University libraries struggle to keep up with rapidly changing technology and the associated change in teaching strategy. Most administrators and librarians are often not trained to assess space needs and struggle to reassign library spaces for non-traditional library use. As such, they often embark on expensive and time-consuming feasibility studies, using (typically) hard-earned monies to complete the research or to pilot a new space. What academic research library administrators and staff lack is an analysis tool for discovering and planning needed renovations and improvements in aging library facilities. The purpose of this research project was to determine how students use library spaces for learning in this new high-tech, hands-on education experience (i.e. synthesis of previous research); develop a tool that can be used by library staff to self-analyze existing academic library spaces, identifying areas that could be improved for student benefit (e.g. provide a checklist of potential learning spaces that institutions should carefully consider adding to their facilities); and provide some examples/case studies of potential facility improvements. The end result is a hierarchical self-analysis tool that merges space options, Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and an example of library-user personas. It also provides some general cost guidelines, helpful construction tips, and a synthesis of exploratory questions related to strategy and space. The tool uses evidence-based design to facilitate important conversations, provide an organized checklist of various considerations, and be a quick reference for library administrators and facility managers as they navigate the world of twenty-first century pedagogy and student learning.

<p>User onboarding for Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications usually involve walkthrough tutorials explaining various UI elements, functions, and navigation screens. These First-time User Experiences (FTUEs) are crucial in determining any subsequent user interaction. The purpose of this study has been explored by eliciting answers to two research questions in specific. The study primarily investigates a user's perception of a tailored onboarding experience. Following this, the impact of these tutorials on the user's performance has also been used as a way to verify their effectiveness.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The emergence of educational crowdsourcing platforms has revolutionized traditional models of teaching and learning by engaging students in collaborative, real-world problem-solving activities. However, the success of crowdsourcing platforms in education largely depends on their ability to provide a positive and engaging user experience, particularly for first-time users. As a part of another ongoing study, the need for an engaging onboarding tutorial to educate users on the concept of worked-out examples and peer evaluations was evident. Thus, the interventions developed in this study are built upon a crowdsourcing platform designed to collect worked-out examples from university students. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, this study seeks to provide insights into the design of effective onboarding tutorials in the context of crowdsourcing educational resources. There have been numerous attempts to devise effective onboarding strategies. For instance, the interplay of narration and animation has been utilized as a way to gamify and design engaging FTUEs. The design choices for tailoring the experience were hence determined through Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE) methods. Analysis of the experimental data shows that there is a statistically significant improvement in the FTUE when users are presented with a tailored onboarding tutorial. Their usage patterns also tend to improve post their interactions with the tutorials. These results hope to contribute to a better understanding of user engagement in FTUEs, thus paving the way for furthering product adoption and value metrics on a broad scale.</p>

No description available.

<p>Platforms are now everywhere in our society. Some platforms share real-time information such that people can refer to many aspects, i.e., transportation, weather, news, etc. For example, online learning platforms can play a significant role in accelerating learning through things like providing more real-time feedback loops. Due to the recent innovation in mobile devices as well as faster networks, live streaming platforms become a new trend. Several usages of live streaming platforms are gaming experience sharing such as Twitch, or shopping experience like Amazon Live. My dissertation studies the strategic designs of different online platforms, especially how information affects users’ strategic behaviors and how it creates<br> different market outcomes.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Recent advancements in large language models such as ChatGPT and AU Large allow for the effective integration and application of LLMs into network devices such as switches and routers in terms of the ability to play a role in configuration and management. The given devices are an essential part of every network infrastructure, and the nature of physical networking topologies is complex, which leads to the need to ensure optimal network efficiency and security via meticulous and precise configurations.</p><p dir="ltr">The research explores the potential of an AI-driven interface that utilizes AU Large to streamline, enhance, and automate the configuration process of network devices while ensuring that the security of the whole process is guaranteed by running the entire system on-premise. Three core areas are of primary concern in the given study: the effectiveness of integrating the AU Large into network management systems, the impact on efficiency, accuracy, and error rates in network configurations, and the scalability and adaptability to more complex requirements and growing network environments.</p><p dir="ltr">The key performance metrics evaluated are the error rate in the generated configurations, scalability by looking at the performance as more network devices are added, and the ability to generate incredibly complex configurations accurately. The high-level results of the critical performance metrics show an evident correlation between increased device count and increased prompt complexity with a degradation in the performance of the AU Large model from Mistral AI.</p><p dir="ltr">This research has significant potential to alter preset network management practices by applying AI to make network configuration more efficient, reduce the scope for human error, and create an adaptable tool for diverse and complex networking environments. This research contributes to both AI and network management fields by highlighting a path toward the “future of network management.”</p>

Ce projet de recherche vise à explorer le rôle du design dans l’acte d’achat et l’évaluation des produits. L’hypothèse de recherche repose sur le fait que le design est un obstacle à la rationalité dans le choix d’un bien, car ce dernier est rattaché à des singularités qui lui sont propres, le rendant difficilement comparable aux autres biens d’un même marché. Les produits deviennent difficiles à évaluer et à classer parmi les autres biens similaires dans le marché. En soi, la finalité et les vertus du design permettent aux consommateurs d’avoir une plus grande liberté de choix, mais ce rôle dynamique et économique que peut prendre le design peut aussi confondre les consommateurs devenant brouillés par l’abondance de choix. En ce sens, le design serait la clé de la voûte d’une économie des singularités telle que proposée par Lucien Karpik dans L’économie des singularités. Avec une méthodologie ethnologique, cinq projets d’évaluation de produits au sein de deux organismes produisant des dispositifs d’aide à la consommation ont été observés sur une période de deux ans. À la conclusion de cette étude, il a été démontré que certaines améliorations pouvaient être apportées aux processus d’évaluation, plus particulièrement en ce qui concerne les facteurs qui ne sont pas pris en compte dans les dispositifs d’aide à la consommation actuels, comme l’évaluation de produits centrée sur l’usager à l’aide de scénarios d’usages, plutôt que l’évaluation de produits centrée sur l’objet, ainsi que la considération de l’expérience de l’usager dans l’évaluation des biens. / This research project aims at exploring the role of design within the act of purchasing and rating products. This premise is based on the fact that design is an obstacle to an individual’s rationality when choosing goods because they are multidimensional and of uncertain quality, as proposed by Lucien Karpik. This creates a difficulty faced by consumers when trying to find comparable products on the market. The research hypothesis of this project suggests that design is an obstacle to reason by offering multidimensional products to consumers. It then becomes harder for them to evaluate singular products available on the market, and to make wise consumption choices. One of the aims of design is to offer users freedom of choice, but this dynamic and economic role of design can also lead to confusion, where consumers become blinded by the abundance of choices. In this sense, design would be the keystone of a singularity-based economy. Five product rating projects were observed on a two-year period within two agencies involved in producing consumption aid devices by using an ethnological approach. The conclusion of this study has shown that some improvements could be made to the product rating processes, particularly for the facts that have not been accounted for in the actual consumption aid devices, such as user-centered product ratings based on user scenarios instead of object-centered product ratings, as well as considering user experience in product evaluation.

Målet med detta praktiska examensarbete var att ta fram ett färdigt förslag på en ny startsida åt en idrottsorganisation för dess webbplats byggd på WordPress. Detta har åstadkommits genom att ha analyserat den befintliga startsidan samt fyra utomstående idrottsorganisationers webbplatsers startsidor. Analysen resulterade i en Low-Fidelity Wireframe över flödet på den nya startsidan, samt en hårdkodad High-Fidelity Prototyp. Det hela mynnade ut i ett WordPress Child-tema till idrottsorganisationens webbplats befintliga Parent-tema som var väl anpassad efter idrottsorganisationens önskemål och krav, samt byggd med responsivitet i åtanke för att möta den växande skara besökare på mobila enheter. / The goal with this practical thesis was to develop a finished proposal of a new home page to a sport organization for its website built on WordPress. This has been achieved by analyzing the existing home page, as well as the home page of four external sports organization’s websites. The analysis resulted in a Low-Fidelity Wireframe showing the main flow of the new home page, as well as a hard coded High-Fidelity Prototype. It all resulted in a WordPress Child-theme to the existing Parent-theme for the sport organization’s website that was well adapted to the organization’s wishes and demands, and built with responsive web design in mind to meet the growing group of visitors on mobile devices.

To a large extent, business-customer interactions are acted out on digital meeting places. When the possibilities for businesses to engage in face-to-face interactions decrease, relationship building and customer service becomes more of a challenge. Digital services are easily duplicated by competitors and with standardization of interfaces and products, customers tend to switch more frequently between providers. One area where the creation and maintenance of loyal customers appears to be highly relevant is the domain of e-banking. Studies have shown that by personalizing the experience for the user, customer loyalty can be enhanced. Existing methods of interface adaptation shifts the responsibility for the resulting user experience design from the designer to either the user or the system. However, research shows that handing over responsibility for the design to the user can damage the user experience. Furthermore, we argue that as long as computers cannot translate the meaning of what a human communicates, and understand the motivation that lies behind her actions, human designers and researchers need to own the responsibility for designing user experiences. Responsive web design differ from the concept of user responsiveness in the way that it is not truly responsive to the user but to the technical device that is used. Following a design science research methodology, this paper presents the development of a conceptual framework for user responsive user experience design (URUXD) that aims to strengthen the bond between user and provider by enabling a more relevant and personalized user experience. The conceptual framework introduces a way to design user responsive information systems that could be useful in domains where the user audience is large and diverse, as in the case of e-banking. A personalized user experience is enabled by transcending the current use of personas as design tools to also involve them in categorizing real-time users through the use of personas as mapping tools. Multiple persona sets are incorporated in the framework which gives the user experience designer the possibility of designing a holistic user experience for each persona set. The framework thus enables the incorporation of multiple GUI designs in an information system that is user responsive, without the risk of violating usability principles. / Interaktionen mellan företag och kund sker nuförtiden oftast på digitala mötesplatser. När möjligheten för företag att träffa kunden öga mot öga minskar blir det en utmaning att skapa nära affärsrelationer och förmedla bra kundservice. Med konkurrenter som enkelt kopierar digitala tjänster och med en standardisering av gränssnitt och tjänster tenderar kunder att oftare byta leverantör. Inom e-banking framstår därför skapande och upprätthållande av lojala kunder som högst relevant. Genom att personifiera användarupplevelsen kan kundlojaliteten förbättras. Befintliga metoder för gränssnittsadaption lämnar över ansvaret för den resulterande designen från designern till antingen användaren eller systemet. Men, om ansvaret för designen tilldelas användaren kan resultatet bli i en skadad användarupplevelse. Så länge datorer inte kan översätta meningen bakom vad en människa kommunicerar eller skapa en förståelse för en användares bakomliggande motivation till varför hen utför handlingar, måste mänskliga designers inneha ansvaret för designen av användarupplevelsen. Vidare skiljer sig responsiv webbdesign från konceptet användarresponsivitet i meningen att responsiv webbdesign inte är direkt responsiv mot användaren utan snarare mot den tekniska apparat som används. Genom att följa en design science forskningsmetodik utvecklades ett konceptuellt ramverk för design av användarresponsiva användarupplevelser (user responsive user experience design (URUXD)). Målet var att stärka bandet mellan användare och leverantör genom att möjliggöra en mer relevant och personifierad användarupplevelse. Det konceptuella ramverket introducerar ett sätt att designa användarresponsiva informationssystem vilket kan vara användbart i domäner där användargruppen är stor och heterogen, vilket är fallet för e-banking. En personifierad användarupplevelse möjliggörs genom att utöka det befintliga användningsområdet för designverktyget personas till att även inkludera dem som mappningssverktyg för att kategorisera användare i realtid. Multipla persona sets införlivas i ramverket vilket skapar möjlighet för designern att skapa en holistisk användarupplevelse för varje enskilt persona set. Det konceptuella ramverket möjliggör därigenom för multipla gränssnittdesigns för ett informationssystem som därmed blir användarresponsivt, utan att underminera principer för användbarhet.

The electric vehicle industry is under rapid development and the fleet of chargeable cars in society is increasing fast. As a result, a high demand for public chargers has emerged. Simultaneous to the expansion of the electric vehicle fleet and charging infrastructure the power grid is occasionally highly strained. Additionally, factors like cities expanding and the digitization of society also have a large effect on the power grid. This master's thesis investigates the characteristics of electric vehicle users and presents a prototype of an information display for electric vehicle charging stations. The design is is based on the user studies and founded in theory about sustainable user behaviour with the goal of encouraging behaviours that minimize the strain on the local power grid of Uppsala. It concerns the research topic of how to design for sustainable behaviour and address research questions of how to design electric vehicle charging station information to communicate multiple charging alternatives to a broad variety of users. The work reveals that electric vehicle users suffer from the charging infrastructure being underdeveloped, feel frustration towards payment solutions available and lack information regarding electric vehicle use. Also, electric vehicle user's common passion for tech and environmental consciousness are revealed in the study. These facts are used as the foundation for the mobile application design prototype suggested.

The interactions with everyday products and technology are often done without being noticed or reflected upon. Interactions driving a vehicle are happening automatically for most people when having experience driving. With the innovative shift within the automotive industry toward connectivity and autonomous driving, new demands on the interaction and communication between humans and machines are created.   This thesis project was carried out in collaboration with Volvo Cars and the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE) within their joint research project SCREENS. Their project aims to investigate whether implementing Augmented Reality in Head-Up Displays (AR-HUD), and other vehicle technologies can benefit users in perceiving and understanding the environment when driving. Misapplied technology may result in users misperceiving visual information causing faulty decision making resulting in accidents and interaction errors. Their research objective implementing automotive technology benefitting safer driving, better cars, and competitive advantages for Volvo Cars. This thesis objective was to design visual information for a navigation feature in AR-HUD and implement the graphics into a Volvo XC60 concept car. The implemented graphics were then evaluated with users operating the vehicle in realistic environments. The results were analyzed to investigate if positive perceptual, attentional, and safety aspects using AR-HUD could be indicated. The project aim was to design and explore the user interactions resulting in valuable insights from an industrial design engineering perspective for future research.   The thesis project had a human-centered design approach following a modified version of the iterative cycle for human-centered design process. Stages of ideating, implementing, evaluating, and analyzing were iterated two times during the twenty-week project. The user experiences from interacting with the system were fundamental during the project, relating design decisions to qualitative and quantitative data collected during evaluations.   From the user evaluations could indications be found that AR-HUD aided the driver in keeping their eyes on the road more frequently using AR guidance compared to traditional HUD guidance. Aspects to consider when designing visual navigation information were found and related to relevant theory about visual perception and human information processing. The most critical aspect regarding the implementation of visual information was the timing of when graphics appear. Qualitative and quantitative data collected indicated that easily perceived information presented at the right time and duration was the most important aspect to consider when creating human-machine interfaces providing good user interactions. / Interaktioner med vardagliga produkter och teknik görs ofta utan att de uppmärksammas och reflekteras över. Att köra bil är en interaktion med ett fordon som för många människor sker automatiskt tack vare erfarenhet användarna har att köra bil. Med det innovativa skiftet inom fordonsindustrin mot uppkopplingsbara och självkörande fordon skapar nya krav på interaktionerna och kommunikationen mellan människan och maskinen.   Detta examensarbete genomfördes i samarbete med Volvo Cars och Research Institute of Sweden (RISE) inom deras gemensamma forskningsprojekt SCREENS. Deras projekt syftar till att undersöka implementeringen av förstärkt verklighet i Head-Up-displayer (AR-HUD) samt andra fordonsteknologier och om det kan gynna användare när de uppfattar och förstår miljön när de kör bil. Feltillämpad teknik kan leda till att användare missuppfattar visuell information, vilket orsakar felaktigt beslutsfattande som leder till olyckor och interaktionsfel. Deras forskningsmål är att implementera fordonsteknik som gynnar säkrare körning, bättre bilar och konkurrensfördelar för Volvo Cars. Målet med detta examensarbete var att designa visuell information för en navigeringsfunktion i AR-HUD och implementera grafiken i en Volvo XC60 konceptbil. Den implementerade grafiken utvärderades sedan med användare som körde fordonet i realistiska miljöer. Resultaten analyserades för att undersöka om positiva perceptuella, uppmärksamhets- och säkerhetsaspekter med AR-HUD kunde indikeras. Projektets syfte var att designa och utforska användarinteraktionerna resulterande i värdefulla insikter ur ett industridesigntekniskt perspektiv för framtida forskning.   Examensarbetet hade en användarcentrerad designstrategi och har följt en modifierad version av designprocessen iterativa cykeln för användarcentrerad design. Stadier av idégenerering, implementering, utvärdering och analys upprepades två gånger under det tjugo veckor långa projektet. Användarnas erfarenheter från interaktionen med systemet var central under projektet och designbeslut baserades på kvalitativa och kvantitativa data som samlats in under användarutvärderingarna.   Från användarutvärderingarna upptäcktes indikationer att AR-HUD hjälpte förare att hålla ögonen på vägen mer när de använde AR-vägledning, jämfört med traditionell HUD-vägledning. Aspekter att beakta vid design av visuell navigeringsinformation hittades och relaterades till relevant teori om visuell perception och mänsklig informationsbehandling. Den viktigaste aspekten som indikerades när det gäller implementeringen av visuell information var timingen för när grafik visas. Kvalitativa och kvantitativa data som samlats in visade att lättuppfattad information presenterad vid rätt tidpunkt och varaktighet var den viktigaste aspekten att ta hänsyn till när man skapar gränssnitt för kommunikationen mellan människa och maskin som resulterar i bra användarinteraktioner.