På grund av den ökade klädkonsumtionen inom e-handeln har antalet digitala returer ökat markant, vilket har bidragit till ohanterbara mängder returer för återförsäljare inom e-handeln. En stor mängd av dessa returer slängs eller bränns upp och orsakar på så sätt negativ påverkan på miljön. För att minska antalet returer har tidigare studier genomförts där olika former av storleks- och passformsteknologi har tagits fram med syfte att underlätta för klädkonsumenter att hitta rätt storlek. Denna form av teknologi har däremot inte bidragit till minskningen av antalet returer. Förutom problem med storlek och passform, är klädkonsumenters beteende en bidragande orsak till den stora mängden returer. Forskningsfrågan för denna studie är därför: Hur kan klädkonsumenters tidigare erfarenhet av e-returer bidra till designprocessen vid framtagande av en prototyp som stöder ett mer hållbart konsumtionsbeteende? De datainsamlingsmetoder som används i studien är enkät, intervjuer och framtidsverkstäder med utgångspunkt i forskningsstrategin grundad teori. Analys utifrån grundad teori tillämpas sedan för att identifiera mönster i deltagarnas utsagor. Utifrån analysen av den insamlade datan och resultatet från framtidsverstäderna framtas tre prototyper som utgår ifrån persuasive design, som innebär att genom design försöka övertyga personer att agera på ett mer hållbart vis. Genom testning av dessa identifieras den slutgiltiga prototypen som kan uppmuntra klädkonsumenter till ett mer hållbart konsumtionsbeteende. Baserat på datainsamlingen och den framtagna prototypen utformas en teori som tyder på att det behöver framföras korrekt information kring företags returhantering för att möjliggöra en förändring i klädkonsumenters returbeteende. / Due to the increased consumption of clothing in e-commerce, the number of digital returns has increased significantly, which has contributed to unmanageable amounts of returns for e-commerce retailers. A large amount of these returns are thrown away or burned, thus causing a negative impact on the environment. To reduce the number of returns, previous studies have been carried out where various forms of size and fit technology have been developed with the aim of making it easier for clothing consumers to find the right size. However, this form of technology has not contributed to reduction of returns. In addition to size and fit issues, clothing consumer behavior is a contributing factor to the high volume of returns. The study’s research question therefore is: How can clothing consumers' previous experience with e-returns contribute to the design process when producing a prototype that supports more sustainable consumption behavior? The data collection methods used in the study are questionnaires, interviews and future workshops based on the research strategy grounded theory. Analysis based on grounded theory is then applied to identify patterns in the participants' statements. Based on the analysis of the collected data and the results from the future workshops, three prototypes are created that are based on persuasive design, which means trying to convince people to act in a more sustainable way through design. By testing the prototypes, the final prototype is identified which can encourage clothing consumers to a more sustainable consumption behavior. Based on the data collection and the prototype, a theory is developed that suggests that correct information needs to be presented regarding companies' return management in order to enable a change in the return behavior of clothing consumers.

Since the early 2000s, within the fields of Design and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) an emerging body of unconventional design work has exemplified and articulated alternative and oppositional functions of design. Examples of such functions include provocatively speculating about alternative futures (speculation), questioning the status quo (critique), and debating political issues (agonism). Prominent examples of alternative and oppositional design have originated within HCI. Others have been heavily discussed, adapted, and critiqued within HCI. Alternative and oppositional designs have been presented under various names: critical design, design fiction, adversarial design, reflective design, ludic design, speculative design… At this moment the list continues to grow while examples of such work proliferate. This work collectively demonstrates the potential for design to engage concerns and goals that pivot around themes of generating radical alternatives and creating productive political, cultural, and social opposition. This thesis argues that there is a body of unconventional design work that becomes cohesive and legible when held together by themes of oppositionality and alternatives, and operating throughout these designs is a technique which I term design resistance. This thesis presents two primary contributions. The first contribution is to isolate and elaborate resistance as a design technique at work across a range of alternative and oppositional designs. I articulate how design resistance works by analyzing a series of design exemplars drawn from HCI and adjacent areas of Design. The second contribution is to extend and refine the overarching technique of design resistance through two design case studies. These design case studies serve the dual function of offering additional insight into design resistance grounded in my own design practice while concretely demonstrating new knowledge relevant to specific domains and concerns within HCI, including sustainable energy consumption and critiques of digital consumer technologies. Together these contributions provide new knowledge for (1) understanding the rise of alternative and oppositional designs, the concerns they are working to engage, and the research gaps they are working to fill, and (2) how to practice alternative and oppositional forms of design using techniques of design resistance.

För att brandmännen på flygplatser ska känna sig trygga när olyckan är framme är det viktigt att de får den information som krävs för att veta hur de ska agera när en flygfarkost kraschar. Utöver att vara ett stöd vid skarpa lägen ska Brand- och räddningsinstruktionen, BRI, vara ett läromedel i brandmännens utbildning och ett komplement under resten av deras yrkesliv. Dagens BRI uppfattas av användarna som en tråkig hemsida som inte är anpassad för dem, därför handlar detta examensarbete om hur BRI bör utformas för att vara användbar, samt bidra till lärande och en god användarupplevelse. Detta arbete har varit en iterativ användarcentrerad designprocess. Arbetet började med en kontextuell undersökning hos användaren för att fastställa deras behov. Utifrån dessa behov resulterade arbetet i ett förslag på ett grafiskt användargränssnitt som följer Saabs grafiska profil och som genom tester visar sig uppfylla användarnas centrala behov. Det visualiserades med en interaktiv prototyp. Genom att strukturera visualiseringarna med tillhörande text, se till att ingen information är dold och tillämpa en konsekvent navigeringsstruktur påverkas användarupplevelsen positivt. Denna studie har identifierat vikten av samspelet mellan information och visualisering för att främja användbarhet och inlärning. / When accidents happen it’s important that the airport's fire fighters feel safe with the knowledge that they have. This is why it’s important that they receive the information that is needed so that they know how to act when an aircraft crashes. In addition to being an aid during critical situations the Fire and Rescue Instruction, FRI, is a digital data bank, which is used to educate new fire fighters, and also to keep fully trained fire fighters up to date. Users perceive the FRI as a boring website which isn't designed for them. Which is why this master thesis will investigate how the FRI should be designed to improve the user experience and increase the learning effect. The process, which has been implemented during this thesis, is an iterative user-centered design process. The work began with a contextual inquiry to determine the users' needs. Their needs were then used to develop a user interface concept that followed Saab's graphic profile. The users’ then evaluated the concept to make sure that it met the users' key requirements. The concept was visualized with an interactive prototype. A positive user experience can be accomplished by structuring the visualizations with its corresponding text, you should also ensure that no information is concealed and apply a consistent navigation structure. This study has identified the importance of the interaction between information and visualizations to promote the learning effect and usability.

This dissertation focuses on design sessions in which users and stakeholders participate. It demonstrates how material from field studies can be used in exploratory design sessions. The emphasis is on the staging and realization of experiments with ‘possible futures’. Using a design perspective I have worked with how field studies can contribute to design processes in which many parties collaborate. With a starting point in collaborative ‘sketching’ and creation of scenarios I have striven to create a meaningful way for design teams to adopt a practice perspective. The dissertation shows that there need not be any opposition between exploring ‘what is’ and envisioning ‘what can be’. The increase of computer technology in everyday life and the development making information technology become an integrated part of more and more everyday products has given rise to a need to find new ways of working in the process of designing. If it was ever possible to work in an isolated way on either digital or physical technology, this is no longer the case since development requires collaboration over these borders. In the same way, IT plays an increasing significant role in people’s everyday lives. User focus and user involvement have become commonplace. This calls for new ways of organizing the design process. The present dissertation meets this problem. I have participated in four projects in which exploring users everyday practices has become a meaningful design activity and a foundation for collaboration. The purpose of this dissertation is to shed light on the possibilities and the advantages offered by working design oriented with material from field studies. Furthermore, it strives to show how design sessions can be organized and carried out on a practical level and exemplifies with concrete projects. Special emphasis is given to the creation of and the inquiry into design material and the development and use of design games. / <p>In collaboration with School of Arts and Communication, Malmö University, Sweden.</p>

This dissertation is based upon the work within a number of research projects, five of which are presented in detail. The work follows the direction of research laid out by the Ubiquitous Computing and Augmented Reality research programs and concerns the broad question of where to go as we seek to take digital technology, and human interactions with this technology, beyond the traditional desktop computer. The work presented takes a design-oriented approach to Human Computer Interaction research. Five prototype systems are presented: Ambient displays for remote awareness, a navigation device providing guidance through tactile cues, a personal device for wastewater plant operators, paper cards enabling control of video playback, and a cell phone that enables you to ‘talk silent’. It is discussed how these prototypes, despite obvious differences, all reflect the same overall attitude towards the role of digital technology. It is an attitude emphasizing that integration of digital technology with everyday human activities means making computational power manifest as part of a larger patchwork of resources. Furthermore, it is an attitude promoting the design of digital technology that leaves the control and initiative with people and their earned ability to take appropriate action when faced with the particularities of the social and physical settings encountered in everyday life beyond the computer screen. In other words, this dissertation brings forward, by using five prototypes as examples, an attitude that encourages us to recognize, embrace, and take advantage of, the fact that human interaction with digital technology takes place, not in a vacuum, but in a rich and diverse world full of many resources for human action other than the digital technology we bring about. / <p>In collaboration with School of Arts and Communication, Malmö University, Sweden.</p>

Services based on the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are present more and more in the lives of people. The advancement of ICT in technical and social acceptance terms has led the creation of new models of service provision. These provision models involve further integration with people's activities so that are not only present in their professions or civic space but also in a more intimate areas related to their own identity. So it is now common to find services aware of user's health, their domestic habits, ideology, etc. Therefore, the analysis of existing services must be open out to include other aspects related to the way of being and feeling of their members. This way is possible to ensure both the technical correctness of its features as promoting safe and respectful solutions both of civic rights as the way of being and feeling of its members. From the engineering point of view, the user perspective has historically encompassed under the concept of technological acceptance. Within this field can be interpreted as friendly solutions adapted to users will encourage the acceptance by them. Solution acceptance is desirable although it is difficult to ensure. This difficulty is due to the lack of the number of variables that affect the acceptance of technological solutions and the difficulty of optimizing the known variables. In this thesis it is studied and characterized one of the variables that affect the acceptance of existing services: confidence. Confidence is defined in psychological terms, providing its characterization with the aim of be used in typical methods of engineering. Also different tools are proposed to facilitate the optimization of this confidence in services whose complexity establishes this variable in a basic issue to improve acceptance. Health services deployed in a home have been chosen as working context for this thesis. This scenario presents a number of acceptance restrictions on the technology used to create services and how they manage the acquired user information. It comes to highly sensitive and delocalized services that can affect to the user's perception of the environment, the home, and generate fear or rejection to prevent final adoption as a valid solution. Once defined the generic framework, the main objective of this dissertation is focused on promote the acceptance of new pervasive and personalized health services and their deployment in domestic intelligent environments through a layout that promotes a psychological state of confidence in users. To achieve this goal, a set of results, both conceptual, technological and experimental, have been provided. In particular, it has offered a complete characterization of the feeling of confidence from a viewpoint of engineering and a definition of sensitive or delocalized pervasive service. Furthermore, a method for the inclusion of the Interaction Design discipline in engineering processes of such services through a set of patterns of interaction is offered. Finally, this thesis provides the development of a software architecture to ensure proper deployment of these pervasive sensitive services in intelligent environments in a confident way. Discussion of the results suggests the extension of the deployment model to different services of the Information Society that handle sensitive data both in the context of the digital home and other settings where the user perform everyday activities such as work spaces or schools. The future work lines include the imminent need to apply the results to ongoing developments, within research projects in those the author takes part, and the development of new research lines aimed at creating new spaces and interaction technologies as advanced accessible interfaces, toys of the future, confident visualization systems or security systems based on the condition of the user. / Tjänster baserade på informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) blir allt mer vanligare i människors liv. För att främja acceptansen för IKT i både tekniska och sociala aspekter av människors liv har nya modeller för dessa tjänster skapats. Dessa modeller har en närmare knytning till människors verksamhet så att de inte bara förekommer i deras yrken eller fritid men också i mer intima områden som anknyter till individens egen identitet. Det är nu därför vanligt att hitta tjänster som tar hänsyn till användarens hälsa, vanor, ideologi, etc.  En analys av befintliga tjänster måste inkludera dessa aspekter men även användarnas känsla av identitet och medlemskap. På detta sätt är det möjligt att säkerställa den tekniska riktigheten hos dessa funktioner som i sin tur borgar för säkra och respektfulla lösningar som tar hänsyn till medlemmarnas medborgerliga rättigheter likväl som deras känsla av identitet och medlemskap. Historiskt sett, och ur ett tekniskt perspektiv, har användarperspektivet omfattats under begreppet teknisk acceptans. Inom detta område har användarvänliga lösningar anpassade till användarna själva uppmuntrat acceptans av dem. Acceptans av lösningar är önskvärt även om det är svårt att säkerställa. Denna svårighet beror på avsaknaden av antalet variabler som påverkar acceptansen av tekniska lösningar och svårigheten att optimera de kända variablerna. I denna avhandling studeras och karaktäriseras en av de variabler som påverkar acceptansen av befintliga tjänster: förtroende. Förtroendet definieras i psykologiska termer med syftet att kunna använda termen i typiska metoder för teknik. Det föreslås också olika verktyg för att underlätta optimering av detta förtroende inom tjänstesektorn. Hälso- och sjukvård i hemmet har valts som scenario för denna avhandling. Detta scenario presenterar ett antal restriktioner med avseende på acceptansen av den teknik som används för att skapa tjänster och hur dessa tjänster hanterar den förvärvade användarinformationen. För användaren är situationen mycket känslig och de erbjudna tjänsterna kan påverka användarens uppfattning av miljön och hemmet och/eller generera rädsla eller avsmak för att acceptera lösningen. När den generiska ramen är etablerad är det huvudsakliga syftet med denna avhandling att främja acceptans av nya tjänster för personlig hälsovård och deras användning i hemmet. Detta skall uppnås genom en layout som främjar ett psykologiskt förtroende hos användarna. För att uppnå detta mål har en uppsättning resultat, både begreppsmässiga, tekniska och experimentella, analyserats. Framför allt har en fullständig karaktärisering gjorts av känslan av förtroende från en teknologisk synvinkel och en definition av en känslig och allomfattande tjänst. Dessutom framläggs en metod för införandet av interaktionsdesign i de aktuella tjänsterna genom ett antal interaktionsmönster. Slutligen behandlar denna avhandling utvecklingen av en mjukvaruarkitektur för att säkerställa en korrekt användning av dessa känsliga tjänster. Resultaten pekar på att distributionsmodellen även kan användas för andra tjänster i informationssamhället där användaren utför vardagliga sysslor, såsom i det digitala hemmet eller andra miljöer (t.ex. skolor och arbetsplatser), där känsliga uppgifter hanteras. De framtida arbetsuppgifterna omfattar det överhängande behovet av att tillämpa resultaten på den pågående utvecklingen av forskningsprojekt som författaren är involverad i. Detta omfattar även utveckling av ny forskning som syftar till att skapa ny interaktionsteknik t.ex. avancerade gränssnitt, framtida leksaker, säkra visualiseringssystem eller säkerhetssystem baserat på användarens hälsa/tillstånd. / <p>This PhD research has been conducted under a double PhD agreement degree between the School of Telecommunications Systems and Engineering (ETSIST) at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) in Spain and the School of Technology and Health (STH) at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden.</p><p>QC 20160129</p>

In order to develop successful collaborative music systems a variety of subtle interactions need to be identified and integrated. Gesture capture, motion tracking, real-time synthesis, environmental parameters and ubiquitous technologies can each be effectively used for developing innovative approaches to instrument design, sound installations, interactive music and generative systems. Current solutions tend to prioritise one or more of these approaches, refining a particular interface technology, software design or compositional approach developed for a specific composition, performer or installation environment. Within this diverse field a group of novel controllers, described as ‘Tangible Interfaces’ have been developed. These are intended for use by novices and in many cases follow a simple model of interaction controlling synthesis parameters through simple user actions. Other approaches offer sophisticated compositional frameworks, but many of these are idiosyncratic and highly personalised. As such they are difficult to engage with and ineffective for groups of novices. The objective of this research is to develop effective design strategies for implementing collaborative sound environments using key terms and vocabulary drawn from the available literature. This is articulated by combining an empathic design process with controlled sound perception and interaction experiments. The identified design strategies have been applied to the development of a new collaborative digital instrument. A range of technical and compositional approaches was considered to define this process, which can be described as Adaptive Social Composition. Dan Livingstone

The thesis explores human embodiment in 3D Virtual environments as a means of enhancing interaction. I aim to provide a better understanding of embodied interaction in digital environments in general. 3D interactive virtual environments challenge users to question aspects of their embodiment by providing new modes for interacting with space. Designers are facing new challenges that require novel means of interacting with virtual environments that do not simply mirror the way we interact within physical environments. Much of the research in the field aims to show how such environments can be made more familiar and "realistic" to users. This thesis attempts to probe the unfamiliar aspects of the medium. In this thesis I explore the concept, image and object of intimate space. How can an understanding of intimate space inform embodied interaction with virtual environments? I also investigate the role of familiarity by analysing and testing it in two contrasting interactive virtual environments. My contribution is to provide an account of familiarity as the driver behind embodied interaction in virtual environments based on human experience (from a phenomenological standpoint). In order to enhance the process of design for human embodied interaction in 3D virtual environments or in physical environments, I will identify tangible and intangible elements that affect human embodiment in 3D virtual environments and space, such as ethics and scale. Both examples are explored in interactive 3D virtual environments corresponding to real physical environments by subjects who are the daily users of the real physical environments. The thesis presents scale as a tangible element and ethics as an intangible element of human embodied interaction in space in order to highlight the different aspects that affect human engagement with space, and therefore human perception of their space and their embodiment. The Subjects’ accounts contribute toward informing the design of interactive 3D virtual environments within the context of embodied interaction.

Healthcare is an important arena for improvement and innovation by the use of e-health solutions. But many obstacles exist, such as insufficiency in interoperability and usability. One reason for this problematic situation is that the development process has been inadequate. Swedish healthcare serves under regulations for public procurement. Hence, almost every e-health solution has to be procured to prevent an orientation towards illegal direct award of contracts. Specifying requirements that explain what the customer and users needs and why, is one of the most critical parts of that process. The customer gets what asked for, but often the requirements are on a high level of interpretation and not explicit or traceable enough. This prevents interoperability and usability from being a vital part of the prioritizing activity. Today knowledge about requirement processes and traceability is fragmented, and often more based on ideal models than on practical, real life experiences. The aim of this work is therefore to understand how traceability is managed and how it can be improved. I investigate who is most suitable to perform the “traceability activity” and, maybe even more important, the skill needed to fulfil that task. With a practice-based and ethnographical approach several studies have been conducted in different healthcare settings in Sweden, all closely connected to the design- and development process in e-health projects. The research shows that traceability maintains the relation between needs and solutions by providing a reality check for every step in the procurement and development. To accomplish that, requirements must be made explicit and interpretable for different stakeholders. The actors best suited for this “traceability activity” must have a holistic approach and know how to identify needs and relate them to the context. This demands a domain-specific knowledge about the healthcare setting and understanding how the organisation works practically and politically. It is crucial to also be skilled at usability, design, development and procurement. In addition, implementing IT in healthcare cannot be separated from business development. I argue that it is time to update the way healthcare development is managed and by whom. First, healthcare management must pay more attention on usability and the crucial role that healthcare professionals have as change leaders and needfinders to strengthening existing initiatives. Second, the design community must match existing initiatives and roles in healthcare with the designers’ special knowledge to support innovation and design processes.

What if a computer wasn’t necessarily the best place for kids to learn the fundamentals of coding? A new wave of digital coding teaching tools has been ushered into America, with the country progressively gaining more interest in having kids learn code.  The goal of this project has been to propose an alternative teaching method, one focused and tailored to students who learn best through kinesthetic and visual means.  The approach has been to combine tangible interaction principles to help make the introductory stages of learning code as approachable and intuitive as possible.  The final result of this thesis is a modular toy system which gradually introduces kids to the fundamentals of coding independent of a computer, prompting exploration and problem solving.