In the year 2020, we saw an increase in people working from home and practicing social distancing due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. It became clear that common tools used to substitute for this physical presence might be considered lacking. The objective of this work was to explore and evaluate a tool for improving communication at a distance and contribute with insight and knowledge to the field of Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Supported Cooperative Work. A prototype system was constructed with commonly accessible and low-cost projectors and web cameras to provide a shared workspace at a distance as a complement to commonly used video calls. A user study was held including seven pairs of participants in which each pair performed collaborative tasks using the system while spatially separated. The System Usability Scale together with a Thematic Analysis of follow-up interviews was utilized to evaluate how the participants perceived the systems usability and affordances. The construction of the prototype system also led to insights on some of its challenges. The results show that the system embodies a high usability and a variety of affordances. The system could therefore be considered as a valid substitute for physical presence in spatially distant collaborative meetings or as an alternative to some commonly used groupware. / Under år 2020 såg vi en ökning av antalet människor som arbetade hemifrån och socialt distanserade sig till följd av pandemin som orsakades av COVID-19. Det blev tydligt att vanligt använda verktyg för att kompensera för denna fysiska närvaro kan anses som bristfälliga. Målet med detta arbete var att utforska och utvärdera ett verktyg för att förbättra distanskommunikation samt bidra med insikter och kunskap till området för människa-datainteraktion och datorstött samarbete. Ett prototypsystem byggdes av allmänt tillgängliga och billiga projektorer och webkameror som ett komplement till ett vanligt videosamtal för att fungera som en delad arbetsyta på distans. Sju par av deltagare deltog i en användarstudie där de fick utföra uppgifter genom systemet samtidigt som de var separerade till olika rum. Deltagarnas uppfattning av systemets användbarhet och användningsmöjligheter utvärderades med hjälp av System Usability Scale och en tematisk analys av uppföljningsintervjuer av användarstudier. Konstruerandet av systemet ledde också till en rad insikter om dess utmaningar. Resultaten visar att systemet innefattar en hög användbarhet samt en variation av olika användningsmöjligheter. Systemet kan därför anses vara ett passande substitut för fysisk närvaro i distansmöten som kräver samarbete eller som ett alternativ för vanligen använda samarbetsverktyg.

Standardized methodologies for usability evaluation have been of interest to the Human-Computer Interaction(HCI) community for years due to their perceived advantages over non-standardized ones. Such methodologies include standardized questionnaires designed to measure usability, although it has been argued that such questionnaires can only measure user satisfaction and not usability in general. This study was conducted together with the editorial experience (EDX)team at Sveriges Television AB (SVT) in order to identify appropriate standardized methods for usability evaluation of the content management system they are currently developing, while at the same time exploring how questionnaire formats such as the System Usability Scale(SUS) could benefit from being complemented by objective measurement methods such as the keystroke-level model (KLM) and productive time. The project ran test sessions with participants using a benchmark version of the current content management system and a prototype of a redesigned version. SUS, KLM and productive time were then applied to both versions and compared. The results showed no significant difference in the usability of the two versions, although the study lacks reliable data to draw any strong conclusions. However, the data does raise interesting questions that may provide the groundwork for future research. This includes findings that may question the validity of SUS when used for the evaluation of prototypes and the benefits of objective measures to self-administered questionnaires.

This technical report publishes the proceedings of the 25th Bilateral Student Workshop CTU Prague and HTW Dresden - User Interfaces & Visualization -, which was held on the 25th and 26th November 2021. The workshop offers a possibility for young scientists to present their current research work in the fields of computer graphics, human-computer-interaction, robotics and usability. The works is meant as a platform to bring together researchers from both the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) and the University of Applied Sciences Dresden (HTW). The German Academic Exchange Service offers its financial support to allow student participants the bilateral exchange between Prague and Dresden.:1) Multiprojection of Langweil´s model, p.4 2) Design of an assistant for persons interested in study at CTU FEE, p.8 3) Sonification of a juggling performance, p.12 4) Investigating the Role of Usability User Experience and Aesthetics for Industrial Human–Machine Interfaces, p.16 5) Using optically illusive architecture to navigate users in Virtual Reality, p.23 6) Speed and Required Precision of Grabbing Physical Spheres in VR, p.27 7) ReFlex - A Framework for Research on Elastic Displays, p.32 8) Digital Reading Stand (DRS), p.38 9) IDOVIR – Infrastructure for Documentation of Virtual Reconstructions, p.45 10) Tracking multiple VR users in a shared physical space, p.50 11) Towards Aesthetics of Subjectivity in InfoVis, p.53 12) VentConnect: live to life and the octopus in the hospital server room, p.60 13) Nice noise: background noise enhancement with generated musical content, p.66 14) Parametric Curve Labeling, p.70

Business Intelligence (BI) applications are consulted by their users on a daily basis. BI information obtained assist users to make business decisions and allow for a deeper understanding of the business and its driving forces. In a mining environment companies need to derive maximum benefit from BI applications, therefore these applications need to be used optimally. Optimal use depends on various factors including the usability of the product. The documented lack of usability evaluation guidelines provides the rationale for this study. The purpose is to investigate the usability evaluation of BI applications in the context of a coal mining organization. The research is guided by the question: What guidelines should be used to evaluate the usability of BI applications. The research design included the identification of BI usability issues based on the observation of BI users at the coal mining organization. The usability criteria extracted from the usability issues were compared and then merged with general usability criteria from literature to form an initial set of BI usability evaluation criteria. These criteria were used as the basis for a heuristic evaluation of the BI application used at the coal mining organization. The same application was also evaluated using the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) standardised questionnaire. The results from the two evaluations were triangulated to provide a refined set of criteria. The main contribution of the study is the heuristic evaluation guidelines for BI applications (based on these criteria). These guidelines are grouped in the following functional areas: visibility, flexibility, cognition, application behaviour, error control and help, affect and BI elements. / Information Science / M.Sc. (Information Systems)

Business Intelligence (BI) applications are consulted by their users on a daily basis. BI information obtained assist users to make business decisions and allow for a deeper understanding of the business and its driving forces. In a mining environment companies need to derive maximum benefit from BI applications, therefore these applications need to be used optimally. Optimal use depends on various factors including the usability of the product. The documented lack of usability evaluation guidelines provides the rationale for this study. The purpose is to investigate the usability evaluation of BI applications in the context of a coal mining organization. The research is guided by the question: What guidelines should be used to evaluate the usability of BI applications. The research design included the identification of BI usability issues based on the observation of BI users at the coal mining organization. The usability criteria extracted from the usability issues were compared and then merged with general usability criteria from literature to form an initial set of BI usability evaluation criteria. These criteria were used as the basis for a heuristic evaluation of the BI application used at the coal mining organization. The same application was also evaluated using the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) standardised questionnaire. The results from the two evaluations were triangulated to provide a refined set of criteria. The main contribution of the study is the heuristic evaluation guidelines for BI applications (based on these criteria). These guidelines are grouped in the following functional areas: visibility, flexibility, cognition, application behaviour, error control and help, affect and BI elements. / Information Science / M.Sc. (Information Systems)

Availability of internet to a wide audiences has revolutionized how business is performed. Businesses now use e-commerce to trade products and services. The growth of e-commerce has been dramatically rapid among developed countries. Therefore, the adoption of e-commerce platforms is studied in these countries. Meanwhile less attentions has been given to developing countries. Developing countries can take advantage of lessons learned in the developed countries. One of the major success factors of e-commerce platforms in developed countries is improving the usability of e-commerce platform by considering user’s preferences. User preferences can be defined as feelings and attitudes of users for the interface and functional design of the ecommerce platform. This influences user’s decision and behavior. Considering the users preferences within an e-commerce platform enhances user’s satisfaction and increases user’s loyalty to the platform. To evaluate the user preferences a selection of usability factors are usually studied. Avicenna Research Institute (ARI) is currently considering the development of an e-commerce platform. For this ARI is investigating ways to consider users preferences in the design. This study aims to satisfy this goal. In this study previous research are analyzed, user’s preferences are identified, common used e-commerce platforms are investigated, and ARI’s perspective is included in the analysis. Using these information a set of recommendations on how to improve the usability of an e-commerce platform is given. For this task based approaches are used in form of participatory heuristic evaluation and observations. Interview is used to obtain ARI’s perspective on usability. The study has identified ten usability factors affecting the usability of the e-commerce platform based on user’s preferences. These include consistency, learnability, navigability, simplicity, readability, content relevance, supportability, interactivity, credibility, and telepresence. In addition a set of eighty evaluation criteria are presented to evaluate these factors. Using a qualitative approach, the study has analyzed all these factors in a multiple-case study. The analysis includes input from the users in form of observations, comments and questionnaire. This is combined with input from ARI in form of interviews. Finally the study concludes by providing a path for future research.

A domain name is a unique alphanumeric designation that facilitates reference to sets of numbers which actually locate a particular computer on the Internet. Domain names are a fundamental part of the Internet's user interface. Improving the usability of the Internet depends upon effective domain name policy. This study is intended to contribute to improvement in Internet usability for the end users of domain names. Benefits of more usable domain names include: higher sales, customer satisfaction and productivity, and reduced support costs. Domain name policies worldwide vary considerably. Consequently, end users are inconvenienced by contradictory domain name policies, diminishing the predictability of an entity's domain name, and thus decreasing usability for end users. The study objective was to develop criteria with which policy makers can evaluate their domain name policies, in order to improve the usability of domain names for end users. The main research question posed was: What are the criteria for an effective domain name policy? The research methodology included a literature review, domain name policy examination and an ethnographic narrative. The literature review found existing research examining either domain names or usability in isolation. However, research examining the intersection of the two is scarce. The existing research describes domain names as part of the web user interface. In practical terms, this is about how people use domain names to access web sites, email addresses and other Internet resources. It was established that the predictability (and thus usability) of domain names relies on effective domain name policy. The non-standardised and widely delegated process of domain name policy development leads to unpredictable and inconsistent domain names. The narrative recollection presented the researcher's inside perspective on the domain name industry, with a focus on domain name usability. The researcher provided first-hand insights into the evolution of the industry and policy development process, from Australian and international perspectives. To address the problem of poor domain name usability, a framework for domain name policy evaluation is proposed. The framework extends the current research that treats domain names as a user interface by proposing criteria which address usability concerns. The framework allows policy makers to critically assess domain name policies with end users in mind. Examples of the criteria include: understanding who are its intended and untended users, and whether it's consistent with other domain names. The framework has the potential to set an international standard for the critical evaluation of domain name policy, and become the basis for further research. This study was developed from the researcher's perspective as a participant in the domain name industry. A secondary lens regarding the usability of domain names was then applied. This study has only scraped the surface in terms of how the research fields of domain names and usability may be considered together. The research methodology for this study was primarily qualitative and interpretive. A quantitative study of domain name policies globally could provide further insight into areas including: the differences in second level country code domain names, and language implications of domain names.

<p>The Ericsson R380 is a so-called smartphone, combining an advanced mobile phone with a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). To evaluate the usability of the Ericsson R380 and benchmark it against the Nokia 9110 Communicator and the Motorola A6188 Accompli, a repeated measurements experiment was performed. 18 subjects (10 men and 8 women) with no previous experience of any of the interfaces participated. Half of the subjects had extensive experience from using Ericsson mobile phones and half of the subjects had extensive experience from using Nokia mobile phones. A set of 9 tasks to be solved on each interface was presented to the subjects. The order in which the subjects used the interfaces was balanced with a Latin square design while the tasks were presented in consecutive order and were identical for all interfaces. Level of completeness, completion time and number of actions were assessed for each task and interface. Subjects also rated the perceived usability and aesthetics of the interfaces. Overall, subjects were most successful using the Motorola A6188 Accompli, using fewer keystrokes and less time as well as needing fewer hints compared to the Ericsson R380 and Nokia 9110 Communicator. However, the Ericsson R380 was rated significantly higher than the other interfaces on perceived usability. Previous experience with Ericsson or Nokia mobile phones did not have a major impact on how well subjects succeeded with using the interfaces in the test. Certain mistakes made by each group of subjects could be explained in terms of mental models, Einstellung effects and the use of so- called Function-Object interaction style where Object-Function interaction was appropriate. Contrary to earlier findings, aesthetics and perceived usability did not correspond to a great extent. Finally, the results are discussed and some suggestions for improvements are put forward.</p>

近年來全球學習華語文蔚為風潮，且隨著資通訊科技和網路快速發展，華語文教學更逐漸向「數位學習」發展。臺灣僑務委員會為提供海外華僑及外籍人士學習華語文，設立「全球華文網」，該網站至2011年為止已突破四千萬的瀏覽人次，使用者眾。本研究即以「全球華文網」為研究個案，旨在探討該網站的優使性，進而歸納網站的優勢和尚待改進之處。希望透過本研究了解華語文教學網站使用者平日需求，及理想的網站應具備哪些功能，對未來建置類似的華語文教學網站時有所助益。 本研究之研究目的可分為以下四項：(一)探討華語文教學網站的內容和網站使用者需求。(二)探討優使性評估定義與優使性測試方法。(三)探討華語文教學網站之優使性及使用者滿意度。(四)分析使用者優使性評估結果，找出網站缺失與改善方向，歸納建議作為未來建置華語教學網站之參考。 本研究採用深度訪談、優使性測試和優使性問卷調查三種研究方式，研究對象為華語文教學學位學程博碩士生及華語文教學學分學程大學生二者。透過實證研究得出以下五點結論：(一)華語文教學課程修習者常使用的網站可分為三類：資料查找、教學輔助、提供相關資訊；(二)使用者使用教學網站通常是任務導向；(三)使用者不滿意「全球華文網」之優使性；(四)「全球華文網」亟待加強網站之分類與名稱、資源整合、檢索功能三者；(五)使用者對「全球華文網」抱持正面且期待的態度。 根據以上結論，本研究也提出建議，希望作為建置類似網站時之參考。首先網站應從使用者的角度出發，思考如何給予最簡單有效的功能，如教學網站在建立前應先釐清建置目的和使用對象，才能進一步提供相對應之資料；網站的選單名稱應易於理解，各項資源應給予簡單說明；教學網站可就使用者之身分不同提供其相對應的使用介面和資源，以上各項功能用以幫助使用者節省摸索網站的時間。此外，網站也應定期進行使用者滿意度調查以及優使性評估，使用者提供的寶貴意見是網站改進的依據，而透過優使性測試，則能夠讓網站建置人員了解使用者操作的實際情形，彌平雙方的認知差距。定期的評鑑能讓網站了解優缺並即時改善和加強功能，以符合使用者的需求。

<p>Provbanken är en del i ett nationellt provsystem som är tänkt att vara ett bedömningskomplement till existerande prov i gymnasieutbildningen. Växjö universitet har varit delaktig i utvecklingen av prov för de yrkesinriktade ämnena sedan 1997. Eftersom innehållet i dessa numera webbanpassade prov är det väsentliga, måste utformningen av provet göras lättförståelig. Användbarheten måste m a o vara självklar och inte ställa till problem för användaren. Som en av utvecklarna av dessa interaktiva prov, ville jag finna ett sätt att minimera problemen och öka användbarheten. I de bakgrundsstudier som gjordes, fann jag att en iterativ designprocess föreslogs vara den bästa metoden för att åstadkomma mitt mål. Med hjälp av användartest kopplade till teoretiska referensramar, utvärderades ett av proven som skapats vid Växjö universitet. Eftersom ett omvårdnadsprov valdes, blev målgruppen sex omvårdnadselever. Tre av dem deltog i det första användartestet. Datainsamlingen utfördes med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod, där både observationer och intervjuer användes som empiriska insamlingstekniker. I analysen som följdes upptäcktes sex höga eller medelhöga problem, varav tre av de mest akuta valdes att förändras. Dessa problem utvärderades och implementerades med hjälp av teoretiska riktlinjer i en prototyp som användartestades med de tre kvarvarande omvårdnadseleverna. I den analys som gjordes kunde de jämförda resultaten peka på en förbättring av användbarheten i det specifika prov som undersökts. Det kunde dock även konstateras att ett flertal problem återstod för att helt uppnå målet med en minimering av problem.</p><p>Denna uppsats visar på betydelsen av att göra iterativa designprocesser i interaktiva system för att öka dess användbarhet. Studien pekar tydligt på vikten av att göra användartest samt hur teori kan vara ett komplement till utformning av interaktiva gränssnitt.</p> / <p>Provbanken is part of a national examination system, which is meant to be a mark-setting complement to existing tests in the upper secondary school. Växjö University has been part of the development of tests regarding the vocational subjects since 1997. Because the content of these web-adapted tests is essential, the design of the tests must be made easy to understand. In other words, the usability has to be obvious and must not create trouble for the user. As one of the developers of these interactive tests, I wanted to find a way to minimize the problems and increase the usability. In the conducted background studies, I found that the iterative design process was suggested as the best method to achieve my goal. With the help of usability tests applied to theoretical frame of reference, one of the tests created at Växjö University was evaluated. Since a test regarding homecare was chosen, the target group became six homecare students. Three of them took part in the first usability test. The gathering of data was conducted with the help of a qualitative method, where observations and interviews were used as empirical techniques. In the following analysis six high or medium high problems were discovered, out of which three of the most urgent problems were solved. These problems were evaluated and implemented with help of theoretical guidelines into a prototype, which later became usability tested with the three remaining homecare students. In the analysis made, the compared results showed an improvement of the usability in the specific, investigated test. However, it could clearly be stated that several issues persisted until the goal of minimizing the problems could be achieved.</p><p>This thesis shows the importance of performing iterative design processes in interactive systems in order to increase the usability. The study clearly points out the importance of usability tests and how theory can be a complement in the design of interactive interfaces.</p>