Information visualization tools provide visual representations of data (commonly known as visualizations), textual representations of data and interactive operations on both these representations. It is possible, in theory, to make use of only the textual representations in order to detect trends and patterns in data. However, it would be extremely laborious and ineffective and it defeats the purpose of a visualization tool. Novices have had the problem of relying on text and failing to successfully detect trends in data because it was too laborious. We want users to effectively use visual representations to detect trends in data. Information visualization tools have been shown to be successful with experts. But can novice users using a visualization tool for the first-time, adopt visualization-based strategies to finding trends and patterns in data? This thesis derives a framework of learnable elements in an interactive coordinated-view visualization tool. This framework provides an outline of prerequisites to be learned in order to effectively use visualizations. That is, the new aspects of visualization tools must be mastered so that novices can use the tool effectively. Three interface design principles are derived to make these elements learnable to novice users: • The data-first approach - Provide a prominent overview of all available data, as opposed to showing only visualizations. This helps understand the data structure - this may be essential knowledge in being able to navigate to required data attributes. • The "less visualization, more explanation" approach - Show more explanations of visualizations at the expense of being able to pack in more visualizations. Explanations help identify how data is mapped onto visual marks, a crucial step in understanding visualizations. • The "predetermined task-based coordinations" approach - Provide separate predetermined sets of coordinated visualizations that help achieve different tasks. This is different from techniques that simply present all visualization types and expect users to choose coordinations according to tasks. Two versions of Datamaps visualization tool for Census data were tested. Both were equivalent in functionality and the kinds of visualizations offered. But the new version was specifically designed based on the three design principles. A usability study showed that the version that was implemented according to the three design principles successfully led novices to effectively use visualization-based strategies to detect trends and patterns in data. / Master of Science

This thesis evaluates the usability and user experience (UX) of the Nordnet mobile application, with a focus on the challenges or barriers faced by novice users. Nordnet is one of the leading digital platforms and banks for savings, investments, loans, and pensions, in the Nordic. As financial technologies continue to advance, good usability and user experience of mobile financial applications become important, especially for users with no or limited experience using financial applications such as Nordnet. Through a combination of usability testing with interviews and the use of the System Usability Scale (SUS), this study aims to uncover the primary barriers novice users encounter, and from those recommend design improvements to enhance the usability and overall user experience.The methodology used consists of a task-based evaluation with a total of five first-time users performing a predefined set of tasks to assess different usability aspects such as learnability, efficiency, cognitive load, and the overall user experience. The findings indicate significant challenges in navigation, feature discoverability, and complex interface, affecting the overall usability and user experience negatively. The overall usability rating calculated through the SUS questionnaire was rated as below average, with only one test participant rating it as above average. Despite these challenges, certain features were appreciated for their functionality and ease of use. Suggested improvements include simplifying the interface to reduce cognitive load and enhancing the clarity of icons with the help of text labels.This research contributes to the field by highlighting the critical areas where mobile financial applications such as Nordnet can improve to better serve its novice users.

Electricity procurement is a complex task for most companies. Knowing how much electricity to buy and when, in an attempt to get a low price can be stressful. There are tools to simplify this task, and one of these is a web based tool, here referred to as SystemX. SystemX simplifies electricity procurement through a set of different functions. One function in SystemX is the electricity order creation workflow, in which users can create orders for electricity to be delivered at a chosen time in the future. The workflow was thought to be complex and heavily geared towards expert users, and even expert users needed help and consultation at times. This master thesis focuses on creating a new design for the order creation workflow in SystemX and to make it more usable for novice and expert users. The methodology in the thesis is based on the double diamond model, which is a model based on user-centered design. This model ensured that the user was kept in focus throughout the process, from the initial interviews to the final testing of Hi-Fi prototype. The model consists of four stages; discover, define, develop, and deliver. The process began with the discover stage, in which information about the current system was collected. This was done through interviewing two current users of SystemX, finding out their needs, and what they think could be improved in the order creation workflow. The current workflow was also evaluated through a heuristics evaluation and a usability test with both novice and expert users. The main problems and areas of improvement were compiled during the define stage, by analyzing the gathered information from the previous stage. A Lo-Fi prototype was created and iterated on during the develop stage. The final Lo-Fi prototype was tested during usability tests with both novice and expert users. Based on feedback from the Lo-Fi prototype usability tests, a final Hi-Fi prototype was created during the deliver stage. The Hi-Fi prototype was also tested using usability tests with novice and expert users. In order to compare the usability between the current version of SystemX and the Hi-Fi prototype, a system usability score was collected from the test users. The result indicates a great improvement in usability for the novice users, and a slight increase in usability for the expert users. A clear next step is to implement the design in SystemX, and evaluate which problems come up when developing a real web application using the proposed design as a foundation. / Elupphandling är en komplex uppgift för de flesta företag, då det kan vara stressigt att veta hur mycket el som ska köpas och när, i ett försök att få ett lågt pris. Det finns verktyg som kan förenkla denna process, och ett av dessa verktyg är det webbaserade verktyget som här benämns SystemX. SystemX förenklar elupphandlingen genom att erbjuda olika funktioner, varav ett är arbetsflödet för att skapa ordrar på el. Användare kan skapa beställningar på el som ska levereras vid en vald tidpunkt i framtiden. Tidigare ansågs detta arbetsflöde vara komplext och inriktat mot expertanvändare, och även expertanvändarna behövde ibland hjälp och konsultation. Detta examensarbete fokuserar på att skapa en ny design för arbetsflödet för orderskapande i SystemX, för att göra det mer användbart för både nybörjar- och expertanvändare. Metoden i examensarbetet baseras på dubbeldiamantmodellen, som är en modell för användarcentrerad design. Denna modell säkerställde att användaren hölls i fokus under hela processen, från de inledande intervjuerna till den slutliga testningen av Hi-Fi-prototypen. Modellen består av fyra steg; upptäck, definiera, utveckla och leverera. Processen började med upptäck-steget, där information om det nuvarande systemet samlades in genom att intervjua två nuvarande användare av SystemX för att ta reda på deras behov och vad de tror kan förbättras i arbetsflödet för orderskapande. Det nuvarande arbetsflödet utvärderades också genom en heuristisk utvärdering och användbarhetstester med både nybörjar- och expertanvändare. De största problemen och förbättringsområdena sammanställdes under definiera-steget genom att analysera den insamlade informationen från föregående steg. En Lo-Fi-prototyp skapades och förfinades under utveckla-steget. Den slutliga Lo-Fi-prototypen testades under användbarhetstester med både nybörjar- och expertanvändare. Baserat på feedback från Lo-Fi-prototypens användbarhetstester skapades en slutlig Hi-Fi-prototyp under leverera-steget. Hi-Fi-prototypen testades också med användbarhetstester med både nybörjar- och expertanvändare. För att jämföra användbarheten mellan den nuvarande versionen av SystemX och Hi-Fi-prototypen samlades systemanvändbarhetspoäng in från testanvändarna. Resultatet tyder på en stor förbättring av användbarheten för nybörjare och en liten ökning av användbarheten för expertanvändarna.  Ett tydligt nästa steg är att implementera designen i SystemX och utvärdera vilka problem som dyker upp när man utvecklar en riktig webbapplikation med den föreslagna designen som grund.