser då att han missade den just bakom hörnet som han gick förbi. Väl framme vid sektionen får han en lista med olika sojasåser presenterade i applikationen, de baseras på hans position i butiken, tidigare köp och vad han har på inköpslistan. Han kan nu välja den han gillar och får då en bild på varan på sin skärm, samtidigt som en grön lampa blinkar precis där varan är placerad på hyllan. Han kan nu enkelt och självständigt plocka varan han vill ha från hyllan.

The aim of this thesis is to show how to design a commercially successful website and what are the possibilities of its succesive promotion. First a user research and analysis of competition is done and on the basis of this a new website is designed and created. After its implementation this site is then supported by several online marketing tools.

Att blanda matrester med vanligt hushållsavfall har negativ inverkan på miljön. Men trots detta visar den senaste statistiken att enbart 25,5 % av matavfallet från svenska hushåll sorteras ut. Det verkar bland annat bero på en negativ inställning, och kan indikera ett behov av information som övertygar om vikten att sortera ut. Därför efterfrågade Eskilstuna Strängnäs Energi & Miljö ett material som motiverar boende till en ändrad attityd. Studiens syfte var att komma fram till hur information om att sortera ut matavfall kan utformas för att positivt påverka mottagarnas inställning. Arbetet utgick från teori inom retorik, budskapsstrategier och användarcentrerad design, vilket tillsammans med empirisk data blev grunden för ett gestaltningsförslag. Empirisk data samlades in genom fyra metoder: en intervju med en ämnesexpert för att rama in problemet, en retorisk textanalys för att resonera kring om befintlig information bidragit till att problemet kvarstår, en enkätundersökning för att definiera målgruppens informationsbehov, attityd och mediepreferens samt två utvärderande tester för att undersöka om gestaltningsförslaget fick avsedd inverkan. Genom detta kunde flera slutsatser dras. Bland annat att en blandad budskapsstrategi, metaforer, bilder och att tilltala läsaren som ”du” kan ha positiv inverkan på mottagarens inställning, utifrån vilka en slutgestaltning skapades. / The environment is impacted in a negative way when food waste is commingled with other waste from the household. Still, the latest statistics show that only 25,5 % of the food waste from Swedish households is sorted out. This seems to be caused by a negative attitude among other things, and can indicate a need for convincing information about the importance of sorting out. Therefor, Eskilstuna Strängnäs Energi & Miljö requested a material meant to motivate residents to change their attitude. The study’s purpose was to find out how information about sorting out food waste can be formed to make a positive impact on the receiver’s attitude. The study emanated from theories within rhetoric, message strategies and human centered design, which along with empirical data became the foundation for a design proposal. Empirical data was collected through four methods: an interview with a expert within the subject to frame the problem, a rhetorical text analysis to discuss if existing information have contributed to that the problem still remain, a questionnaire survey to define the target group’s information need, attitude and preferred medium, and two evaluative tests to examine if the design proposal had the intended impact. Through this, multiple conclusions could be drawn. For instance that a combined message strategy, metaphors, images and addressing the reader as “you” can have a positive impact on the receiver’s attitude, by which a final design was created.

A literatura de design e de arquitetura sugere a necessidade de realização de estudos mais aprofundados e capilares junto a usuários de baixa renda a respeito da realidade material interior de suas residências, de como se daria a efetiva utilização de bens e objetos pessoais, além de suas aspirações e preferências quanto aos produtos de uso doméstico. Vários autores, neste sentido, ressaltam que a produção brasileira de mobiliário residencial industrializado, também denominado móvel seriado, sobretudo no segmento do consumo popular, não atenderia, integralmente, a seu público principal, concentrado nestas duas faixas socioeconômicas da população. Este alegado descompasso existiria, parcialmente, em razão de designers e fabricantes de móveis populares seriados supostamente desconhecerem as necessidades efetivas dos usuários e as maneiras de interação com seus bens domésticos. Nesta pesquisa, foram investigadas várias situações de uso do referido mobiliário popular industrializado em moradias de usuários selecionados residentes na Grande São Paulo, abordando aspectos tais como: percepções, significados, preferências, avaliações, apropriações, formas de utilização e adequação aos ambientes. Em termos metodológicos, este estudo qualitativo, de caráter essencialmente fenomenológico, mas também observacional, foi constituído pela sistematização e análise associativa de dados obtidos por meio de entrevistas em profundidade semiestruturadas conduzidas com quarenta usuários e doze vendedores. O trabalho de campo foi complementado por observações diretas, produzidas pela pesquisadora, de móveis, objetos e demais arranjos físicos e visuais encontrados nas moradias visitadas e em lojas de móveis populares, com auxílio de registros fotográficos e gravações em áudio. Na análise do conjunto de dados coletados, foram identificados elementos semióticos, estéticos, funcionais, socioculturais e psicológicos, entre outros. Os resultados obtidos permitem iluminar questões efetivas de uso do mobiliário popular, além de hábitos, costumes, preferências estéticas e condições internas das moradias dos usuários participantes. Observou-se, por exemplo, neste sentido, reduzida adequação de parcela significativa do mobiliário às habitações visitadas, bem como presença de improvisações e adaptações a que os usuários comumente recorrem, mesmo em móveis com pouco tempo de aquisição, para que voltem a desempenhar adequadamente suas funções, além de certa resignação de parte dos usuários quanto a deficiências de projeto e de produção verificadas nos móveis, por vezes justificadas, por eles, pelos baixos preços que pagaram. Tais percepções e outros achados disponibilizam, assim, um corpo de insumos para designers e indústria moveleira em geral, sobre necessidades específicas de famílias de baixa renda que encontram, neste mobiliário popular industrializado, sua principal ou única, mesmo que, em casos, precária, opção de compra para atendimento de necessidades básicas de armazenamento de objetos pessoais e de apoio a tarefas domésticas. Espera-se, com esta pesquisa, contribuir para que o projeto e a produção desta classe de produtos ofereça maior adequação ao efetivo modo de vida e necessidades de seus usuários no interior de suas moradias. / The design and architecture literature suggests the need for more in-depth studies with low-income users regarding the material in their homes and how belongings and personal objects would actually be used, as well as what their aspirations and preferences are with regard to domestic products. Several authors in this context emphasize that Brazilian industrial residential furniture production, also called furniture in series, especially in the budget furniture segment, does not entirely meet the needs of its main public, concentrated in these two socio-economic groups. This alleged misalignment would exist partially because of designers and manufacturers of low-cost furniture supposedly being unaware of users\' real needs and ways of interacting with their domestic objects. In this research, several ways of using industrial low-cost furniture in selected users\' homes in Greater São Paulo were investigated, looking at aspects such as: perceptions, meanings, preferences, evaluations, appropriations, forms of use and adequacy of the environments. In methodological terms, this essentially phenomenological, but also observational qualitative study was done by the systematization and associative analysis of data obtained through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with forty users and twelve salespeople. The field work was complemented by the researcher\'s direct observation of furniture, objects and other physical and visual arrangements in the homes visited and in budget furniture stores, and also with the aid of photographs and audio recordings. In the analysis of the collected data set, semiotic, aesthetic, functional, sociocultural and psychological elements were identified, among others. The results obtained provide information about the use of low-cost furniture, and also about habits, customs, aesthetic preferences and internal conditions of the participating users\' homes. It was observed, for example, that much of the furniture in the homes visited was of limited adequacy, and there were often user improvisations and adaptations, even in furniture purchased recently, so that it would more adequately fulfill its function. In addition, the users had a certain feeling of resignation about the furniture\'s design and manufacturing deficiencies, sometimes justified, for them, by the low price they had paid. These perceptions and other findings make available, then, input for designers and the furniture industry, in general, on specific needs of low-income families that have, in this industrialized low-cost furniture, their main or only, though sometimes precarious, purchase option to meet their basic needs for storage of their belongings and support for domestic tasks. It is hoped that this research will contribute to the design and production of this class of products becoming more suited to the lifestyles and needs of users in their homes.