Public participation in urban planning is meant to increase democracy in the planning process. Even though all citizens have the option to participate in urban planning debates, few seize their chance to partake. This thesis describes a study on how user needs are met and prioritized in design processes concerning urban planning. The aim was to determine whether user-centered design (UCD) methods could be used as an avenue for public participation in urban planning and ultimately invite more citizens into the planning process. The thesis details a design process where a team worked to develop Farsta, a suburb of Stockholm. The design problem was the question of how Farsta could become an attractive business location. Four concepts were developed and presented to the client. One of the concepts was chosen for further development. In the design process, three different UCD methods were used (interviews, observations and a workshop). The data from these methods were triangulated in the thesis to define user needs. These user needs were then mapped to the different concepts. Based on the mapping, the concept that met the largest number of the user needs could be established. The study showed that the concept that met the most user needs was not the concept that the design team chose to develop further after the presentation to the client. A possible explanation for this is the fact that the client preferred another concept. Thus, the client's wishes and the concept's feasibility were in this case prioritized higher than the users' needs. Despite this, UCD is found to have the potential to invite more citizens into the planning process since people who do not participate in the urban planning debates today could partake through UCD methods. But this demands deliberate efforts from the designer to find and include these user groups. / Allmänhetens deltagande i stadsplanering är tänkt att öka demokratin i planeringsprocessen. Men även om alla medborgare har möjlighet att delta i stadsplaneringsdebatter tar få chansen. Detta examensarbete beskriver en studie om hur användarnas behov tillgodoses och prioriteras i designprocesser som rör stadsplanering. Syftet var att undersöka om användarcentrerad designmetodik (UCD) kan användas som ett komplement till medborgardialog i stadsplanering för att på så sätt öka med- borgarnas möjlighet till påverkan. I examensarbetet studerades en designprocess där ett designteam arbetade med utveckling av Farsta, en förort till Stockholm. Uppdraget för designteamet var att undersöka hur Farsta kan bli en attraktiv lokaliseringsort för företag. Fyra koncept utvecklades och presenterades för uppdragsgivaren. Ett av koncepten valdes för vidare utveckling efter presentationen. I designprocessen användes tre olika UCD-metoder (intervjuer, observationer och en workshop). Data från dessa metoder triangulerades i examens- arbetet för att definiera användarnas behov. Användarbehoven mappades sedan till de olika koncepten och baserat på mappningen fastställdes vilket koncept som tillgodosåg flest användarbehov. Studien visade att det koncept som tillgodosåg flest användarbehov inte var det som designteamet valde att utveckla vidare efter presentationen till uppdragsgivaren. En förklaring till detta tros vara att uppdragsgivaren föredrog det koncept som slutligen valdes. Uppdragsgivarens önskemål och konceptets genomförbarhet prioriterades alltså i detta fall högre än användarnas behov. Trots detta dras slutsatsen att UCD har möjligheten att inkludera fler i planeringsprocessen. Personer som inte kan eller vill delta i traditionella medborgardialoger skulle kunna komma till tals genom användarcentrerade metoder. Men detta kräver ett aktivt arbete från designerns sida för att definiera och söka upp dessa personer.

The Swedish fire department have been wanting a robot that can be sent to situations where it’s too dangerous to send in firefighters. A teleoperated vehicle is being developed for exactly this purpose. This thesis has its base in research that previously has been conducted within Human-Robot Interaction and interface design for teleoperated vehicles. In this study, a prototype was developed to be able to simulate the experience of driving a teleoperated vehicle. It visualised the intended interface of the operator and simulated the operating experience. The development followed a User-Centered Design process and was evaluated by users. After the final evaluation a design proposal, based on previous research and user feedback, was presented. The study discusses the issues discovered when designing an interface for a teleoperated vehicle that uses two cameras for maneuvering. One challenge was how to fully utilize the two video feeds and create an interplay between them. The evaluations showed that users could keep better focus with one larger, designated main feed and the second one being placed where it can be easily glanced at. Simplicity and were to display sensor data were also shown to be important aspects to consider when trying to lower the mental load on the operator. Further modifications to the vehicle and the interface has to be made to increase the operators awareness and confidence when maneuvering the vehicle. / Det svenska brandförsvaret har varit i behov utav en robot som kan användas i situationer där det är för riskfyllt att skicka in brandmän. Ett radiostyrt fordon håller på att utvecklas för exakt detta syfte. Detta arbete baseras på den forskning som tidigare genomförts inom Människa-Datorinteraktion och gränssnitts-design för radiostyrda fordon. I denna studie utvecklades en prototyp för att simulera känslan av att köra ett radiostyrt fordon. Det visualiserade det tänka gränssnitten för operatören och simulerade körupplevelsen. Utvecklingen skedde genom en Användarcentrerad designprocess och utvärderades med hjälp utav användare. Efter den slutgiltiga utvärderingen så presenterades ett designförslag som baserades på tidigare forskning och användarnas återkoppling. Studien diskuterar de problem som uppstår när man designar ett gränssnitt för ett radiostyrt fordon som använder två kameror för manövrering. En utmaning var hur man kan till fullo utnyttja de två kamerabilderna och skapa ett samspel mellan dem. Utvärderingarna visade att användarna kunde hålla bättre fokus med en större, dedikerad kamerabild och en mindre sekundär kamerabild som enkelt kan blickas över. Enkelhet och var sensordata placeras, visade sig också var viktiga aspekter för att minska den mentala påfrestningen för operatören. Vidare modifikationer på fordonet och gränssnittet behöver genomföras för öka operatörens medvetenhet och självförtroende vid manövrering.

Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) is an emerging technology that, when done right, can offer the users a rich experience. However, as with most emerging technologies, it is primarily technology-driven, often leaving the user needs aside. In this study a sensor-based MAR prototype was developed and evaluated, following a User-Centered Design process. The prototype visualized a future building in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. However, sensors in today’s smartphones are not perfect, which is a problem when used as tracking method to augment 3D-content. Also, developing a MAR experience includes some challenges and issues that need to be addressed in order to develop a good experience for the user. One of those challenges is to test and validate ideas at an early stage of the development. Usually when following a User-Centered Design process, prototyping is a useful tool for testing and validating. Though, even the simplest MAR experience requires an advanced infrastructure, which is expensive and time-consuming to develop. In this study both the inherited problems of smartphone sensors and the challenges regarding MAR development were taken into account during the development. To counteract these problems, cleverly designed functions were implemented. To evaluate the final version of the prototype, a user test was conducted in an urban environment. The most important lessons learned during this study were that today’s smartphones do not provide robust and accurate sensor data in an urban environment. Resulting in incorrect placement and flickering of the augmented 3D-object. Also, the functions that were developed to counteract these problems helped in some degree, indicating the potential of overcoming hardware problems with cleverly designed functions. Last, using existing AR framework to produce an interactive and AR-enabled prototype, to a low cost and relatively fast, proved successful. / Mobil förstärkt verklighet (Mobile Augmented Reality, eller MAR) är en teknik på frammarsch som utvecklas i snabb takt. MAR har möjligheten att leverera en rik upplevelse till användaren. Dock är utvecklingen av MAR, likt de flesta tekniker under snabb utveckling, teknikdriven vilket ofta medför att användarens behov glöms bort. I denna studie står användaren i fokus när en sensorbaserad MAR-prototyp utvecklas och utvärderas. Allt detta sker med hjälp utav en användarcentrerad designprocess och prototypen används för att visualisera en kommande byggnad i Stockholm, Sverige. Vid utveckling av en sensorbaserad MAR-upplevelse står man inför ett flertal utmaningar och problem som alla behöver adresseras för att kunna leverera en bra upplevelse till användaren. Dels finns hårdvaruproblem så som att sensorer i dagens smartphones är långt ifrån perfekta, detta medför problematik i placeringen utav 3D-objekt som baseras på sensordata. En annan utmaning är att testa och validera idéer i ett tidigt skede av utvecklingen. Vanligtvis när man följer en användarcentrerad designprocess är tidiga prototyper ett användbart verktyg för testning och validering. Dock kräver även den enklaste MAR-upplevelsen en avancerad infrastruktur, som är både dyr och tidskrävande att utveckla. I denna studie tas dessa problem och utmaningar i beaktning redan i ett tidigt utvecklingsstadium. Väldesignade funktioner utvecklas för att motverka och minska inverkan utav dessa problem. För att utvärdera den slutgiltiga prototypen utfördes ett användartest i stadsmiljö. En viktig lärdom från denna studie är att dagens smartphones inte erbjuder tillräckligt robust och precis mätning av sensordata i stadsmiljö för att leverera en bra användarupplevelse. Detta resulterade i felaktig och hoppande/skakig placering av 3D-objekt. De funktioner som utvecklades för att motverka problemen med MAR hjälpte i viss utsträckning, dessa påvisade en potential att överkomma hårdvarubrister med smarta och väldesignade funktioner. Att använda AR-ramverk för att producera interaktiva MAR-prototyper, till en låg kostnad och med relativt kort utvecklingstid, visade sig lyckat.

Det har länge dividerats om hur den teknologiska utvecklingen påverkar oss. Marshall McLuhan och Alvin Toffler ifrågasatte vårt beteende och berättade om hur teknikens utveckling kommer att påverka oss redan på 1960-talet. Det har också myntats uttryck som information overload och infobesity som uttrycker den stress människor upplever när de inte längre kan bearbeta den information de konstant tar del av. Sociala medier är en stor bidragande faktor till det rådande tillståndet av information overload. Det råder inte heller några tvivel om att vår användning av sociala medier mer eller mindre påverkar våra medvetna beslut och vår kommunikation.Information overload är inget nytt begrepp, och i dagens informationssamhälle är det inte bara massmedia som står för den informationsspridning som sköljer över befolkningen utan de är själva delaktiga i att skapa den enorma mängd information och kommunikation de tar del av varje dag. Medierad kommunikation är under ständig utveckling och tar en stor plats i vårt vardagsliv. Det är inte enbart den klassiska masskommunikationen som fångar användarnas uppmärksamhet utan det är möjligheten att själva vara med och bidra till kommunikation och information som är intressant för användaren.Det är av vår uppfattning att de moderna kommunikationsverktygen påverkar vårt varande, både i den digitala och den verkliga världen, och det är denna påverkan som är i fokus för denna studie. / Today’s interactive media invites users to take part in a massive exchange of information and the idea and desire to filter information has always been in question. This thesis will discuss the problems with information overload and the effects it has on users of social media. With critical design as a point of view we aim to point out some of these effects in an attempt to create a debate within the interaction design community. The first chapter will discuss the theories underlying mediated communication, information overload, user centered design and critical design. The following chapters will discuss methodology and implementation of these methods. Bodystorming and user studies will function as our main methods to map out the behavioural changes that come from information overload. The result of our user studies indicates that the communication often becomes impersonal and that the activity itself becomes more important than the content of the message. Our final results will not present a solution to the problem area but will give an example on how to focus design work to avoid creating unpleasant user experiences of social and interactive media.

Galerias, Bibliotecas, Arquivos e Museus (GLAMs) têm enfrentado o desafio de envolver os usuários na seleção, catalogação, contextualização e curadoria de coleções por meio de crowdsourcing. Esse novo modo de interação se estende além do acesso passivo e pode levar a um nível mais profundo de engajamento com coleções. Como a participação do usuário é a chave para o sucesso nesse contexto, GLAMs precisam criar e manter sistemas de colaboração aberta. Contudo, tais sistemas precisam fomentar um senso de comunidade em torno dos artefatos e as comunidades dependem, dentre outros fatores, do engajamento de colaboradores. O termo engajamento indica a profundidade de investimento de um ator quando interagindo com um sistema digital. Para promover o engajamento dos usuários com comunidades online, tem-se discutido o uso da gamificação. Gamificação é o uso de elementos de projeto de jogos em contextos que não são jogos e tem como meta estimular a participação e engajar pessoas. Nos estudos teóricos sobre gamificação, a motivação intrínseca e a autodeterminação do usuário são as principais bases para a construção de aplicações. No entanto, a maior parte da literatura que descreve a implementação de gamificação utiliza elementos de recompensa, como pontos, distintivos e quadros de liderança, associados à pontificação, um subconjunto da gamificação; e não apresenta o monitoramento e a análise de cada elemento de jogo inserido durante o desenvolvimento, de modo a avaliar o impacto no comportamento dos usuários. Há também a necessidade de explorar como a gamificação pode ser implementada em domínios específicos. Esta pesquisa propõe uma abordagem para integrar gamificação e avaliação de engajamento durante o desenvolvimento de comunidades online de colaboração aberta. Nesse contexto, uma pesquisa-ação foi realizada no domínio de uma GLAM sobre arquitetura e urbanismo, chamada Arquigrafia, para investigar as práticas atuais de gamificação e uma proposta de abordagem. As métricas de engajamento foram analisadas estatisticamente por meio de pesquisas quantitativas experimentais e não-experimentais sobre dados coletados em três anos de monitoramento (2015-2018). Os resultados indicam que o uso de elementos de jogos em uma comunidade online de colaboração aberta, no domínio de GLAMs, tem um efeito positivo sobre o engajamento de usuários sob certas condições, as quais são consideradas na proposta de abordagem desta tese. / Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAMs) have faced challenges for involving users in the selection, cataloging, contextualization and curation of collections through crowdsourcing. This new mode of interaction extends beyond passive access and can lead to a deeper level of engagement with collections. Because user engagement is the key to success in this context, GLAMs need to create and maintain open collaboration systems. However, such systems need to foster a sense of community around artifacts, and communities depend, among other factors, on colaborators engagement. The term engagement indicates the depth of an actor\'s investment when interacting with a digital system. To promote the engagement of users with online communities, the use of gamification has been discussed. Gamification is the use of game design elements in contexts that are not games and aims to stimulate participation and engage people. In the theoretical studies on gamification, intrinsic motivation and self-determination of the user are the main bases for the construction of applications. However, most of the literature describing the implementation of gamification uses reward elements, such as points, badges, and leaderboards, associated with pontification, a subset of gamification; and does not present the monitoring and analysis of each game element inserted during the development, in order to evaluate the impact on the behavior of the users. There is also a need to explore how gamification can be implemented in specific domains. This research proposes an approach to integrate gamification and evaluation of engagement during the development of open collaboration online communities. In this context, an action research was carried out in the domain of a GLAM on architecture and urbanism, the Arquigrafia project, to investigate current practices of gamification and an approach proposal. Engagement metrics were statistically analyzed using experimental and non-experimental quantitative research of data collected over three years of monitoring (2015-2018). The results indicate that the use of game elements in an open collaboration online community in the GLAM domain has a positive effect on user engagement under certain conditions, which are considered in the approach proposal of this thesis.

Galerias, Bibliotecas, Arquivos e Museus (GLAMs) têm enfrentado o desafio de envolver os usuários na seleção, catalogação, contextualização e curadoria de coleções por meio de crowdsourcing. Esse novo modo de interação se estende além do acesso passivo e pode levar a um nível mais profundo de engajamento com coleções. Como a participação do usuário é a chave para o sucesso nesse contexto, GLAMs precisam criar e manter sistemas de colaboração aberta. Contudo, tais sistemas precisam fomentar um senso de comunidade em torno dos artefatos e as comunidades dependem, dentre outros fatores, do engajamento de colaboradores. O termo engajamento indica a profundidade de investimento de um ator quando interagindo com um sistema digital. Para promover o engajamento dos usuários com comunidades online, tem-se discutido o uso da gamificação. Gamificação é o uso de elementos de projeto de jogos em contextos que não são jogos e tem como meta estimular a participação e engajar pessoas. Nos estudos teóricos sobre gamificação, a motivação intrínseca e a autodeterminação do usuário são as principais bases para a construção de aplicações. No entanto, a maior parte da literatura que descreve a implementação de gamificação utiliza elementos de recompensa, como pontos, distintivos e quadros de liderança, associados à pontificação, um subconjunto da gamificação; e não apresenta o monitoramento e a análise de cada elemento de jogo inserido durante o desenvolvimento, de modo a avaliar o impacto no comportamento dos usuários. Há também a necessidade de explorar como a gamificação pode ser implementada em domínios específicos. Esta pesquisa propõe uma abordagem para integrar gamificação e avaliação de engajamento durante o desenvolvimento de comunidades online de colaboração aberta. Nesse contexto, uma pesquisa-ação foi realizada no domínio de uma GLAM sobre arquitetura e urbanismo, chamada Arquigrafia, para investigar as práticas atuais de gamificação e uma proposta de abordagem. As métricas de engajamento foram analisadas estatisticamente por meio de pesquisas quantitativas experimentais e não-experimentais sobre dados coletados em três anos de monitoramento (2015-2018). Os resultados indicam que o uso de elementos de jogos em uma comunidade online de colaboração aberta, no domínio de GLAMs, tem um efeito positivo sobre o engajamento de usuários sob certas condições, as quais são consideradas na proposta de abordagem desta tese. / Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAMs) have faced challenges for involving users in the selection, cataloging, contextualization and curation of collections through crowdsourcing. This new mode of interaction extends beyond passive access and can lead to a deeper level of engagement with collections. Because user engagement is the key to success in this context, GLAMs need to create and maintain open collaboration systems. However, such systems need to foster a sense of community around artifacts, and communities depend, among other factors, on colaborators engagement. The term engagement indicates the depth of an actor\'s investment when interacting with a digital system. To promote the engagement of users with online communities, the use of gamification has been discussed. Gamification is the use of game design elements in contexts that are not games and aims to stimulate participation and engage people. In the theoretical studies on gamification, intrinsic motivation and self-determination of the user are the main bases for the construction of applications. However, most of the literature describing the implementation of gamification uses reward elements, such as points, badges, and leaderboards, associated with pontification, a subset of gamification; and does not present the monitoring and analysis of each game element inserted during the development, in order to evaluate the impact on the behavior of the users. There is also a need to explore how gamification can be implemented in specific domains. This research proposes an approach to integrate gamification and evaluation of engagement during the development of open collaboration online communities. In this context, an action research was carried out in the domain of a GLAM on architecture and urbanism, the Arquigrafia project, to investigate current practices of gamification and an approach proposal. Engagement metrics were statistically analyzed using experimental and non-experimental quantitative research of data collected over three years of monitoring (2015-2018). The results indicate that the use of game elements in an open collaboration online community in the GLAM domain has a positive effect on user engagement under certain conditions, which are considered in the approach proposal of this thesis.

This study aimed to utilize usability engineering methods in order to identify facilitators and barriers to electronic referral system adoption by radiation oncologists at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and provide recommendations for electronic referral system design. Analyses included workflow analysis of radiation oncologists reviewing referrals, belief elicitation interviews with radiation oncologists, a heuristic evaluation of an existing electronic referral system interface, and cognitive walkthrough of that interface with radiation oncologists. Based on these findings, the system interface was redesigned using mock-up software to address identified usability issues. The existing and redesigned interfaces were compared using observational usability testing with radiation oncologists. The redesigned system interface yielded reduced task times and enhanced user satisfaction as compared to the existing interface. Thus, user-centred design was useful in determining facilitators and barriers to e-referral adoption.

This study aimed to utilize usability engineering methods in order to identify facilitators and barriers to electronic referral system adoption by radiation oncologists at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and provide recommendations for electronic referral system design. Analyses included workflow analysis of radiation oncologists reviewing referrals, belief elicitation interviews with radiation oncologists, a heuristic evaluation of an existing electronic referral system interface, and cognitive walkthrough of that interface with radiation oncologists. Based on these findings, the system interface was redesigned using mock-up software to address identified usability issues. The existing and redesigned interfaces were compared using observational usability testing with radiation oncologists. The redesigned system interface yielded reduced task times and enhanced user satisfaction as compared to the existing interface. Thus, user-centred design was useful in determining facilitators and barriers to e-referral adoption.

The use of agile methods continues to increase within software development but the agile processes do not contain the necessary steps to account for the user and realize the usability of the system. It seems it is therefore necessary to integrate the UCD methodology and agile methodology. What this integration should look like is not always apparent as the integration needs to be adapted to the specific context in each organization. Accompanied by a pre-study which identified difficulties with the integration, the current study examines how UCD specialists experience the communication through boundary objects in distributed agile teams. Furthermore the study examines how the understanding of the user is communicated to the developers in the agile teams and the potential of doing so with a design rationale. A case study was therefore performed with interviews of six UCD specialists to try to answers these questions. A content analysis was performed in relation to each research question and identified a number of themes relating to the experiences concerning; (1) communication through boundary objects, (2) how an understanding of the user is communicated, and (3) opinions of using design rationale for this purpose. Some of the conclusions drawn are that boundary objects only aim at communicating the interaction with the system, that they should be viewed as communication aids as they are not stand-alone and making them comprehensive would be even more time consuming. Furthermore, personas are not deemed fitting for communicating the understanding of the user to developers. This should instead be done by allowing developers to participate in user research.

When developing a new system, it is a good idea to involve the end users from the start to prevent usability issues. This thesis has evaluated how one can develop a data visualisation system for the sawmill industry with a focus on user experience.  Semi-structured interviews with a snowball sample approach were used to acquire the demands of the end users. From these demands, paper prototypes were developed and then evaluated. Data on these prototypes were collected iteratively with the help of usability tests. This was done to understand how pleased users were when using the product but also to evaluate how efficiently they used it. Metrics have been used to measure the user experience of the product with both the paper prototypes and a hi-fi prototype, also described as the alpha prototype.  The conclusion answers the two research questions asked in this thesis. It concludes that the interview technique used in this thesis gave a good understanding of what information the users were interested in. Regarding measuring user experience, usability issues have been detected and reduced for each iteration, which indirectly results in a higher efficiency since the number of confusions are reduced. Something that can be seen from the system usability scale tests is that the high scores (about 89) they generated indicate that the users are pleased. With the different metrics used in this thesis, the conclusions are that the fewer the obstacles are for the user, the less annoyed they are when using the product and in turn perform their goals faster.