Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-16T15:23:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 24632260 bytes, checksum: 2ed7166defd24ef86a369b76780a4306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Information access and use is everywhere, and the way we are interacting with it is constantly changing. Access to and use of information are transcending the Internet; it is going beyond the use of personal computers. Post-PC devices (tablets, smartphones, etc., network resources and real-time information systems are making our interactions with pervasive and ubiquitous information. This research project seeks to assess the level of satisfaction of users in a digital information environment, structured from a I pervasive Information Architecture. The methodology is characterized as being a research type qualitative - quantitative, descriptive and exploratory, whose research universe are the universe of managers and entrepreneurs in the Business Incubation Program of Universidade Federal de Goiás - PROINE /UFG. From this study it was possible to compose a diagnostic view of the processes of transferring and receiving information through the use of instruments, methodological and technological resources for the development of hybrid information spaces, making it possible to identify the actors, artifacts and context involved in ubiquitous ecologies / A informação está em toda parte, e a maneira como estamos interagindo com ela está em constante mudança. O acesso e o uso da informação estão transcendendo a Internet, vão além da utilização dos computadores pessoais. Dispositivos móveis (Tablets, smartphones e outros), recursos de rede e sistemas de informação em tempo real estão tornando nossas interações com a informação constantes e onipresentes. A pesquisa em questão procura avaliar o nível de satisfação dos usuários de um ambiente informacional digital, estruturado a partir de uma Arquitetura da Informação pervasiva. Caracteriza-se como uma pesquisa do tipo quali-quanti, descritiva e exploratória, que tem como universo os gestores e empreendedores do Programa de Incubação de Empresas da Universidade Federal de Goiás PROINE/ UFG. A partir deste estudo será possível compor uma visão diagnóstica dos processos de transferência e obtenção de informações através da utilização de instrumentos, recursos metodológicos e tecnológicos para o desenvolvimento de espaços informacionais híbridos, tornando possível apontar os atores, artefatos e o contexto envolvidos em ecologias ubíquas.

The companies are operating in complex, dynamic and uncertain environments that it difficult to compete. The e-economy each time has a major presence in business world, then, the small entrepreneurs must design strategies based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), particularly the use of Internet, to improve company performance. Thus, the efficient implementation of websites is a mechanism that should exploit exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or with export potential, of the handicrafts industry, to communicate desired company image and optimize customer service, this it has implications who require to be analyzed to make an effective use of the ICTs. / Las empresas actualmente se desenvuelven en entornos complejos, dinámicos e inciertos que hacen difícil competir. Ya que la economía digital cada vez tiene mayor presencia en el mundo de los negocios, entonces, los pequeños empresarios deben diseñar estrategias basadas en las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC), particularmente el uso de Internet, para mejorar el desempeño de la empresa. Así, la implementación de sitios web eficientes es un mecanismo que deben explotar las PYMES exportadoras o con potencial exportador del sector artesanías para comunicar la imagen deseada de la empresa y optimizar así la atención al cliente; esto tiene implicancias que requieren ser analizadas para hacer un uso eficaz de las TIC.

Syftet med användbarhet är att på ett enkelt och tillfredställande sätt hjälpa en användare att uppnå ett specificerat mål. En produkts användbarhet påverkas därför av olika faktorer. Faktorer som en dators prestanda, hårdvara, användargränssnitt och upplevd kvalitet är några av de parametrar som bör tas i åtanke när studenten väljer en bärbar dator som ska underlätta och effektivisera studierna. 225 studenter deltog i en enkätundersökning där de uppgav hur mycket olika faktorer påverkade deras val av dator. Resultatet visade att studenter värdesätter laptops med bra prestanda, lång batteritid och tekniska aspekter som passar deras behov. Det mest förekommande syftet med datorerna var att underlätta studenternas studier och faktorer som prestanda, vikt och storlek avgjorde datorns användbarhet för detta ändamål. Studien bekräftade att varumärken associeras med kvalitet och att kvaliteten på produkterna var det som fick studenterna att vara lojala gentemot varumärket. Faktorer som hårdvara, prestanda, användargränssnitt och kvalitet påverkar användarens möjlighet att nå sina mål på ett effektivt sätt och behöver anpassas efter individens funktionella och emotionella behov för att uppnå optimal användbarhet. / The purpose of usability is to help the user reach their goals in a simple and satisfactory manner. A product’s usability is therefore affected by various aspects. Aspects such as performance, hardware, user interface, and perceived quality, are some of the parameters that should be taken into consideration when students choose a laptop that will be beneficial for their studies. 225 students participated in a survey where they rated and explained how much certain aspects affected their choice of laptop. The results showed that students value laptops with good performance, long battery life, and technical aspects that suit their needs. The most common use of the laptops were to aid them in their studies, and aspects such as performance, weight and size of the laptop determined whether or not the laptop would be useful for this purpose. The study confirmed that brands are associated with quality and that product quality was one of the reasons to why students became loyal towards a brand of computers. Aspects such as hardware, performance, user interface, and quality affects the user’s ability to reach their goals in an effective manner, and therefore needs to be suited after the individuals’ functional and emotional needs to achieve optimal usability.

This thesis assesses the speed of adaptation and adoption of computing systems from an adult first-time user perspective in South Africa, with the aim of determining if it could ultimately lead to the reduction of the existing digital gap. As is evident from the social, educational, and economical gap for some observers, the reality of the existence of the digital gap in South Africa is undeniable. Constant non-targeted progress is made toward addressing imbalances, which seem to be more visible as the number of constant and permanent users is visibly increasing. These observed phenomena are mostly noticed amongst urban, educated, younger, middle-class citizens. The forgotten “missing middle” are left to fend for themselves. These are people who are still outside the digital drive the world is experiencing based on their schooling grade, geographical location, income level, and age. They were not in school when computer literacy was introduced, and they were too poor to teach themselves how to use a computer, too remote to observe the digital drive, and too old to learn from their peers. As citizens, their welfare matters, and when assessing the penetration of ICT in the country, their numbers also matter. One cannot ignore their presence and the difficulties and frustration that they experience when coming into contact with a computing system for the first time. The researcher is of the view that the presence of a computing system may not simply translate to the closure of the digital gap. In other words, people may gain access to a computer, but without computing usability skills or Internet connectivity it may not add value to their daily activities. Closing the digital gap in South Africa can be seen as political propaganda, but the reality is, how do we measure and assess it? It comes down to users, and in this particular case, attention is turned to the “missing middle”, here referred to as the adult first-time user. This is simply someone who is over the age of 18 years, lives in a rural community in South Africa, never completed school, and is using a computer for the first time. The researcher used a handheld tablet system as a tool to assess the participants’ adequacy in terms of the rate at which they complete tasks by developing mathematical equations which were placed together within an assessment metric that was later used to determine user proficiency, as well as their adaptation and user experience in order to determine if the participant can later adopt the device and take advantage of it. By so doing, the metric will comprise variables such as the user movement time, task completion success rate, task completion speed, user satisfaction, user reaction time, user completion rate per activity, time-based efficiency, and the assessment of the level of frustration any adult first-time user may experience while interacting with the system for the first time. The term “digital gap” may not be new to the ICT sphere, but no one has taken the step towards assessing it. The digital gap is no longer the absence of computing systems in many communities but rather the presence of inadequate user experience, which has not been properly measured and documented. The user experience metric (UXM) that was developed in this study provided the researcher with the opportunity to reassess the issue of systems adaptation, adoption, and usability by adult first-time users. This research is particularly driven by sound interaction design principles, user adaptation, and usability and user experience / Ph. D. (Information Systems) / School of Computing

De nos jours, les appareils mobiles hébergent de nombreuses applications directement téléchargées et installées à partir d'un "Store" d'applications mobiles. L'existence d'une telle quantité d'applications pour une multitude d'objectifs impose une énorme surcharge sur les utilisateurs, qui doivent sélectionner, installer, supprimer et exécuter les applications appropriées.En outre, ces applications ont négligé la prise en compte du contexte de l'utilisateur. Elles proposent des scénarios d'utilisation statiques et non évolutifs. Ces applications servent à des fins spécifiques et sont supprimées ou oubliées, la plupart du temps, après la première utilisation. De plus, ces applications ne tiennent pas compte du monde des objets connectés en raison de leur architecture monolithique mise en œuvre pour fonctionner sur des appareils individuels. La solution proposée et intitulée "Long Life Application" offre une nouvelle façon de répondre aux besoins de l'utilisateur de façon dynamique et distribuée. Elle propose une évolution continue des applications (encours d'exécution) en ajoutant, supprimant, et déplaçant des fonctionnalités sur les appareils utilisés par l’utilisateur. Elle permet, aussi, de modifier le mode d'interaction en distribuant les exécutions sur plusieurs appareils en fonction des besoins de l'utilisateur. Pendant que l’utilisateur se déplace dans son environnement, l'application détecte des événements environnementaux et construit des situations contextuellement décrites. Ainsi, ce travail vise à offrir un nouveau type d'applications mobiles capables de détecter, de formuler et de comprendre le contexte des utilisateurs puis de réagir en conséquence. / Nowadays, mobile devices host many applications that are directly downloaded and installed from mobile application stores. The existence of such a large amount of apps for a myriad of purposes imposes a huge overhead on users, who are in charge of selecting, installing, and executing the appropriate apps, as well as deleting them when no longer needed. Moreover, these applications have mostly neglected to take into account the user’s context, as they propose static non-evolving scenarios. These applications serve for specific purposes and get deleted or forgotten most of the time after the first use. Furthermore, these apps fail to consider the, soon coming, connected world due to their monolithic architecture implemented to work on single devices. The proposed long-life application provides a new way to respond to the user’s needs dynamically and distributedly. It evolves at runtime by including/excluding business functionalities, updating the interaction mode, and migrating executions on multiple devices according to the user’s preferences. While he/she moves in his/her surroundings, the app detects the occurring events and builds contextually-described situations. So, this work aims to offer a new type of mobile application able to detect, formulate and understand the users’ context then react accordingly.

The research conducted in this study aims to answer if it would be possible to gamify an Intranet for a Municipality (Ekerö Municipality in Sweden) and it also investigates what usability needs are the most important to meet. The study is based on Delone and McLean's IS success model. Furthermore, there is an assumption that there is too much irrelevant information on the old intranet. The study is based on qualitative interviews and shows that the employees of the municipality are affected by the qualities of the success model, information quality, functionality, and service. It also shows that personalization, as well as good user-friendliness and well-structured content, are values appreciated by employees. The users are also positively set for gamification.

[pt] A pesquisa parte do princípio de que as histórias em quadrinhos constituem um importante meio de entretenimento e comunicação. Em decorrência da característica de mesclar imagem e texto como nenhuma outra forma de arte, se desenvolveram em um nicho próprio. Considera-se que a linguagem das HQs evolui a partir da estrutura de códice com seu sistema de páginas. Detentora de uma linguagem visual própria percebe-se na contemporaneidade, transformações com o advento das tecnologias. Atualmente, podem ser lidas em dispositivos móveis agregando incrementos ao se aproximar de outras mídias. Diante deste novo paradigma digital atinge nível de mobilidade que o computador pessoal não permitia, propondo um novo nicho de expressão e produção artística. Com foco na fruição e leitura em plataformas digitais, a pesquisa traça um panorama dos principais aplicativos de distribuição e leitura enquanto analisa títulos e narrativas específicas. Também aborda a evolução da linguagem visual das histórias em quadrinhos, contemplando a transposição para o mundo digital na internet e aspectos relacionados com a adaptação para os dispositivos móveis. / [en] This research is based on the principle that comics represent an important form of entertainment and communication. Due to its capability to combine image and text like no other art form, it establishes itself as a unique means of expression. We could determine that its configuraton originates from pages of a códex structure. Since it holds its own specific visual language. Nowadays comics can be read on mobile devices more elements in connection with other media. On account of these new digital paradigms comics reach a mobility level that the personal computer alone coudn t offer, opening up new áreas of expression and artistic creativity. Considering its utilization in digital platforms, this study presents a outline of the main applications in its circulation and reading, trying at the same time to analyze titles and specific characteristics. It also covers the evolution of the visual language in comics, including its transposition to the digital world of the interner as well as other aspects related to the adaptation to the mobile devices.

I dagens samhälle är användningen av sociala medier större än någonsin och den ökar för varje år. Med den stora användningen följer många positiva effekter som till exempel sociala interaktioner, lättillgänglig information, samt nytta och nöje. Det finns också negativa effekter som till exempel att användarnas välmående påverkas. Tidigare forskning visar på att det finns både psykiska och fysiska negativa följder vid överdriven användning av sociala medier. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar digital natives beteende och användarupplevelse vid användning av sociala medier, samt hur ett verktyg kan utvecklas för att öka användarens upplevda beteendekontroll. Studien grundar sig i ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av användarupplevelse, Theory of planned behavior och Persuasive technology, vilka tillsammans bidrar till en djupare förståelse av användarna. Med ett kvalitativt arbetssätt genomfördes fyra dagboksundersökningar och sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med deltagare som identifierar sig som kvinnor. Tidigare forskning visar på att kvinnor i större omfång än män drabbas av negativa effekter vid användning av sociala medier, vilket är anledningen till att urvalet endast bestod av kvinnor i denna studie. Alla studiedeltagare var även digital natives, det vill säga personer som vuxit upp med teknologi och besitter stora tekniska kunskaper. Resultatet visade på att användning av sociala medier till stor del påverkas av attityder gentemot dem, subjektiva normer och av den upplevda beteendekontrollen. Den sociala pressen av användningen, påverkan av vänner och familj samt den egna upplevda kontrollen över användningen var starka mönster som framkom i undersökningarna. Ett automatiserat beteende där användningen inte alltid skedde medvetet var en återkommande faktor som togs i beaktande vid utvecklingen av gränssnittet. Med hjälp av termen användarupplevelse samt Theory of planned behavior kunde studiedeltagarnas beteende och upplevelser förstås och tolkas. Denna förståelse tillsammans med Persuasive technology bidrog till ett förslag på ett hjälpmedel i form av ett gränssnitt där fokus ligger på att försöka förbättra användarupplevelsen och den upplevda beteendekontrollen, vilket i sin tur kan minska de negativa effekter som kan uppstå vid användning av sociala medier. / In today's society the use of social media is greater than ever and it increases every year. With this extensive use there are some positives, such as social interactions and easily accessible information, as well as uses for business and pleasure. There are also negative effects such as the well-being of users being compromised. Previous research shows that there are both negative psychological and physical consequences associated with excessive use of social media. The aim of the study was to examine what factors influence digital natives’ behavior and user experience when using social media, as well as how to develop a tool that increases the user’s perceived behavioral control. The study is based on a theoretical framework consisting of User Experience, Theory of Planned Behavior and Persuasive Technology, that together contribute to a deeper understanding of the users. With a qualitative approach, four diary studies and six semi-structured interviews were carried out with participants identifying as women. Previous research shows that women to a greater extent than men suffer from adverse effects following the use of social media, which is why the participants consisted of women in this study. All participants were digital natives, that is, people who grew up with technology and hold great technical knowledge. The results indicated that the use of social media was largely influenced by attitudes towards it, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. The social pressure of usage, the influence of friends and family as well as the perceived control of use were strong patterns found in the surveys. An automated behavior where usage was not always a conscious choice was a recurring factor that was taken into account in the development of the interface. With the help of the term user experience and Theory of planned behavior, the behavior and user experiences of the informants could be understood and interpreted. This understanding, along with Persuasive technology, contributed to a proposal for an interface focusing on trying to improve user experience and perceived behavioral control, which in turn can reduce the negative effects that may occur when using social media.

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