The increasing prevalence of remote/virtual work arrangements, facilitated by advancements in technology, necessitates a deep understanding of the unique dynamics involved in managing remote teams. This master's thesis explored the role of leadership within remote/virtual working setups in the Information Technology industry in Europe. Specifically, it focused on the experiences, challenges, and perceptions of remote leaders. A quantitative survey was conducted to collect data, assessing elements such as the frequency and effectiveness of communication, satisfaction with team productivity, the difficulties of collaboration, anxiety in remote settings, and the perceived utility of project management software and collaboration tools.The research findings challenged certain preconceived notions. The study found no significant correlation between the frequency of remote work and the difficulty of conflict resolution, thereby challenging prior assumptions. However, a moderate positive correlation was observed between the difficulty of conflict resolution and communication, emphasizing the critical role of effective communication. Surprisingly, only a weak correlation was found between the perceived effectiveness of Project Management Software and team productivity satisfaction. While these findings offered valuable insights into the dynamics of remote/virtual teams, they had to be interpreted cautiously due to limitations such as sample size and diversity, as well as the non-causal nature of the study design. Nevertheless, these findings contribute to the evolving understanding of effective leadership within remote/virtual work settings—an aspect of the IT industry that had been becoming increasingly essential.

Denna studie ämnar undersöka användarupplevelse i digitala miljöer med inriktning engagemang inom digitala sociala nätverk. Studien syftar till att ge en fördjupad förståelse kring området användarupplevelse inom hedoniska motivationssystem (HMS) med fokus på vad som skapar engagemang inom digitala sociala nätverk. Som ett hjälpmedel att på ett strukturerat sätt förklara användarupplevelser och hur engagemang uppkommer har det teoretiska ramverket Hedonic-motivation System Adoption Model, HMSAM, applicerats. De begrepp som användes var användarvänlighet, upplevd användarnytta, nyfikenhet, glädje, kontroll och fördjupat engagemang. För att bättre förstå begreppet fördjupat engagemang har även flow-teorin fungerat som teoretisk bas. Då studien syftade till att ge en fördjupad förståelse kring ett fenomen har dess ansats varit kvalitativ där semi-strukturerade intervjuer använts som datainsamlingsmetod. En innehållsanalys kopplat till teman användes i syfte att strukturera och tematisera den insamlade empirin. Resultatet visade att intresse nämndes inom samtliga teman och hade en stark korrelation till uppkomsten av engagemang. Detta var dock beroende av dess konsumerande kontext. Om det konsumerades i en kontext som inte främjar det fördjupade engagemangets uppkomst, tenderar det att förlora dess betydelse. Vidare framkom att kontroll spelar en viktig roll i sammanhanget då en upplevd bristande kontroll bidrar till en negativ användarupplevelse. Detta visades dock vara komplext då ett fördjupat engagemang delvis innefattar en bristande kontroll i form av förlorad självmedvetenhet och tidsuppfattning. Det spekuleras om de övertygande tekniker som används i dessa digitala sammanhang kan ha någon koppling till den upplevda negativa kontrollbristen. Studien kan ses som ett första steg i en designprocess för framtagande av digitala sociala tjänster med användaren i fokus, med inriktning engagemang och positiv användarupplevelse. / This study aims to examine user experience in digital environments with a focus on engagement within social networking sites. The study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the area of ​​user experience in hedonic motivation systems with a focus on what creates engagement in social networking sites. As a tool to explain user experiences in a structured way and how engagement arises, the theoretical framework Hedonic-motivation System Adoption Model, HMSAM, has been applied. The concepts used were perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, curiosity, joy, control, and immersion. To better understand the concept of the strong engagement named immersion, flow theory has also served as a theoretical basis. Since the study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of a phenomenon, its approach has been qualitative where semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection method. A content analysis linked to themes was used to structure and thematize the collected empirical data. The results showed that interest was mentioned in all themes and had a strong correlation to the emergence of engagement. However, this was dependent on its consuming context. If it was consumed in a context that does not promote the emergence of immersion, it tends to lose its significance. Furthermore, it emerged that control plays an important role in the context as a perceived lack of control contributes to a negative user experience. However, this proved to be complex as immersion partly includes a lack of control in the form of loss of self-consciousness and time distortion. It is speculated that persuasive technology that is used in these digital contexts may have some connection to the perceived negative lack of control. The study can be seen as a first step in a design process for the development of user-centered social networking sites, with a focus on engagement and positive user experience.

Access control solutions face challenges of the implications of social and emotional behaviour of their human users. Thus, the research questions I set out for my thesis deal with how the social and emotional aspects of humans affect access control security interactions and what the implications of considering these aspects when designing access control systems will have for the emotional experience of authorised users. By selecting cases from my fieldwork representative of the social and emotional experiences of authorised users of current access control solutions I have been able to uncover issues of how the technological system is inconsiderate of the social and emotional behaviour of its human users, resulting in negative social and emotional experiences of access control solutions. However, by considering how technology can be designed to reshape the social behaviour of users I have explored ways of designing access control solutions that consider both the technological security and the emotional experience of authorised users.

Fake news, misinformation och desinformation är begrepp som synts i den allmänna debatten de senaste åren och har använts i såväl politiska sammanhang för att påverka opinion liksom för ekonomiska syften. En särskilt central aktör i spridningen av sådan information är även sociala medier. I kampen mot fake news, misinformation och desinformation utvecklas olika lösningar för att göra det enklare för användare att urskilja sant från falskt. Tidigare forskning påvisar emellertid kontraproduktiva effekter utav flera av de sätt som vilseledande information idag motarbetas på. Ett mer tillförlitligt sätt är därför att främja människors egna psykologiska försvar och därför underbygga den källkritiska förmågan. Källkritik hos människor har också tidigare undersökts, men främst utefter människors förmåga. Föreliggande studies syfte var därför att istället undersöka sociala medieanvändares upplevelser av ett källkritiskt förhållningssätt. För att besvara studiens frågeställningar genomfördes 9 semistrukturerade intervjuer med sociala medieanvändare. Datan analyserades därefter utifrån studiens teoretiska ramverk Theory of planner behavior (TPB), varpå deltagarnas attityder, subjektiva normer, upplevda egna förmåga och intentioner skulle ge en förklaring för de befintliga beteenden som uppvisades. Resultaten visar bland annat att deltagarna besitter en god förståelse för hur källkritik bör tillämpas men att tillvägagångssättet uppfattas som kognitivt belastande och tidskrävande vilket i förlängningen gör att förfarandet främst uppges ske när information anses vara viktig. Framtida lösningar bör således sänka resurströskeln utan att för den delen kompromissa användares analytiska förmåga. / Fake news, Misinformation and disinformation are terms that have been prevalent in the public debate in recent years and have been used in political contexts to influence political opinion as well as for economical purposes. A particularly central actor in the dissemination of such information is social media. To combat fake news, misinformation and disinformation, certain solutions are developed to make it easier for users to distinguish true from false. However, previous research showscounterproductive effects in many of the ways that deceptive information is being fought today. A more reliable way is therefore to promote people's psychological defence and instead underpin critical skills in evaluation of sources. People's ability to critically evaluate the reliability of sources have also been a subject for research, although mainly focused on people's capabilities. The present studies aim was therefore instead to explore social media users' subjective experiences of practicing source evaluation. To answer the studies research questions, 9 semi-structured interviews were conducted with social media users. The data was then analysed with the help of the studies theoretical framework Theory of planned behaviour (TPB), from which the participants' attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behaviouralcontrol and intentions would explain the existing behaviours. Inter alia, the results show that the participants have a good knowledge of how sources should be evaluated although the behaviour is viewed as cognitively cumbersome and time consuming which in the long run purports the behaviour to mainly happen when the information is viewed as important. Future solutions should therefore lower the resource requirements without compromising the users’ analytical capabilities.

This study investigates the impact of specific gamification elements in the Duolingo application on user experience, engagement, and motivation in language learning. Despite the widespread integration of gamification in educational technologies, there is a lack of detailed analysis on how individual elements—such as streaks, levels, XP, lingots, hearts, badges, and rewards—affect learning outcomes. To address this gap, we conducted A/B testing with two prototypes of Duolingo: one with gamification elements (Gamified Duolingo) and one without (Non-Gamified Duolingo). Six participants, who do not have Swedish as their native language, completed a Swedish lesson using both prototypes. The results indicate that specific gamification features significantly enhance user engagement and motivation. Elements like streaks and badges were particularly effective in motivating users to maintain consistent learning habits and achieve milestones. However, some participants found that overemphasizing gamification could distract from deeper learning. This suggests that while gamification can positively impact user experience, it needs to be carefully balanced to avoid potential drawbacks. The study's findings have practical implications for the design of language learning applications. Customizable and balanced gamification features are recommended to cater to diverse user preferences and enhance overall learning effectiveness. Additionally, timely and relevant feedback through gamification elements can sustain long-term user engagement. Scientifically, this research contributes to a nuanced understanding of how specific gamification components affect learning, emphasizing the importance of personalized and adaptive strategies in educational technologies. Future research should include larger and more diverse participant samples to validate these findings and explore the long-term effects of gamification on language learning. Investigating the underlying psychological mechanisms and adaptive gamification systems could further refine the application of gamification in education, ultimately leading to more effective and user-centered learning solutions.

The media consumption on the Internet is increasing rapidly and people at all ages are getting used to live in an on demand world. Due to this, streaming platforms have to appeal to a broad audience containing children, teenagers and adults. One approach to appeal a broad target audience is to divide the streaming platform into two separate platforms, where one is aiming for children and the other one, for the rest of the users. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the user experience can be improved, to help users of ages 10-13 years old to find their way from one streaming plat- form, to another as they are growing up. The thesis investigate how existing streaming platforms appeal to a broad audience and determines reasons of why a gap can be created between streaming platforms. Based on interviews, work- shops, user tests as well as literature, a final prototype and a set of concluding suggestions have been produced as a result of this study.

Humans’ emotions have the ability to take over, which might end up with responses inappropriate to the situation. The solution to inappropriate responses is to have a better awareness. Great team-work, calm employees, and rational decision making are all qualities that derive benefit from emotional self-awareness. However, studies show that only 36 percent can identify their emotions as they happen. This paper takes on the opportunity to raise emotional self-awareness by designing a prototype that enables the users to reflect and anonymously share their emotion through an audience response system. Forty-eight participants, in various group sizes, did within-subjects tests. They started by writing down their answer to the question: How do you feel?. They later answered through the prototype. Whether or not the participants managed to be more specific through the prototype was measured, as well as their perceived anonymity. The results revealed that the prototype was useful in both helping the users to learn emotion definitions and further specify their emotion. In regards to the perceived anonymity, it showed that the design was favoring a larger group size around 20 participants.

The educational digital games are both used at school and at home by children. However, if used at home, how should parent's be able to tell a child learning progress in the game when they have limited knowledge in children's education? The purpose of this thesis is enhance the knowledge on how to design a digital interface that communicates the learning progress of a child to its parents. This by establishing a suggested framework on this subject. To be able to create the framework the Design thinking method were used. First suggestions, based on literature and interviews with teachers, for the design and framework were created. Then a Hight fidelity prototype of the digital interface based in the suggestions were designed. And lastly the prototype where tested in a Usability test. The usability test showed what in the suggestions that worked. The parts that worked were summarized in the suggested framework that the study where successful in creating. The framework contained both suggestion in how to visually represent a learning progress and how to communicate it. / Pedagogiska digitala spel används både i skolan och hemma av barn. Men om de används hemma, hur ska föräldrar kunna förstå vad ett barns lärandeutveckling i spelet när de har begränsad kunskap om barns utbildning? Syftet med denna uppsats är att öka kunskapen om hur man utformar ett digitalt gränssnitt som kommunicerar ett barns kunskapsutveckling till sina föräldrar. Detta genom att fastställa en föreslagen ram för detta ämne. För att kunna skapa ramverket användes Design thinking metoden. Först skapades förslag till design och ramverk, baserade på litteratur och intervjuer med lärare. Sedan designades en High fidelity prototyp av det digitala gränssnittet baserat på förslagen. Och slutligen testades prototypen i ett användbarhetstest. Användbarhetstestet visade vad i förslagen som fungerade. Delarna som fungerade sammanfattades i det föreslagna ramverket som studien lyckades skapa. Ramverket innehöll både förslag på hur man visuellt ska representera en inlärningsframsteg och hur man kommunicerar den.

The release of the location-based game Pokemon Go saw the creators breaking world records for most revenue grossed by a mobile game within its first month. With location-based games and services such as Pokemon Go becoming mainstream, new opportunities in the market have been opened. But as location-based services become more popular there is a need for research and development of UX-design to keep up. Regarding location-based services there are multiple important questions in the field. For example, how are map interactions made intuitive and how are elements that interact with the map designed for the best user experience? Questions such as these will be explored in this thesis. This thesis is done in collaboration with the company Exenze which develops a location-based mobile game called Oknytt - Jakten på amuletten (Oknytt - The hunt for the amulet). The game is tailored to specific outdoor areas of the company's clients' choosing, such as campsites, parks or playgrounds. As of the writing of this thesis, the way of creating a level for Oknytt was very complex and took a lot of time. Exenze wanted an easier way to create levels, in which clients could make make their own levels; hence, the aim of this study was to create a user interface in which a non-professional user could create their own fun, engaging, and safe level for Oknytt. The method of this thesis consisted of development and testing of a low fidelity prototype, a mid fidelity prototype and a high fidelity prototype. The resulting high fidelity prototype divided the complex task of creating a level on a specific location into four dependable sub-tasks; finding a place, marking the game zone, marking areas that were unsafe for children, and managing collectibles. These sub-tasks were made into steps in a Wizard with one added step for filling billing information. The prototype was generally well received by users. Most of the problems in the interface had to do with the marking of game zones as well as marking areas that were unsafe for children.

This thesis integrates scoring, gamification, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting(CSR) to encourage sustainable behaviours through electronic driving journals. As environmental stewardship becomes increasingly important, the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) mandates greater transparency in reporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities. In this context, driving journals in Sweden, primarily used to distinguish between professional and personal vehicle use, emerge as a critical factor in influencing sustainable practices. The study explores the potential of scoring and gamification, which involves incorporating game-design elements into non-game contexts to transform routine compliance activities into engaging processes that promote sustainable behaviour. By combining these journals with the requirements of the CSRD, the research examines their effectiveness in fostering an environmentally conscious driving culture among corporate fleets and individual users. The study employs a multidimensional approach, which involves conducting a comprehensive literature review, analysing the market, and practically applying the findings with Northtracker, a leading driving journal provider. The goal is to examine how aligning Northtracker's systems with CSRD guidelines can help promote and comply with sustainable practices by enhancing user engagement. The results indicate that incorporating scoring and gamified elements within driving journals can effectively increase user participation and compliance, leading to a measurable reduction in environmental impact resulting from improved driving habits. Nonetheless, the study highlights several challenges, such as privacy concerns, data accuracy, and user acceptance, which require a balanced approach to scoring and gamification in sustainability initiatives. The thesis concludes by recommending strategic actions that policymakers and corporations can take to exploit this integration's potential fully. These implications go beyond the immediate scope of driving journals and offer valuable insights into the broader application of scoring and gamification in environmental sustainability efforts.