The Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) industry is constantly searching for new methods for increasing efficiency and productivity. Facility managers, as a part of the owner/operator role, work in complex and dynamic environments where critical decisions are constantly made. This decision-making process and its consequent performance can be improved by enhancing Situation Awareness (SA) of the facility managers through new digital technologies. SA, as a user-centered approach for understanding facility managers’ information requirement, together with Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) was used for developing an Ambient Intelligent (AmI) environment for accessing building information in facilities. Augmented Reality has been considered as a viable option to reduce inefficiencies of data overload by providing facility managers with an SA-based tool for visualizing their “real-world” environment with added interactive data. Moreover, Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used as the data repository of the required building information. A pilot study was done to study the integration between SA, MAR, and BIM. InfoSPOT (Information Surveyed Point for Observation and Tracking) was developed as a low-cost solution that leverage current AR technology, showing that it is possible to take an idealized BIM model and integrate its data and 3D information in an MAR environment. A within-subjects user participation experiment and analysis was also conducted to evaluate the usability of the InfoSPOT in facility management related practices. The outcome of statistical analysis (a one-way repeated measure ANOVA) revealed that on average the mobile AR-based environment was relatively seamless and efficient for all participants in the study. Building on the InfoSPOT pilot study, an in-depth research was conducted in the area of healthcare facility management, integrating SA, MAR, and BIM to develop an AmI environment where facility mangers’ information requirement would be superimposed on their real-word view of the facility they maintain and would be interactively accessible through current mobile handheld technology. This AmI environment was compared to the traditional approach of conducting preventive and corrective maintenance using paper-based forms. The purpose of this part of the research was to investigate the hypothesis of “bringing 3D BIM models of building components in an AR environment and making it accessible through handheld mobile devices would help the facility managers to locate those components easier and faster compared to facility managers’ paper-based approach”. The result of this study shows that this innovative application of AR and integrating it with BIM to enhance the SA has the potential to improve construction practices, and in this case, facility management.

An effective process for translating contextual inquiry data into usable design concepts is described. A literature survey, field observations and laboratory simulations preceded contextual inquiry sessions with seven cashiers working in retail checkstands. Data from this field research was communicated with a graduate student design team during interpretation sessions. Diagrams and pictures from the physical workspace were introduced, work behaviors and breakdowns were discussed and design ideas and insights were recorded during these sessions. The final communication tool is a wall-sized affinity diagram created by members of the design team. The affinity diagram tells the story of peoples experiences working in retail front end work environments by incorporating patterns of cashiers behavior and concerns, while maintaining details of each participants comments. It translates the applied research from basic contextual inquiry data to a sustainable communication tool for contextual researchers, workspace designers and other project stakeholders. The design research method presented yields valuable qualitative results for physical workspace design that can be communicated to people who are not involved in data collection.

[ES] La cirugía laparoscopia está considerada uno de los principales avances quirúrgicos en las últimas décadas. Esta técnica ha demostrado numerosas ventajas comparadas con la cirugía convencional abierta y ha sido extensamente usada para procesos quirúrgicos en el área abdominal. Para el paciente, la cirugía laparoscópica supone diversas ventajas, como por ejemplo menor dolor post operativo, tiempos de recuperación menores, menor riesgo de infección, o reducción del trauma. Para el cirujano en cambio, la situación es completamente diferente, esta práctica requiere mayor esfuerzo, concentración y estrés mental que la práctica convencional abierta. Además fuerza al cirujano a adoptar posiciones no-neutras en falanges, manos, muñecas, y brazos. Estas posturas no-neutras son la principal causa de fatiga muscular y aumentan el riesgo de problemas musculo-esqueléticos. Estos problemas han sido ampliamente estudiados por diferentes equipos de investigación, los cuales están tratando de mejorar la experiencia del cirujano en el quirófano. El enfoque utilizado en este estudio es diferente del utilizado anteriormente por la mayoría de estos equipos, los cuales suelen propones soluciones basadas en cambios ergonómicos con la intención de mejorar la geometría del mango de pistola convencional, ya que se considera ergonómicamente deficiente. El problema con este enfoque, es que las deficiencias no se encuentran únicamente en el mango, sino en la utilización de un punto de entrada fijo que fuerza a los cirujanos a mantener posiciones desfavorables. En este trabajo, se introduce el concepto "Libertad Postural" en el ámbito de la cirugía, este se basa en la hipótesis de que, si las herramientas no forzaran la posición de los cirujanos, estos mantendrían posiciones más favorables y cercanas al rango de posiciones neutras durante los procesos laparoscópicos. Los beneficios de este concepto han sido demostrados por medio de análisis de movimiento y de electromiografía de superficie, los cuales indican que la "Libertad Postural" es causante de un claro aumento de las posiciones neutras y de la reducción de la fatiga muscular, y han sido testeados por cirujanos en entornos simulados, los cuales encuentran beneficioso utilizar la "Libertad Postural" como característica base de este nuevo diseño de herramienta laparoscópica. En la sección final de este trabajo se propone un diseño que implementa el concepto de libertad postura con el cual se reduciría la fatiga muscular y los problemas musculo esqueléticos asociados a la práctica laparoscópica. Este diseño tiene la característica de actuar como una nueva sección del brazo, siendo una articulación que soporta los giros y grandes desplazamientos que normalmente tienen que desarrollar los brazos del cirujano. Además, esta solución es económica y fácil de fabricar, lo cual permitiría su uso por cirujanos de todo el mundo. / [CA] La cirurgia laparoscòpia està considerada un dels principals avanços quirúrgics en les últimes dècades. Aquesta tècnica ha demostrat nombrosos avantatges comparats amb la cirurgia convencional oberta i ha sigut extensament usada per a processos quirúrgics en l'àrea abdominal. Per al pacient, la cirurgia laparoscòpica suposa diversos avantatges, com per exemple menor dolor post operatiu, temps de recuperació menors, menor risc d'infecció, o reducció del trauma. Per al cirurgià en canvi, la situació és completament diferent, aquesta pràctica requereix major esforç, concentració i estrés mental que la pràctica convencional oberta. A més força al cirurgià a adoptar posicions no-neutres en falanges, mans, nines, i braços. Aquestes postures no-neutres són la principal causa de fatiga muscular i augmenten el risc de problemes musculo-esquelètics. Aquests problemes han sigut àmpliament estudiats per diferents equips d'investigació, els quals estan tractant de millorar l'experiència del cirurgià en el quiròfan. L'enfocament utilitzat en aquest estudi és diferent de l'utilitzat anteriorment per la majoria d'aquests equips, els quals solen proposes solucions basades en canvis ergonòmics amb la intenció de millorar la geometria del mànec de pistola convencional, ja que es considera ergonòmicament deficient. El problema amb aquest enfocament, és que les deficiències no es troben únicament en el mànec, sinó en la utilització d'un punt d'entrada fix que força als cirurgians a mantindre posicions desfavorables. En aquest treball, s'introdueix el concepte "Llibertat Postural" en l'àmbit de la cirurgia, aquest es basa en la hipòtesi que, si les eines no forçaren la posició dels cirurgians, aquests mantindrien posicions més favorables i pròximes al rang de posicions neutres durant els processos laparoscòpics. Els beneficis d'aquest concepte han sigut demostrats per mitjà d'anàlisi de moviment i de electromiografía de superfície, els quals indiquen que la "Llibertat Postural" és causant d'un clar augment de les posicions neutres i de la reducció de la fatiga muscular, i han sigut testats per cirurgians en entorns simulats, els quals troben beneficiós utilitzar la "Llibertat Postural" com a característica base d'aquest nou disseny d'eina laparoscòpica. En la secció final d'aquest treball es proposa un disseny que implementa el concepte de llibertat postura amb el qual es reduiria la fatiga muscular i els problemes *musculo esquelètics associats a la pràctica laparoscòpica. Aquest disseny té la característica d'actuar com una nova secció del braç, sent una articulació que suporta els girs i grans desplaçaments que normalment han de desenvolupar els braços del cirurgià. A més, aquesta solució és econòmica i fàcil de fabricar, la qual cosa permetria el seu ús per cirurgians de tot el món. / [EN] Laparoscopic surgery is considered one of the main surgical advances in the last decades, this technique has demonstrated numerous advantages compared to open conventional surgery and it is widely used in abdominal procedures around the world. For the patient, laparoscopic surgery suppose less post-operative pain, shorter recovery time, lower risk of infection, and reduction of the trauma among other benefits. For the surgeon, the situation is completely different, this practice requires more effort, concentration and mental stress than conventional open procedures. It forces the surgeon to adopt non-neutral postures with phalanges, hands, wrists, and arms being this non-neutral postures the main cause of muscular fatigue and high risk of musculoskeletal disorders. The poor ergonomic postures accelerate muscle fatigue and pain because, outside the neutral range, muscles require more energy to generate the same contractile force than in neutral position. This increase of muscular fatigue is associated with the potential to commit errors that may harm the patient during the surgery. Because this problem is widely studied and different research centers are already trying to improve their surgeons experience in the operation room, the approach used during this work is different than most of the ones presented in previous works. Generally, the solutions proposed are based on ergonomic changes in the handle shape of the instrument, because the conventional pistol-grip handle is considered ergonomically poor. But the problem is not only in the shape of the handle but also in the fixed point of entrance that force the positions for the surgeon despite the handle¿s shape. In this work, the concept of postural freedom in laparoscopic surgery is introduced and evaluated. The postural freedom concept is based on the hypothesis that the surgeon involuntarily would maintain neutral postures if the instrument does not force him or her to reach extreme position with the upper limbs. The benefits of this concept has been demonstrated, by means of electromyography and motion capture. It reduces the localized muscular fatigue and increases the number of neutral postures during laparoscopic simulations. In the final section it is proposed a design that implements the postural freedom concept with, according on the results, the potential to reduce the localized muscular fatigue and the musculoskeletal problems associated to the practice. The design proposed here acts as a new section on the arm, being an articulation that support the turns and big displacements that currently suffer the surgeon¿s body. The solution is affordable and easy to manufacture and could be used by surgeons worldwide. / Pace Bedetti, HM. (2019). The effect of "Postural Freedom" in laparoscopic surgery [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/122312

O presente trabalho analisa as metodologias de projeto de arquitetura de informação de websites sob o foco das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação e da Interação Humano-Computador. A metodologia adotada foi uma revisão da literatura, para formular um quadro de referência para análise das metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação, e duas pesquisas de campo. A primeira pesquisa foi quantitativa, baseada em um questionário on-line, e teve por objetivo levantar o perfil do arquiteto de informação das listas de discussões brasileiras. A segunda pesquisa foi qualitativa e seguiu a abordagem do Sense-making, tendo como objetivo levantar as dificuldades, técnicas e metodologias encontradas nos projetos de arquitetura de informação de websites. Como resultado da revisão da literatura foi formulado um quadro de referência composto de cinco fases (Pesquisa, Concepção, Especificação, Implementação e Avaliação). Os princípios das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário são aplicados nas duas fases iniciais, sendo que na primeira é aplicada a abordagem da Ciência da Informação, e na segunda a abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador. A primeira pesquisa de campo retratou um profissional jovem, que vive nos grandes centros metropolitanos, com formação predominante na área de Humanas e que desenvolveu seus conhecimentos sobre Arquitetura de Informação de maneira autodidata. Quase metade deles não segue qualquer metodologia nos seus projetos e, entre os que seguem, a maioria utiliza uma metodologia própria. A segunda pesquisa mostrou que os arquitetos de informação experientes adotam uma metodologia nos seus projetos e dedicam mais atenção às três primeiras fases do quadro de referência (Pesquisa, Concepção e Especificação). As metodologias vistas na prática não seguem a abordagem de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação, pois raramente são feitas pesquisas com usuários. Com relação à abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador, ela é pouco seguida porque os contratantes desconhecem a importância dos testes de usabilidade e porque os arquitetos não dominam as técnicas desses testes mais adequadas à Arquitetura de Informação. Com relação às dificuldades enfrentadas nos projetos, foram identificados três focos: o contratante, o próprio trabalho de Arquitetura de Informação e o contexto tecnológico em que o website está inserido, sendo o primeiro o mais citado. Conclui-se que as metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação precisam evoluir na adoção das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário, para que consigam produzir websites que satisfaçam plenamente as necessidades dos usuários, e nas formas de avaliar os resultados, para verificar se os objetivos dos projetos foram plenamente alcançados. / The study analyzes information architecture projects methodologies of websites under the focus of User Centered Design approaches of Information Science and Human-Computer Interaction. The adopted methodology included a literature review, to formulate a theoric model to analyze information architecture project methodologies, and two empirical researches. The first one was a quantitative research, based on an on-line questionnaire which aimed at mapping the profile of information architects in Brazilian discussion lists. The second one was a qualitative research, in which the Sense-making approach was applied to map the difficulties, techniques and methodologies found in information architecture projects of websites. As result the revision of literature review a theoric model with five phases was formulated (Research, Conception, Specification, Implementation and Evaluation) in which the approaches of User Centered Design should be applied in the two initial phases, in the first one should be applied the approach of Information Science and in the second one the approach of Human-Computer Interaction. The first research showed a young professional, that lives in the great metropolitan centers, which is often graduated in Human area and developed their knowledge of Information Architecture in an autodidactic way. Almost half of them doesn\'t follow any methodology in their projects and, most of the ones that follow uses theirs own methodology. The second research showed that seniors information architects adopt a methodology in theirs project and they dedicate more attention to the first three phases of the theoric model (Research, Conception and Specification). The methodologies found in practice don\'t follow the User Centered Design approach of Information Science, because they rarely make researches with users. The Human-Computer Interaction approach is little following because the clients are not convinced of the importance of usability tests and because information architects don\'t really know the techniques of usability tests more appropriate to information architecture projects. It were identified three focuses of difficulties faced in the projects: the clients, the own work of Information Architecture and the technology context in that the websites is inserted. It concludes that the methodologies of information architecture projects need to increase in the adoption of User Centered Design, to produce websites that fully satisfy the users, and in ways to evaluate the results of the projects, to verify if its objectives had been reached.

O presente trabalho analisa as metodologias de projeto de arquitetura de informação de websites sob o foco das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação e da Interação Humano-Computador. A metodologia adotada foi uma revisão da literatura, para formular um quadro de referência para análise das metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação, e duas pesquisas de campo. A primeira pesquisa foi quantitativa, baseada em um questionário on-line, e teve por objetivo levantar o perfil do arquiteto de informação das listas de discussões brasileiras. A segunda pesquisa foi qualitativa e seguiu a abordagem do Sense-making, tendo como objetivo levantar as dificuldades, técnicas e metodologias encontradas nos projetos de arquitetura de informação de websites. Como resultado da revisão da literatura foi formulado um quadro de referência composto de cinco fases (Pesquisa, Concepção, Especificação, Implementação e Avaliação). Os princípios das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário são aplicados nas duas fases iniciais, sendo que na primeira é aplicada a abordagem da Ciência da Informação, e na segunda a abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador. A primeira pesquisa de campo retratou um profissional jovem, que vive nos grandes centros metropolitanos, com formação predominante na área de Humanas e que desenvolveu seus conhecimentos sobre Arquitetura de Informação de maneira autodidata. Quase metade deles não segue qualquer metodologia nos seus projetos e, entre os que seguem, a maioria utiliza uma metodologia própria. A segunda pesquisa mostrou que os arquitetos de informação experientes adotam uma metodologia nos seus projetos e dedicam mais atenção às três primeiras fases do quadro de referência (Pesquisa, Concepção e Especificação). As metodologias vistas na prática não seguem a abordagem de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação, pois raramente são feitas pesquisas com usuários. Com relação à abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador, ela é pouco seguida porque os contratantes desconhecem a importância dos testes de usabilidade e porque os arquitetos não dominam as técnicas desses testes mais adequadas à Arquitetura de Informação. Com relação às dificuldades enfrentadas nos projetos, foram identificados três focos: o contratante, o próprio trabalho de Arquitetura de Informação e o contexto tecnológico em que o website está inserido, sendo o primeiro o mais citado. Conclui-se que as metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação precisam evoluir na adoção das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário, para que consigam produzir websites que satisfaçam plenamente as necessidades dos usuários, e nas formas de avaliar os resultados, para verificar se os objetivos dos projetos foram plenamente alcançados. / The study analyzes information architecture projects methodologies of websites under the focus of User Centered Design approaches of Information Science and Human-Computer Interaction. The adopted methodology included a literature review, to formulate a theoric model to analyze information architecture project methodologies, and two empirical researches. The first one was a quantitative research, based on an on-line questionnaire which aimed at mapping the profile of information architects in Brazilian discussion lists. The second one was a qualitative research, in which the Sense-making approach was applied to map the difficulties, techniques and methodologies found in information architecture projects of websites. As result the revision of literature review a theoric model with five phases was formulated (Research, Conception, Specification, Implementation and Evaluation) in which the approaches of User Centered Design should be applied in the two initial phases, in the first one should be applied the approach of Information Science and in the second one the approach of Human-Computer Interaction. The first research showed a young professional, that lives in the great metropolitan centers, which is often graduated in Human area and developed their knowledge of Information Architecture in an autodidactic way. Almost half of them doesn\'t follow any methodology in their projects and, most of the ones that follow uses theirs own methodology. The second research showed that seniors information architects adopt a methodology in theirs project and they dedicate more attention to the first three phases of the theoric model (Research, Conception and Specification). The methodologies found in practice don\'t follow the User Centered Design approach of Information Science, because they rarely make researches with users. The Human-Computer Interaction approach is little following because the clients are not convinced of the importance of usability tests and because information architects don\'t really know the techniques of usability tests more appropriate to information architecture projects. It were identified three focuses of difficulties faced in the projects: the clients, the own work of Information Architecture and the technology context in that the websites is inserted. It concludes that the methodologies of information architecture projects need to increase in the adoption of User Centered Design, to produce websites that fully satisfy the users, and in ways to evaluate the results of the projects, to verify if its objectives had been reached.