Information security and privacy in health care is a critical issue, it is crucial to protect the patients’ privacy and ensure the systems availability all the time. Managing information security systems is a major part of managing information systems in health care organizations. The purpose of this study is to discover the security metrics that can be used in health care organizations and to provide the security managers with a security metrics scorecard that enable them to measure the performance of the security system in a monthly basis. To accomplish this a prototype with a suggested set of metrics was designed and examined in a usability study and semi-structured interviews. The study participants were security experts who work in health care organizations. In the study security management in health care organizations was discussed, the preferable security metrics were identified and the usable security metrics scorecard specifications were collected. Applying the study results on the scorecard prototype resulted in a security metrics scorecard that matches the security experts’ recommendations. / Graduate / 0723 / 0769 / 0454 / hebae@uvic.ca

In this thesis, we present a tool that is an extension of the NAVIRE Framework and used in remote environment exploration and navigation. It is available for end users on everyday devices such as desktops and mobile devices. The tool offers the characteristic of being cross-platform and easy to use and manipulate. Cubic panoramas that are generated by the NAVIRE Framework are loaded in the tool and rendered in 3D space on the user’s device. The 3D panoramas are interactive by allowing the user to view the scene in all direction, move from one scene to another or through interaction with augmented objects. The tool is geared to be interactive in the most natural and intuitive fashion using the inputs available in the different devices of the end-user.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are tools used to facilitate locational decision making in interactive, graphic-based environments. GIS and interactive maps allow users to customize displays and manipulate data for accomplishing a variety of tasks, ranging from map interpretation to wayfinding and land use planning. Although originally adopted for professional use, GIS software is increasingly utilized by both expert and non-expert users. Despite the improved availability, training in cartographic design has not followed suit and studies claim that users often employ inefficient displays for task completion. Research on naïve realism indicates that people exhibit a bias for realistic depictions containing irrelevant, extraneous details, leading to increased cognitive load and decreased task performance. This dissertation explores how display realism affects decision making task performance when using a GIS. Prior studies examining naïve realism have primarily had users perform map reading and inference tasks with static displays. Natural resource management was selected as a test case because it often involves the use of geospatial tools and data and people with varying levels of GIS expertise. This research had expert and novice users utilize a GIS to perform site selection tasks for a natural resource management decision making scenario. The results indicate that increased display realism has a negative impact on task performance, especially with regards to task completion time. Individuals in both the expert and novice groups were influenced by naïve realism. It was observed that expert and novice users employed different strategies for task completion and the implications on task performance are discussed. Ultimately, the study results contribute to the theory of naïve realism and make recommendations that inform the use of task-appropriate graphic displays in an interactive mapping environment.

In this thesis, we present a tool that is an extension of the NAVIRE Framework and used in remote environment exploration and navigation. It is available for end users on everyday devices such as desktops and mobile devices. The tool offers the characteristic of being cross-platform and easy to use and manipulate. Cubic panoramas that are generated by the NAVIRE Framework are loaded in the tool and rendered in 3D space on the user’s device. The 3D panoramas are interactive by allowing the user to view the scene in all direction, move from one scene to another or through interaction with augmented objects. The tool is geared to be interactive in the most natural and intuitive fashion using the inputs available in the different devices of the end-user.

The video game industry can be ruthless. As a developer, you usually find yourself working in the popular third-party development tools of the time. These tools however might not provide the best usability and quality of life one desires. This can lead to a lot of frustration for the developer, especially when the development enters a crunch period of long and hard work. We believe some of the frustration can be avoided, and we believe this can be done by creating effective, functional and user-friendly integrated development tools specialized for the development environment. In this master's thesis we investigated just that, how integrated game development tools can be designed to be usable in terms of effectiveness and learnability. The investigation was performed by designing and implementing an integrated game development tool. The development of the tool was performed iteratively with user testing between every iteration to find usability defects, allowing the tool to be refined and improved throughout the development process. To finish off the development process, there was a final user test where professional video game developers tried out the tool and then answered a System Usability Scale questionnaire. The System Usability Scale score and task completion rate showed that the final state of the tool can be considered highly usable in terms of effectiveness and averagely usable in terms of learnability. This suggests that involving user testing in the development process is vital for ensuring good usability in the end product.

Augmented reality has been shown to increase the effectiveness of assembly tasks in several studies related to industrial applications, throughout the existence of the technology. With the availability of smartphones and the recent release of mobile applications utilizing augmented reality, the concept of augmented reality assisted assembly can be applied to domestic use as well. This study aims to examine the user experience of such an application to better understand the its future potential. The application was made specifically for this study with 3D animations showing each step on how to assemble a drawer for the Ikea Hemnes 8 drawer dresser. The results consists of qualitative measurements of user experience and quantitative data of task success in the form of a time measurement and a count of the number of mistakes each participant did. Additional feedback was received from a post test interview. An experimental group of eight people used the application together with the printed manual and their results were compared to an equally sized control group using only the printed manual. The participants were generally positive to the looks, functionality and usability of the application which was reflected in their experience, but no significant improvement in Task Success could be obtained. There is however no observed negative consequences of the introduction of augmented reality to the domestic assembly task, and the future potential based on user experience is deemed satisfactory. / Förstärkt verklighet (AR) har visat sig öka effektiviteten av monteringsuppgifter i flera studier relaterade till industriella applikationer, ända sedan tekniken var helt ny. Med dagens tillgång till smartphones och de nyligen lanserade mobila applikationerna som utnyttjar AR kan konceptet med AR-assisterad montering även tillämpas för hemmabruk. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka användarupplevelsen av en sådan applikation för att bättre förstå dess framtida potential. Appen utvecklades specifikt för denna studie med 3D-animationer som visar varje steg på hur man monterar en låda för en Ikea Hemnes byrå med 8 lådor. Resultaten består av kvalitativa mätningar av användarupplevelse och kvantitativ data om effektivitet i form av en tidsmätning och antal misstag som varje deltagare gjorde. Ytterligare återkoppling mottogs från en intervju som hölls efter experimentet. En experimentell grupp bestående av åtta personer använde applikationen tillsammans med den tryckta manualen och deras resultat jämfördes med en lika stor kontrollgrupp med endast den tryckta manualen. Deltagarna var generellt positiva till applikationens utseende, funktionalitet och användbarhet, vilket återspeglades i deras användarupplevelse, men ingen signifikant förbättring av effektivitet kunde erhållas. Det finns emellertid inga observerade negativa följder av införandet av AR i monteringsuppgifter för hemmabruk, och den framtida potentialen baserad på användarupplevelse anses vara tillfredsställande.

This Ericsson project investigates avatar interactions in Augmented Reality (AR) and allows users to interact with a full-sized 3D avatar that is aware of the user’s local environment. This project aimed to evaluate the system's usability and identify potential use cases where users might want to interact with an avatar. The tests were conducted with the main objectives to find out issues in usability and how factors affect the user experience when interacting with an avatar. The prototype for this was adapted for NReal glasses and the testing method used combined quantitative and qualitative approaches. 21 Ericsson employees tested the application and used augmented reality glasses to interact with the avatar. The participants were not guided and instead asked to interact intuitively with the avatar – some even tried to shake hands or talk to the avatar. The data was collected by transcribing notes from each session, noting observations and the responses to the questionnaire. The results from this usability study helped to understand usability issues such as restrictive avatar movements and lack of facial expressions and distinct features when interacting with the avatar. It also highlighted the problems with the current chosen device which has a restrictive Field of View that obstructed the experience for over 60% of the participants. The future scope of this project would focus on making the user experience more realistic by adding expressions, audio, etc., and allowing users to imagine the potential of interacting through a holographic communication application. Overall, the study provides user insights and analysis that could help to develop this application further and make it more engaging, thus bringing the possibility of holographic communication and avatar interaction closer to reality. / Detta Ericsson-projekt undersöker avatarinteraktioner i Augmented Reality (AR) och låter användare interagera med en 3Davatar i full storlek som är medveten om användarens lokala miljö. Detta projekt syftade till att utvärdera systemets användbarhet och identifiera potentiella användningsfall där användare kanske vill interagera med en avatar. Testerna genomfördes med huvudmålen att ta reda på problem med användbarhet och hur faktorer påverkar användarupplevelsen när man interagerar med en avatar. Prototypen för detta var anpassad för NReal-glasögon och testmetoden använde kombinerade kvantitativa och kvalitativa tillvägagångssätt. 21 Ericsson-anställda testade applikationen och använde augmented reality-glasögon för att interagera med avataren. Deltagarna vägleddes inte utan ombads istället att interagera intuitivt med avataren – några försökte till och med skaka hand eller prata med avataren. Data samlades in genom att transkribera anteckningar från varje session, notera observationer och svaren på frågeformuläret. Resultaten från denna användbarhetsstudie hjälpte till att förstå användbarhetsproblem som restriktiva avatarrörelser och avsaknad av ansiktsuttryck och distinkta egenskaper när man interagerar med avatarn. Den belyste också problemen med den nuvarande valda enheten som har ett begränsat synfält som hindrade upplevelsen för över 60 % av deltagarna. Den framtida omfattningen av detta projekt skulle fokusera på att göra användarupplevelsen mer realistisk genom att lägga till uttryck, ljud etc., och tillåta användare att föreställa sig potentialen i att interagera genom en holografisk kommunikationsapplikation. Sammantaget ger studien användarinsikter och analyser som kan hjälpa till att utveckla denna applikation ytterligare och göra den mer engagerande, och på så sätt föra möjligheten till holografisk kommunikation och avatarinteraktion närmare verkligheten.

Usability guidelines for user interface (UI) design formulated by Nielsen and other authorities were used to redesign the web interface for a web based distance education course. The website's original UI, as judged by a group of web design professionals, violated standard guidelines for usability, readability, learnability, consistency, efficiency of use and flexibility. The original and redesigned UIs were tested using thinking aloud testing, a user satisfaction survey, and usability inspection. The results of user testing and heuristic evaluation suggest that the use of these guidelines in website redesign had a positive impact on user performance. A more conclusive result would have required a larger sample size and a redesigned testing protocol that varied the order in which participants worked with the old and redesigned interfaces.

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Identifying topics of a textual document is useful for many purposes. We can organize the documents by topics in digital libraries. Then, we could browse and search for the documents with specific topics. By examining the topics of a document, we can quickly understand what the document is about. To augment the traditional manual way of topic tagging tasks, which is labor-intensive, solutions using computers have been developed. This dissertation describes the design and development of a topic identification approach, in this case applied to disaster events. In a sense, this study represents the marriage of research analysis with an engineering effort in that it combines inspiration from Cognitive Informatics with a practical model from Information Retrieval. One of the design constraints, however, is that the Web was used as a universal knowledge source, which was essential in accessing the required information for inferring topics from texts. Retrieving specific information of interest from such a vast information source was achieved by querying a search engine's application programming interface. Specifically, the information gathered was processed mainly by incorporating the Vector Space Model from the Information Retrieval field. As a proof of concept, we subsequently developed and evaluated a prototype tool, Xpantrac, which is able to run in a batch mode to automatically process text documents. A user interface of Xpantrac also was constructed to support an interactive semi-automatic topic tagging application, which was subsequently assessed via a usability study. Throughout the design, development, and evaluation of these various study components, we detail how the hypotheses and research questions of this dissertation have been supported and answered. We also present that our overarching goal, which was the identification of topics in a human-comparable way without depending on a large training set or a corpus, has been achieved. / Ph. D.