This thesis project examines social interactions in PvPvE Online Multiplayer Survival Shooters and proposes mechanics that promote connection among players, hooking rascal players who invent new ways to play the game, into the game spirit rather than engaging in toxic play. To do that, I followed a Research-through-design methodology, engaged with games, game designers, and gamers, and designed storyboards presenting examples of mechanics that promote players' connection. The results are Annotated Portfolios that frame the knowledge contribution as guides for designing mechanics for connection. The first annotation is “Helping or Asking for help” as a way to establish the purpose of communication, the second is “Temporarily teaming up” as a way to introduce a transitional state of sharing information such as knowledge and location, and the third one is “Risk and Reward” as the main aesthetic and motivation of target players.

Den här rapporten beskriver resultaten och metodologierna för Bitech front-end-projektet, ett omfattande mjukvaruutvecklingsinitiativ som syftar till att digitalisera och effektivisera verksamheten på byggarbetsplatser. Projektet använder avancerade webbteknologier för att skapa användarvänliga, dynamiska och responsiva gränssnitt som är lämpliga för både platsbaserade och administrativa behov inom byggbranschen. Viktiga aspekter av projektet inkluderar integration av hantering av realtidsdata, mobilkompatibilitet för att säkerställa åtkomst på olika enheter, och robusta säkerhetsåtgärder för att skydda känslig projektdata. Under hela utvecklingsprocessen antog teamet agila metoder, med betoning på iterativ utveckling, kontinuerlig testning och regelbunden kundfeedback, vilket underlättade en flexibel och responsiv utvecklingsmiljö. Denna rapport ger en detaljerad analys av projektets utfall, lärdomar och rekommendationer för framtida initiativ som syftar till att öka den teknologiska adoptionen inom byggindustrin.

The user experience in the e-commerce industry plays a pivotal role in retaining its customers.The competition between e-commerce business stores such as H&M or Kappahl is so fierce that improving the most basic functionalities, such as the current poor browsing experience ofe-commerce websites, can attract or retain even more internet users. Addressing this pressing issue in UX, an innovative solution addressing poor browsing experiences at e-commerce websites could be achieved through the personalization of the primary navigation menu. In an attempt to lay the foundations for further research in this niche, this paper addresses a design of a personalized navigation menu that renders recommended items based on the individual’s user patterns. The aim is to study the usability of such a digital artifact through the three usability metrics (Efficiency, Effectiveness and Satisfaction) in an attempt to understand if a personalized navigation menu is a viable solution for both practical implications and scientific research.

En turistbroschyr är en bekant produkt som turister kan hämta information ifrån. Men hur upplever användarna interaktionen med ett obekant navigationskoncept som vi kallar DSI i kontexten av att söka turistinformation och vad har DSI för påverkan på användarupplevelsen? Vi har utfört en studie på tio respondenter. Studien inkluderar en observation där respondenterna har fått interagera, med applikationen vi skapade med navigationskonceptet DSI, och utföra ett antal uppgifter. De har även fått utföra ett antal uppgifter på en PDF med samma innehåll men med en annan struktur. Därefter utförde vi metoden Product Reaction Cards och till sist en intervju. Vi kom fram till att det tar tid att lära sig någonting obekant som DSI men när respondenterna väl har lärt sig konceptet så har det haft en positiv påverkan på användarupplevelsen och majoritet ansåg den som användbar i kontexten av att söka turistinformation. / A tourist brochure is a familiar product that tourists collect information from. But how do users experience the interaction with an unfamiliar navigation concept we call DSI in the context of seeking tourist information and what impact does DSI have on the user experience (UX)? We conducted a study of ten respondents. The study includes an observation in which the respondents had to interact with the application we created with the navigation concept DSI, and perform a number of tasks. They also performed a number of tasks on a PDF with the same content but with a different structure. Afterwards we performed the method Product Reaction Cards and lastly an interview. We concluded that it takes time to learn something unfamiliar as DSI but when the respondents have learned the concept it turned out to have a positive impact on the user experience and the majority considered it useful in the context of seeking tourist information.

Using Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) stimulus (S) - organism (O) - response (R) model, this study developed online shopping experience framework that explains consumer behavioral responses toward online and offline stores. The results of the examined hypothesized relationships in this study reveal website attributes that create positive affective and attitudinal states and behavioral responses toward the retailers and retailers’ websites. Among website attributes, interface design is the strongest predictor of all behavioral responses, while website attributes relating to shopping services and security/privacy affect long term behavioral responses, such as purchase intention and brand loyalty. This study is imperative to practitioners and researchers, as they will help further develop online store environments and online shopping experience.

Achieving product and process quality are among the central themes of software engineering, and quality is an important factor in the marketplace. Usability and user experience (UX) are two important aspects of quality, particularly for interactive products. To achieve usability means producing products that let users do things in a satisfactory, efficient and effective way. To develop products with good UX, means going beyond usability, in ways that are still not clear to us. Achieving good usability and UX is hard. This thesis is concerned with organizations which work towards these goals. This research is concerned with understanding and improving the processes by which technology is designed and developed, and understanding the demands and expectations users have. It is about how companies can and actually develop products with good usability and UX, and what stops them from working towards this as efficiently as they could. We have viewed the usability and UX challenge from the viewpoints of Quality, Organizations, and Institutions, with a focus on participatory design, user-centred design and wicked problems. The research can be characterised as empirical research performed over a period of seven years, in close cooperation with industrial partners. The research was performed using multiple data collection methods to create constructs and shape theory. The field methods have ranged from being a participant observer, to performing interviews and holding workshops with members of the participating organisations. A case study approach was initially used, but focus soon moved from case study methodology to a closer focus on grounded theory, and finally the focus shifted to constructivist grounded theory. The thesis contributes to the field of software engineering in several ways. Usability has a long history within software engineering, human computer interaction, and design science, but the different discourses within the fields have meant that communication between the fields was problematic. The research in this thesis has moved between the different fields, contributing to bridging the gap between the areas. It gives an illustration of how usability work actually takes place in different types of companies, from a developer of operating systems for smartphones, to a global engineering company, which knows that it must find ways of working with, and measuring, usability and user experience. It gives concrete knowledge about the way in which companies can work with usability testing, and how they can provide information to satisfy the information needs of different stakeholders. It provides a discussion of the state of UX today, taking up the problems that stop industry making use of the definitions and theories of UX that exist. Thus, it gives an illustration of the different factors in product design, development and sales, from dealing with organizational factors to satisfying user needs, that all make usability work such a rocky road to navigate.

In peoples hyperconnected lives, a price to pay is their internet privacy and the different risks it faces the second their browser connects to the web. One such risk comes from how web tracking collect and analyze users information. This paper explores an approach to how web browsers can inform its users about the web tracking technique Fingerprinting, and through the concept presentation of this approach see: what key key aspects of visual aesthetics that affects the users experience when being informed; and to what extent differences in technological interest and knowledge affect users reception of Fingerprinting information, and the implementation implications the differences leads to. For this purpose a high fidelity prototype was created to: represent the concept of web browsers having integrated educational pages meant to inform its users on topics such as Fingerprinting, and to; be used in a user test. The results showed: a lack of knowledge on the existence of Fingerprinting; that differences in technological interest and knowledge among users affected what aspects of visual aesthetics they valued; and that those with less technological interest and knowledge to a higher degree had their attitudes towards Internet Privacy affected by the prototype’s information. It also showed that the differences affects users approach and interactions with software, and that the design implications this brings are to be considered for future browser functionality implementations. / <p>Självständigt Examensarbete (Forskningsartikel)</p>

Voice is the primary tool of communication to a majority of people on earth. Humans are wired to process speech, meaning voice interaction require little cognitive effort. Advancements in voice technology over the last 20 years have seen an increased prevalence of voice-controlled applications. However, false expectations can potentially cause severe interaction deficiencies to many of these voice user interfaces. One of the many application areas being connected to voice is access solutions such as smart locks. With a fundamental value proposition of keeping people and their belongings safe and secure in convenient ways, access solutions require that many of the design decisions are delicate. The present thesis aimed to evaluate how expectations of access solutions in home environments can be affected by different voice attributes. A literature study was conducted to explore the rich body of research on the topic of voice technology and the psychological effects of synthesized speech. Based on the literature study, a design process with recognized methods for developing voice user interfaces was conducted. The design process led up to a Wizard of Oz test that was used to evaluate how different conversational strategies and voices affected expectations and perception of a voice-controlled smart lock. The results showed that choosing an appropriate conversational style is fundamental to provide users with a sense of control. Furthermore, the study provided insight on how previous experience of interacting with voice-controlled devices have an impact on the feeling of personalization in gendered synthesized voices. Finally, the study discusses some ethical considerations that have to be made when designing voice user interfaces that ultimately should provide value to users, not confine their privacy. / Röst är den primära kommunikationskällan för de flesta människorna på jorden. Förmågan att bearbeta tal är något människor föds med, vilket gör att interaktion genom röst kräver liten kognitiv ansträngning. Framsteg inom röstteknologi under de senaste 20 åren har lett till ett ökat utbud av röststyrda applikationer. För många av dessa röststyrda applikationer existerar en risk att falska förväntningar leder till avsevärt försämrad interaktion. Ett av många applikationsområden där röst börjar framträda är accesslösningar såsom smarta lås. Med sitt fundamentala värde att hålla människor och deras tillgångar trygga och säkra utan att kompromissa enkelheten, kräver utformningen av accesslösningar flera delikata beslut. Därmed har studien ämnat att utvärdera hur användares förväntningar på röststyrda accesslösningar påverkas av röstattribut. För att undersöka och öka förståelsen av röstteknologi och de psykologiska effekterna av tal, genomfördes en litteraturstudie av existerande forskning initialt. Baserat på fynden i litteraturstudien startades sedan en designprocess för utveckling av ett röstgränssnitt. Erkända metoder användes för framtagandet av ett användarvänligt gränssnitt. Designprocessen låg till grund för ett Wizard of Oz test där olika konversationsstrategier och röster påverkade förväntningar av och uppfattningen av ett röststyrt smart lås. Resultaten visar att det är fundamentalt att välja en passande konversationsstil för att ge användare en känsla av kontroll. Studien påvisade även hur tidigare erfarenheter av röststyrda applikationer påverkar förväntningar av andra röststyrda applikationer och gör dem mer eller mindre personliga. Vidare diskuteras etiska avvägningar som måste göras när man designar röstgränssnitt som ska medföra användarvärde och inte inskränka användarnas integritet.

Augmented reality (AR) is constantly moving forward and pushing its bound- aries forward. New applications and frameworks for mobile devices are rapidly developing. Head mounted displays are evolving and making an impact on in- dustries and people. In this thesis, we are going to evaluate the concept of how to make use of the environmental space in augmented reality. Within the environmental space, we are going to focus on secondary elements — elements and objects that not are in the focus of the users. Both augmented reality in smartphones and head-mounted displays are going to be considered. Through an evaluation conducted with four participants during a week, we are going to find use cases and scenarios where this type of concept could be used and where it can be applied. The results of this thesis shows where and how the can be use for a concept such as this.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-05-24T12:43:55Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Alisson Douglas da Silveira Pacheco_.pdf: 1636217 bytes, checksum: 51329f702f4c2f888f5078f40c30e91a (MD5) Alisson Douglas da Silveira Pacheco_.pdf: 1636217 bytes, checksum: 51329f702f4c2f888f5078f40c30e91a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-24T12:43:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Alisson Douglas da Silveira Pacheco_.pdf: 1636217 bytes, checksum: 51329f702f4c2f888f5078f40c30e91a (MD5) Alisson Douglas da Silveira Pacheco_.pdf: 1636217 bytes, checksum: 51329f702f4c2f888f5078f40c30e91a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-09 / Nenhuma / A preocupação em criar experiências memoráveis tem ganhado cada vez mais espaço nas discussões sobre design. A massificação das tecnologias computacionais para os mais variados contextos de uso tem levado as empresas de tecnologia da informação a procurarem formas de entender melhor seus consumidores. Nesse contexto, as pesquisas em UX ganham espaço no intuito de buscar atingir os objetivos dos produtos e serviços relacionados ao objeto de estudo. Com base na realização de uma pesquisa exploratória, este estudo teve como objetivo entender quais práticas alguns profissionais situados no estado da Califórnia, Estados Unidos, têm utilizado para melhor conhecer as experiências proporcionadas aos usuários através de seus produtos. Esse entendimento passou por uma comparação das práticas encontradas nas propostas oferecidas por Garret (2002) e Maguire (2001): a identificação de como o resultado dessas práticas são aplicadas no processo de projeto; se elas são conduzidas de forma interna ou externa; e qual o posicionamento dos designers perante a sua aplicação. Na pesquisa exploratória foram realizadas entrevistas com profissionais atuantes em empresas de tecnologia da informação. Além disso, também se buscou fazer uma revisão bibliográfica nas áreas de design para experiência, design centrado no usuário, design centrado no produto e design centrado na interação, com o objetivo de coletar insumos teóricos para esta pesquisa. O estudo relevou uma certa variedade de abordagens e perspectivas sobre a condução de pesquisas relacionadas à UX, muitas delas com inspiração em outras áreas do conhecimento que não o design. Também se verificou uma tentativa dos profissionais da área seguirem um processo de projeto mais leve, executando as pesquisas de forma mais frequente e com um menor grau de preocupação quanto à seleção dos candidatos, o que levantou sérias preocupações quanto a sua validade. Ainda foi possível identificar que um melhor entendimento da área se faz necessário, por isso este trabalho buscou apontar possíveis caminhos pelos quais os novos estudos possam vir a contribuir para as discussões sobre pesquisas relacionadas ao design, as quais tenham o usuário como preocupação central e suas respectivas aplicações ao processo de projeto. / Creating memorable experiences has become a major discussion in design. The computational technologies massification into several different usage contexts has made information technology (IT) companies search for better ways to understand its users and consumers. In this context user experience (UX) research plays a pivotal role in achieving products and services objectives. This study aims to understand which practices, methods, and tools UX practitioners located in the state of California, USA, have been using to better evaluate and measure their products user experience. UX practitioners working for IT companies were interviewed to understand the practices they use to develop their products, trying to identify the contexts and specifics of these practices, and not just when they are applied. This understanding was based on a few items: a comparison of the practices offered by Garret (2002) and Maguire (2001); identifying how the results of these practices are applied in the design process; if they were conducted internally or externally; and what is the position of the designers about its applications. This study reveals a variety of approaches and perspectives around UX-related research, several of which inspired by areas outside design. Therefore, an extensive review of existing literature took place in the UX, user-centered design, product centered design and interaction design fields, aiming to collect theoretical resources to guide and substantiate this research. The studied revealed a variety of approaches and perspectives about how to conduct UX-related research. It was possible to verify as well an attempt of UX professionals to follow a more lean UX process, applying researches more frequently but with fewer concerns around the screening of candidates and more accurate demographics, which brings severe concerns around this approach. It also argues that a better understanding of UX is necessary, and suggests new areas of studies that can contribute to user-centered-research discussions and its applications to the design process.