Recommended content is a big part of many people's everyday lives and shapes users' experience (UX) and media consumption on a daily basis. With a varied amount of knowledge about how algorithms affect people's media consumption, the decision-making process is influenced to varying extents. The focus of this study is therefore to examine the diversity of variations that exist around the perception of YouTube's algorithms and its influence on the users’ experience. We conducted a quantitative study in the form of a questionnaire, as well as semi-structured interviews to answer the questions of how the users assumptions regarding the recommendation algorithm on YouTube affects the user experience. The study suggests that the ignorance that arises as a result of the lack of transparency shown between algorithm and user, contributes to the user experience being influenced by the assumptions. To a large extent, we can see that these approaches depend on the mental models that users have built, which are often based on the assumptions made in the light of users' own experience.

This thesis presents a user-centred approach to data visualisation through a design project in collaboration with Inter IKEA Älmhult. Interaction Design is often included at the end of visualisation processes, but how could Interaction Design be included to affect the entire design process? The design presented here shows how approaching complex datasets from user perspectives allows Interaction Designers to contextualise data and design interactions that empower users. This was done by designing a proof-of- concept visualisation that displayed an overview of Inter IKEA’s digital solution landscape. As a result of the design process, a discussion of governance, employee ethics, data management, and accountability was brought up. The implication of a user-centred visualisation design for companies is better awareness of democratic data access and more efficient internal processes. The implication for Interaction Design is a future design space that encompasses Data Visualisation, Interactive Visualisations, and Software Development Governance.

Människan står inför en eventuell livsmedelskris där matproduktionen behöver öka 70 % till 2050 för att kunna tillgodose den ökande befolkningens behov. Smart odling presenteras som ett svar på det problemet, där kontrollsystem och odlingssensorer i agrikultur kan öka chansen för lyckade skördar. Medan dessa system ofta tenderar att vara kostsamma så finns det lösningar för människor som vill engagera sig i smarta odlingar - där en lösning är handhållna odlingssensorer. I detta arbete utforskas användares aktiviteter och behov kring odling. Syftet berör hur ett interaktivt gränssnitt utvecklat efter dessa behov kan bidra till att göra smart odling mer tillgänglig och effektiv. Användarna är amatörodlare som har ett intresse av få avkastning från sina odlingsprojekt. Arbetet har bedrivits med ett perspektiv av aktivitetscentrerad design, vilket innebär en särskild fokus på användarnas aktiviteter snarare än deras personliga preferenser. De frågor som utforskas i arbetet är vilka användarscenarier appen ska användas i, vilka funktioner appen bör ha och hur de bör struktureras, samt hur information i appen ska förmedlas. Rapportens innehåll besvarar dessa frågor, och demonstrerar även samtliga steg i designprocessen från projektets start till slutligt gestaltningsförslag. Frågeställningarna resulterade i svar som att appen bör främst fungera för två användarscenarier: när användaren befinner sig vid sin odling och sköter om sina växter, samt när användaren är hemma och ska planera sina odlingar. De främsta funktioner användarna behöver i appen är vägledning om växtvärden indikerar att en växt mår dåligt, skötselråd och tips samt påminnelser om åtgärder. Användartester visade även att information i appen bör förmedlas med notiser samt samlas i en lista med sysslor, så att användaren kan välja att utföra sysslor vid en tidpunkt som passar dem. Resultatet som presenteras är en prototyp på en app, kallad Harvestmate. Användartester visar att användarna ansåg att appen skulle berika deras odlingsprojekt, samt förse dem med en insikt i vad som går fel och hur det kan åtgärdas. Detta kan öka användarnas chanser att lyckas med sina odlingar och leda till en större avkastning. Vid en eventuell lansering i länder präglade av fattigdom och otrygg livsmedelsförsörjning, så är förhoppningen att appen kan bidra till kunskapsbildande hos bönder. Detta kan bidra till en tryggad livsmedelsförsörjning, genom att öka möjligheterna för lyckade odlingar. / People are facing a possible food crisis, where food production needs to increase by 70% by 2050 to meet the needs of the increasing population. Smart farming presents itself as an answer to the problem, where control systems and farming sensors in agriculture can increase the chances of successful harvests. While these systems often tend to be costly, there are solutions for people who want to get involved in smart farming - one solution being handheld farming sensors. In this thesis, user activities and needs around smart farming are explored. The purpose concerns how an interactive interface developed according to these needs can contribute to making smart farming more accessible and efficient. The users are amateur growers with an interest in getting returns from their farming projects. The work has been conducted with a perspective of activity-centered design, which means a particular focus on the users' activities rather than their personal preferences. The questions explored are which user scenarios the app would be used in, which functions the app should have and how they should be structured, as well as how information in the app should be conveyed. The content of the report answers these questions and demonstrates all steps in the design process from the start of the project to the final design proposal. The questions resulted in the answers such as that the app should mainly work for two user scenarios: when the user is at their cultivation plot and taking care of their plants, and when the user is at home and wants to plan their farming projects. The main functions needed in the app are guidance when data ​​indicate that a plant is not doing well, care advice and tips, and reminders about actions. User testing also indicated that information in the app should be conveyed with notifications as well as collected in a list of tasks, so that users can choose to perform tasks at a time that suits them. The result presented is a prototype of an app, called Harvestmate. User testing shows that the users believe the app would enrich their farming projects, as well as provide them with an insight into what goes wrong and how it can be rectified. This can increase users' chances of success with their cultivations and lead to a greater yield. In the event of a possible launch in countries affected by poverty and food insecurity, the objective is that the app can contribute to increase proficiency among farmers. This can contribute to food security by increasing the chances of successful cultivations. / Aqua2Farm

This thesis explores the differences in UI performance between Jetpack Compose, a modern declarative UI toolkit, and traditional XML in the context of UI design for native Android applications. The aim is to provide developers with insights into the potential tradeoffs associated with each approach, particularly in terms of the end user experience. In order to achieve this, a series of benchmark tests were conducted on two prototype applications: one developed with XML and the other with Jetpack Compose, in order to evaluate the UI performance in various scenarios of real-world use cases. The data collected was subsequently analyzed and discussed, in order to evaluate which UI design approach delivers better performance for the end user. The test results indicate that Jetpack Compose and XML excel at different use cases. Jetpack Compose is demonstrated to have faster app startup time and rendering time for navigation and animation, whereas XML delivers smoother and faster rendering time when scrolling through a layout. Notably, Jetpack Compose has also shown an improvement in UI performance since previous works were conducted. / Den här studien utforskar skillnaden i användargränssnitt-prestanda mellan Jetpack Compose, ett modernt deklarativt användargränssnitt verktyg, och traditionell XML i kontexten av användargränssnitt design för nativa Android applikationer. Syftet är att förse utvecklare med insikter om de potentiella avvägningar som är förknippade med varje tillvägagångssätt, särskilt när det gäller slutanvändarupplevelsen. För att uppnå detta genomfördes en serie prestandatester på två prototyp applikationer: en utvecklad med XML och den andra med Jetpack Compose, för att utvärdera användargränssnitt-prestandan inom olika scenarier av verkliga användningsfall. Den insamlade datan analyserades och diskuterades sedan för att utvärdera vilken användargränssnitt-design metod som levererar bättre prestanda för slutanvändaren. Testresultaten indikerar att Jetpack Compose samt XML presterar bättre vid olika användningsfall. Jetpack Compose har visat sig ha snabbare applikations starttid och renderingstid för navigering och animering, medan XML ger smidigare och snabbare renderingstid vid skrollning genom en layout. Framför allt har Jetpack Compose dessutom visat en förbättring i användargränssnitt-prestanda sedan tidigare arbeten utfördes.

The task for this work was assigned by Erik Nyberg, a researcher at LTU (Luleå University of Technology). The task is to solve the problem for doctoral students in finding interdisciplinary research projects due to their limited network. Erik Nyberg has personal experience with this issue from his own time as a doctor- al student. The purpose of the work can be summarized as solving this task, and the goal is to meet the needs of potential clients by creating an interface. The work has been conducted using an established design process and has utilized relevant methods such as personas, brainstorming, and various detailed prototypes to create a solution that addresses the prob- lem. Relevant literature has also been examined to gain insight into the requirements for creating a user interface and the aspects that need to be considered during the design phase. Areas explored during the literature review include usability, user experience, emotional design, and accessibility. The result of the work is a user interface in the form of a job bank for doctoral students, researchers, and other potential users. The job bank facilitates easy networking between users and promotes continued interdisciplinary research. The final result has been based on a previous prototype that has been evaluated through user testing. In the user testing, the prototype has been evaluated based on the theory that was investigated. / Uppgiften för detta arbete tilldelades av Erik Nyberg, en forskare vid LTU (Luleå tekniska universitet). Up- pgiften är att lösa problemet för doktorander att hitta tvärvetenskapliga forskningsprojekt på grund av deras begränsade nätverk. Erik Nyberg har personlig erfarenhet av denna problematik från sin egen tid som doktorand. Syftet med arbetet kan sammanfattas som att lösa denna uppgift, och målet är att tillfredsställa behovet hos potentiella uppdragsgivare genom att skapa ett gränssnitt. Arbetet har genomförts med hjälp av en etablerad designprocess och har använt sig av relevanta metoder som tex personas, brainstorming och olika detaljerade prototyper för att skapa en lösning som adresser- ar problemet. Relevant litteratur har också undersökts för att få insikt i vad som krävs för att skapa ett användargränssnitt och vilka aspekter som behöver beaktas under utformningen. Områden som har un- dersökts under litteraturundersökningen är användbarhet, användarupplevelse, emotionell design och tillgänglighet. Resultatet av arbetet är ett användargränssnitt i form av en platsbank för doktorander, forskare och andra potentiella användare. Platsbanken underlättar enkelt kontaktskapande mellan användare och främjar fortsatt tvärvetenskaplig forskning. Det slutgiltiga resultatet har baserats på en tidigare prototyp som har utvärderats med hjälp av ett användartest. I användartestet har prototypen utvärderats utifrån den teori som undersökts.

This paper aims to improve the UX of the AR game cARcassonne for the Hololens 2 by making changes to its UI. Previous research and existing games are analyzed to determine the changes to the UI. A questionnaire is developed using said research as well as research of other UX measuring methods such as the GEQ and UPEQ. The results show an increase in UX, but also that the AR game has problems for new users. It is discussed that UI is actually not the main problem in the UX, but rather the technology of the Hololens 2.

Despite software being commonplace in the recording industry today, preconceptions exist regarding the digital equivalents of yesteryears hardware. Whilst studies within the field of cognitive psychology shows that prejudice can influence sense-experience, or how different senses can have influence one another, most studies regarding interface design seem to focus on usability. Since quality of sound arguably is a considerable factor in regards to the success of this type of software, this study intends to investigate whether graphical user interfaces can affect how sound is perceived. An experiment was conducted where participants with the help of a survey had to evaluate the same sounds in relation to two graphical user interfaces designed according to two common designs, in order to see whether any differences could be found. Based on the results, neither the research question could be answered, nor could the null hypothesis be rejected, mostly because of a lack of participants. Despite the many problems, potential and real, as well as the amount of research fields that the study transcends, the study could do well as groundwork for a larger study.

Water scarcity is a growing problem on Earth. One of the goals in Agenda 2030, whichall of the UN members adapted is to make clean water accessible by everyone and ensuresustainable water withdrawals. In order to take a step towards the solution, a companynamed Quandify has developed smart water meters to measure households’ water consumptionwhich can be installed by anyone.In this bachelor’s thesis, the author collaborates with Quandify to develop a proofof concept (POC) to investigate if it was possible to create a mobile phone applicationthat could help residents reduce their water consumption. The author uses state of artsuggestions in persuasive technology literature and usability heuristics for user interactiondesign and implements it into the application to increase the chance of user behaviourchange towards water consumption.The result is a mobile phone application where the users get inspiration and tips onhow to reduce their water consumption and lets the users see their water consumptionin real-time. The report also includes a small POC user study to rate the mobile phoneapplication with respect to usability heuristics.

The past decade has endorsed an extensive adjustment in social media marketing characterized by a fluctuation toward influencer marketing. Despite the many beneficial outcomes of influencer marketing, the operation of the phenomenon has received criticism from organizations, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as the Swedish equivalent Konsumentverket, regarding how sponsorships are being disclosed on social media platforms. The purpose of this study is to examine how consumers’ advertising recognition is affected by the way influencers design their sponsorship disclosures in Instagram stories using the tools provided by Instagram’s own UI. The study used a mixed-methods approach, with a survey used to gather empirical data which was then analyzed using descriptive and thematic analysis. In the survey, participants were presented with five different fictive Instagram stories featuring sponsorship disclosures created by influencers using Instagram's own UI, with each scenario examining how different disclosure approaches affect consumer advertising recognition. The findings revealed that varied sponsorship disclosure practices generated different levels of advertising recognition depending on three factors: position, language, and visual prominence, with visual prominence being the most influential factor on advertising recognition. The study also looked into the efficacy of Instagram’s built-in disclosure tool and whether it was successful in generating advertising recognition. Although opinions were mixed, several participants believed that the tool did not produce enough advertising recognition and that it should be improved. Further, there is a need to achieve a better level of standardization regarding sponsorship disclosures on social media platforms.

Immunology Virtual Reality (VR) project is an immersive educational virtual reality experience that intends to provide an informal learning experience of specific immunology concepts to college freshmen in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech (VT). The project is an interdisciplinary endeavor between my collaboration between people from different domain areas at VT: Creative Technologies, Education, Biological Sciences, and Computer Sciences. This thesis elaborates on the whole design process of how I created a working prototype of the project demo and shares insights from my design experience. / Master of Fine Arts / Immunology Virtual Reality is an immersive educational virtual reality experience in which a user takes on the role of an immune cell and migrates to fight off pathogen invasions at an infection site in the human body. It explores levels of interactivity and storytelling in educational VR and their impact on learning.