Rapporten behandlar datorstödda multimedia utbildningar vars syfte är att utbilda ovana användare i datorkunskap. Hur ska instruktioner utformas för att stödja inlärning i dessa datorstödda utbildningar? Vilka instruktionsteorier och inlärningsteorier är viktiga att stödja? Detta är de huvudsakliga frågeställningar rapporten behandlar. Studien innefattar en utvärdering av tre datorstödda utbildningsprogram för att besvara vilka instruktioner programmen stödjer. Utöver utvärderingen har även en empirisk studie i form av en direktobservation utförts. Observationsstudien har givit svar på vilka instruktioner utbildningarna bör innefatta och även hur dessa instruktioner bör ges. Det finns fortfarande många frågor kvar att besvara beträffande instruktioner och inlärning för datorstödd utbildning. Studien har väckt intressanta frågeställningar relaterat till användbarhet i dessa utbildningsprogram samt givit en grund att bygga vidare studier på.

Det här är en undersökning om ett användargränssnitt för relativt ovana användare. Undersökningen handlar om huruvida gränssnittet ska innehålla bilder med ledtext eller enbart bilder. Hypotesen är att om bilderna är ordentligt utformade behövs ingen hjälpande ledtext. I den här undersökningen har digitala fotografier använts för att undersöka om hypotesen är giltig. En ledtext är till för att öka förståelsen av bilden och vad den skall representera. Om bilden i sig själv förmedlar sin symbolik, för användaren, behövs ingen hjälpande ledtext. Förhoppningen med denna undersökning är att introducera datorer på gruppbostäder för utvecklingsstörda. Datorerna skulle då användas av både personalen och de boende på gruppbostäderna. Många av de utvecklingsstörda kan inte läsa och skulle därför kanske kunna bli förvirrade om de skulle konfronteras med text på skärmen. Av bland annat den anledningen är det viktigt att utforma gränssnittet så att det passar de blivande användarna. Undersökningen är inte utförd på utvecklingsstörda personer. Det fanns inte möjligheter till detta inom ramarna för det här arbetet. Undersökningen är utförd på slumpvis utvalda läskunniga personer. Den är inte inriktad på någon speciell grupp av människor utan kan därför användas mer generellt.

Att använda samplat tal i datorprogram blir allt vanligare vilket leder in på frågan om detta är av godo. Kan tal och text kombineras i en datorapplikation för att skapa effektivare inlärning eller bör en sådan kombination undvikas? För att utreda detta studerades teorier rörande inlärning, cues, kognitiva flaskhalsar samt automatisk informationsbehandling. Utifrån dessa teorier drogs slutsatsen att en kombination av text och tal inte ger en effektivare inlärning. För att undersöka detta empiriskt genomfördes ett kvantitativt experiment med 60 experimentdeltagare i åldrarna 11-13 år. Experimentdeltagarna studerade ett inlärningsmaterial vilket utgjordes av fakta om ett imaginärt land. Deltagarna testades sedan och deras resultat jämfördes utifrån om de läst, lyssnat eller både läst och lyssnat på inlärningsmaterialet.

This thesis is to be seen as a preliminary version of my doctoral thesis. It deals with problems concerning how our basic values influence development processes, mainly within the areas of software development and organizational change. Two main foci are presented, one theoretical and one empirical. The theoretical focus deals with the question: Is there objectivity in the theoretical framework, the knowledge and the experience on which the choices of strategies are based? The empirical focus deals with the question: How can knowledge about healthy work, usability and organizational matters be put into practice in the organizational and software development process? The preliminary conclusion shows that, when put under pressure, basic values are often clearly evident, though not necessarily evident to the individual herself. The will to grasp at models or methods that follow contemporary trends increases as well. In the end, time and money control the process, and all the magnificent ideas of a system built for a better work environment have soon faded away. This loss reflects the basic values in the organization, as well as it reflects a lack of awareness of the consequences of different strategic decisions.

Today many companies have started to become aware of the advantages of doing user-centred design. However, it is extremely rare that companies adopt a fully integrated user-centred design approach in one strategic shift. Rather, companies tend to adopt practices and methods in stages or adopt a particular method or practice only when a complex set of factors align to create readiness. There is a big market for companies vending usability methods, but poor usability of systems and products is still very common, the vendors often blaming it on factors outside their immediate influence. This among other things is a call for us to work for a user-centred design attitude as a major strategy for the system development process. The content of this thesis is dedicated to the question of how to develop usable interactive systems in practice. Main focus is on how we can raise the awareness of usability; articulate the need for user-centred design within the industry and development organisations; and practice user-centred design. A framework for usability design as an unpretentious way of applying user-centred design is described and discussed.

A design of computer systems, that effectively supports the user, is a major goal within human-computer interaction. To achieve this, we must understand and master several tasks. These tasks concern firstly what to develop and secondly how to develop the system. The design and implementation of effective and efficient user interfaces is a prerequisite for the successful introduction of computer support in the medical domain. We base our work on a fundamental understanding of cognitive aspects of human-computer interaction, as well as on detailed analysis of the specific needs and requirements of the end users, i.e., the medical professionals. This thesis presents several approaches for development of systems for computer-supported work in health care. The solutions described concern vital problem areas: (1) the focus on the work tasks to be performed, (2) the cost of software and the way competition works in a networked world. Solutions to these problems can lead to more usable systems from a user's perspective but may also change the nature of computer applications.

The figures of reported health problems in computer-supported, administrative, work are alarmingly high and increasing. The main health problems are visual discomfort, repetitive strain injuries (RSI) and stress-related disorders. Some important risk factors are poor workstation design, constrained work postures, repetitive work and long hours of computer use every day. Others are high demands, poor control over workload and work pace and poor relations to management and colleagues. There is also evidence that poor design and usability of the computer systems as well as technical problems with the computer add to the pressure perceived by the user, which may in its turn cause stress-related disorders. Systems (software) development is often technology-driven and the design and contents of the resulting system shapes the work situation, including factors affecting the users' health and well-being. There are numerous examples in the literature describing how poorly designed systems fail to support the real work practices, introducing new ones that are inadequate and more time-consuming. Thus these, supposedly supporting, computer systems get in the way of efficient and effective work, adding a burden on the workers rather than helping them out. This thesis tries to describe some of the relations between the systems development process and users' health complaints, in a work context. I also discuss whether or not the concepts of usability and user experience can be used to address users' health issues in the systems development process. The main results indicate that although usability must be addressed, it is not sufficient. Occupational health issues must be explicitly integrated in systems development, and be given priority. This thesis also describes some potential methods and techniques for doing that.

This licentiate thesis addresses design and development problems that arise when service providers, and service end-users face the variety of computing devices available on the market. The devices are designed for many types of use in various situations and settings, which means that they have different capabilities in terms of presentation, interaction, memory, etc. Service providers often handle these differences by creating a new version for each device. This creates a lot of development and maintenance work, and often leads to restrictions on the set of devices that services are developed for. For service end-users, this means that it can be difficult to combine devices that fit the intended usage context and services that provide the needed content. New development methods that target multiple devices from the start are needed. The differences between devices call for services that can adapt to various devices, and present themselves with device specific user interfaces. We propose a way of developing device independent services by using interaction acts to describe user-service interaction. Devices would interpret the interaction acts and generate user interfaces according to their own specific capabilities. Additional presentation information can be encoded in customization forms, to further control how the user interface would be generated. Different devices would generate different user interfaces from the same interaction acts, and a device could generate different user interfaces from the same interaction acts combined with different customization forms. In this thesis, the interaction act and customization form concepts are described in detail. A system prototype handling them and two sample services have been implemented. Preliminary evaluations indicate that interaction acts and customization forms constitute a feasible approach for developing services with multiple user interfaces. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the problems arising when evaluating this kind of systems, and some conclusions on how to continue the evaluation process.

Today, mobile technology is making its entry into working life within all sorts of occupations. When the purpose of the technology is to support mobile work, new requirements appear – for both the technology itself and for the emerging new work processes – as a result of these new conditions. Consequently, the introduction of a new IT system will affect the organisation and the way work is performed. This thesis addresses these changes in work processes and ways to provide a supporting IT system. An underlying component of my research work is the belief that the personnel from the organisation itself must participate in a large extent when developing new work processes and when designing supporting IT systems, since they will be using the IT system as a tool in their future work practice. To understand the nature of mobility in a work context and how it affects usability in IT systems, I have initiated studies of the area where mobile work is supported by technology. Important characteristics have been found that affect mobile work. My research work has concerned traditional professions, primarily professions within mobile healthcare. An exhaustive study of how to design new work processes within the area of home care of the elderly has been carried out, accompanied by field studies of mobile work within the mobile healthcare sector. The results have been described in terms of aspects of future work processes that are effective and sustainable. Moreover, important characteristics of mobile technology that support this kind of mobile work have been identified. The two perspectives are then merged, in order to design usable IT systems for mobile work.

In most vehicle domains within the transportation sector, traffic is increasing and vehicles are becoming more technologically advanced. In addition to this, drivers are faced with conflicting goals, such as punctuality, maintaining safety, minimizing fuel consumption, ensuring passenger comfort, etc. When accidents occur, the drivers' actions and mishaps are often in focus, even though the work environment, the organization behind the drivers, and the educational level may provide equally important explanations for incidents and actions. In this thesis, factors influencing operators' behaviour are acknowledged and attempts are made to understand how these factors affect vehicle operators in their daily work. Even though modern vehicles are equipped with new technology that supposedly aids drivers, studies of actual work typically reveal that these tools are not necessarily suited for their purpose. In a larger perspective, it is necessary not only to improve this technology, but to redesign how vehicle drivers perform their work. In practice, also traditional processes for development of technology affect how the operators work, although then simply a side effect of technology being introduced. Based on a deep understanding of the operators' work, the long-term goal here is to instead design new ways of working that allows the operators to use their skills to do meaningful driving tasks supported by technology. To acquire this understanding of how the operators work, a new method of information acquisition has been developed and tested within the rail and marine domains. These studies resulted with an understanding of what train and high-speed ferry operators are occupied with during their journeys, as well as insights into why they perform in certain manners and how they think and reason about these tasks.