Qu’est-ce qui nous pousse à utiliser un outil, et pourquoi un outil est-il accepté ou rejeté par un utilisateur ? Cette thèse propose d’étudier la question de l’acceptabilité (i.e. l'intention a priori d’utiliser un outil avant une utilisation) et surtout de l’acceptation (i.e. la décision ou l’intention d’utiliser un outil après une utilisation réelle), en l’examinant sous l’angle des aspects cognitifsde l’utilisation d’outils. Après une revue de la littérature sur ce sujet, qui recense 142 critères de l’acceptation, nous proposons une nouvelle grille de lecture théorique en classant les critères présents dans la littérature en quatre catégorie de critères : l’utilité, la facilité, l’esthétique et un dernier critère regroupant les différences contextuelles et individuelles de l’utilisateur. Suite ànotre partie théorique, qui explore également le domaine des outils cognitifs, les mécanismes de la prise de décision dans l’utilisation d’outils et le rôle de la métacognition, des résultats expérimentaux sont également présentés. Dans un premier ensemble d’expériences, les participants sont face à des outils physiques qui varient selon différents critères (utilité, facilitéet esthétisme). Nous nous intéressons aux différences qu’il existe entre les phases d’acceptabilité (exposition à court terme) et d’acceptation (exposition à long terme), notamment dans les représentations qu’ont les utilisateurs des outils, et si les préférences des utilisateurs sont guidées par des critères propres à l’outil. Les résultats montrent qu’il existe une hiérarchiedes critères. Dans la phase d’acceptabilité, c’est le critère de la facilité qui a la plus grande influence. En revanche, dans la phase de l’acceptation, c’est le critère de l’utilité qui a une plus grande influence, que ça soit en terme de préférence (classement des outils) ou de temps passé sur l’outil. L’esthétique n’a aucune influence sur les choix des utilisateurs. Dans un second ensemble d’expériences, nous étudions l’influence des performances pour différentes fonctions cognitives dans l’utilisation d’outils. Des participants sont exposés à des outils cognitifs qui assistent différentes fonctions cognitives (mémoire, attention visuelle, prise de décision). Nous avons cherché à savoir dans quelles fonctions cognitives les utilisateurs préfèrent être assistés, et si ces préférences sont rationnelles, à savoir si elles sont en lien avec leurs performances ou la méta-représentation de leurs performances dans ces mêmes fonctions cognitives. On observe que l’outil assistant la mémoire de travail est largement préféré, mais qu’il existe des profils d’utilisateurs, certains préférant être assisté en attention visuelle ou en prise de décision. Cette préférence est basée sur la méta-représentation de la performance, et non sur la performance enelle-même. Les résultats montrent en effet que plus les sujets estiment qu’ils sont mauvais dans une fonction cognitive, plus ils vont utiliser un outil qui assiste cette même fonction cognitive, et ce indépendamment de leurs performances réelles dans cette fonction cognitive. Enfin, une discussion générale étudie l’impact des résultats obtenus dans cette thèse. Dans cette dernièrepartie du manuscrit, nous proposons de réfléchir et de conclure sur les conséquences et les implications de nos résultats, et nous avançons des perspectives et des questionnements sur les évolutions futures des questions liées à l’acceptation de l’outil. / What drives us to use a tool, and why is a tool accepted or rejected by a user? This thesis proposes to study the question of acceptability (i.e. the a priori intention to use a tool, before use) and especially of the acceptance (i.e. the decision or the intention to use a tool, after real use), from the perspective of cognitive aspects of tool use. After a review of the literature onthis subject, which lists 142 criteria of acceptance, we propose a new theoretical reading grid by classifying the criteria present in the literature in four categories of criteria: Utility, ease of use, aesthetic and a final criterion, social, contextual and individual differences. Following our theoretical part, which also explores the field of cognitive tools, the mechanisms of decision making in the use of tools and the role of metacognition, experimental results are also presented. In a first set of experiments, participants are faced with physical tools that vary according to different criteria (utility, ease of use and aesthetics). We are interested in the differences between acceptability and acceptance phases and by criteria specific to the tool which guide user representations of tools and user preferences. The results show that there is a hierarchy of criteria. In the acceptability phase, it is the ease of use criterion that has the greatest influence. On the other hand, in the acceptance phase, the criterion of utility has a greater influence, whether in terms of preference (ranking position) or time spent on the tool. Aesthetics has no influence on user choices. In a second set of experiments, we study the influence of performances for different cognitive functions in the use of tools. Participants are exposed to cognitive tools that support different cognitive functions (memory, selective visual attention,decision making). We have sought to know in which cognitive functions users prefer to be assisted, and whether these preferences are rational, i.e. whether they are related to their performance or the meta-representation of their performance in these same cognitive functions. In the results, we observe that the tool assisting the working memory is widely preferred, butthat there are user profiles, some preferring to be assisted in visual attention or decision making. This preference is based on the meta-representation of the performance, and not on the performance itself. The results show that the more the subjects feel that they are bad in a cognitive function, the more they will use a tool that assists this same cognitive function, regardless of their actual performance in this cognitive function. Finally, a general discussion studies the impact of the results obtained in this thesis. In this last part of the manuscript, we propose to reflect and conclude on the consequences and the implications of our results, and we propose perspectives and questions on the future evolutions of the questions related to the acceptance of the tool.

This study sets out to explore and test the application of narrative and personification to the interface design and user experience of a search engine. The motivational and collaborative aspects of a search agent narrative will be examined and tested as a technique for increasing the volume and quality of data submitted to an open-content search engine by its users.

In November 2012 Uppsala County Council (UCC) introduced an eHealth service, ‘My Health Record’, that gives all inhabitants over age 18 in Uppsala County access to their health records online. However, this service has not been evaluated before this study. We conducted an interview study, based on User Experience (UX) and Patient empowerment, with users of ‘My Health Record’ to get their opinions, and to see if and how the service can be improved. Our findings shows that the users are positive to the service and the aspects that can be improved mostly concern information and communication. Based on these results, we propose design principles as well as concrete design proposals which can be useful for re-designing the service as well as inspiration for similar projects. Additionally, an interesting finding is that the interviewees had very few opinions and complains on the actual interface, which could mean that the content (the health record) is so interesting that the interface becomes almost “invisible”. A conclusion we make is that UX and Patient empowerment is a good fit for each other, and that UX has advantages over traditional usability in services like this.

Many people use personal informatics systems to gather personal behavioral data, make better decisions, and make changes to their behavior. While the proliferation of new products on the market makes collecting personal data easier, how to help people engage with these systems over a long period of time remains an open question. To uncover which features of personal informatics systems lead to engaging experience and long-term use, two user studies were conducted with people who use personal informatics systems to support or track behavior change. Baseline interviews were conducted and participants were asked to interact with personal informatics systems. Participants rated their experience both qualitatively and quantitatively and particularly in Study2, participants rated their experience with the system daily. At the beginning and at the end of each study, participants were asked to reflect on their physical activity levels and on their perceived behavior change at the end of the each study. The results were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively and similarities and differences between the studies were exhibited. This research reveals that easy and instant access to data is critical, and feeling good and positive social outcomes of interaction will also support sustained product use. In addition, personalization of data is emerged to be an important expectation of the users. At the end, design implications for future personal informatics system are also offered.

Today's technology offers a variety of opportunities to interact with the interactive systems. Human-Computer Interaction in the last decade is the area of research that has contributed the most to this development. But how is this interaction perceived? The user experience is something that is formed by the interaction between human and the computer interactive systems. The objective of this thesis is to investigate how the user experience differs depending on how one interacts with a game. In this empirical study we have chosen to examine three common interaction styles that current technology offers that is, gamepad, touch screen and gesture-based interaction. A qualitative method of data collection method has been used. We studied the interaction behavior of three people through observation, video recordings and interview. Differences were observed in the patterns of behavior according to individual experiences and the various interaction styles. We could see, above all, that the gesture-based interaction was perceived as more authentic and gave a greater sense of game flow than the other two interaction styles.  / Dagens teknik erbjuder en rad olika möjligheter att interagera med interaktiva system. Människa-datorinteraktion har under det senaste decenniet varit det forskningsområde som bidragit mest till denna utveckling. Men hur upplevs interaktionen? Användarupplevelse är något som byggs upp genom ett samspel mellan människa och de datoriserade interaktiva systemen. Målet med vår uppsats har varit att undersöka om användarupplevelsen skiljer sig åt beroende på hur man interagerar med ett spel. Till vår studie har vi därför valt att undersöka tre vanligt förekommande interaktionsstilar som dagens teknik erbjuder i form av gamepad, pekskärm- och gestbaserad interaktion. En kvalitativ metod som datainsamlingsmetod har används till denna empiriska studie. Vi studerade tre personer genom observation och videoupptagning samt genomförde en efterföljande intervju vid varje tillfälle. Vi fann skillnader i mönster bland upplevelsen av de olika interaktionsstilarna, men framför allt kunde vi se att den gestbaserade interaktionen upplevdes som mer autentisk och fri i spelflödet än de andra två interaktionsstilarna.

User experience with public products needs special attention considering the specific context. Different from other consumer or personal products that users own, public products do not belong to the user / they are shared with and used in front of other people. Thus, different concerns and problems are incorporated affecting the user experiences. This thesis dwells on the effects of presence of other people on user-public product interaction. The relationships between social context, users&rsquo / feelings, and task performances constitute the basis of the thesis. These relationships were investigated by consulting to the literature, but mainly by conducting three empirical studies. All these studies revealed that the presence of other people affects the users&rsquo / feelings and task performances greatly.

This paper is a study of the aspects that are important to consider when designing an unobtrusive interaction for wearable devices in the area of extreme sports. The work is based on an analytical study of seemly-unrelated areas with the common facet that they all call for an unobtrusive interaction in their devices. The findings of the analysis conclude that it is necessary a change of direction in the design because it is not possible to design an unobtrusive interaction that relies on active manipulation. Activity theory and affective computing present theoretical principles with the potential to be used as a framework for HCI and solve the mentioned issues. Finally, I design the user interface of a specific case in the areas of mountain biking and skiing to use it as design-oriented research. An essential aspect of this case is the use of expert feedback and video simulations to drive the design process. Another important point is the definition of the situations and variables that will be observed by the system to adapt itself so it is able to continue being unobtrusive and helpful through the changes.

The User Experience (UX) has become a major concern for the design of consumer products. Today exist various tools for the evaluation of static properties of final products on their User Experience value. However, very few tools and methods are available that allow anticipating the future User Experience during the first stages of product conception. This thesis explores the wide range of design dimensions that potentially form the experience of the user. Dynamic product properties emerge as an important factor for User Experience. In the studies a software based on inspiration words and links, as well as the technique body storming are tested as a new means of User Experience generation. The produced early concepts and interaction gestures are then evaluated through a combination of questionnaires, behavioural and physiological measurements. The study results show firstly that a wide range of design dimension needs to be regarded to design for User Experience, secondly that it is possible to apply UX evaluations on early concepts and thirdly that UX evaluations can also be done on dynamic properties like interaction gestures. This thesis furthermore contributes design research and practice with a new model on the mechanism of User Experience and a list of design dimensions for early product conception.

Der vorliegende Usability-Bericht entstand im Rahmen eines Multimedia-Tutoriums, das dazu vorgesehen ist, praktisch umzusetzen, was in anderen Seminaren über Multimediapsychologie, Diagnostik der Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion, Softwaregestaltung und –evaluation sowie Screendesign theoretisch vermittelt wurde. Der Wettbewerb zur Evaluation der Webseite des Fachbereichs Mensch-Computer-Interaktion (FB MCI) der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI) bot uns durch die Aufgabenstellung eine geeignete Möglichkeit, übergreifendes theoretisches und psychologisch fundiertes Wissen an einem realen Beispiel anzuwenden und somit in die Praxis umzusetzen. Unser Team, bestehend aus sieben angehenden Usability-Experten, hat die Webseite des MCI ausführlich inspiziert und mit ausgewählten Methoden systematisch evaluiert. Dazu wurden in einem Auswahlprozess zwei geeignete Methoden gewählt. Unser Vorgehen ist in einem Projektplan festgehalten. Die Ergebnisse der Evaluation, deren Erhebung und die verwendeten Methoden sind in diesem Bericht ausführlich protokolliert.

La compréhension des dimensions centrales dans l’évaluation et l’adoption d’un produit technologique par les utilisateurs est un domaine de recherche en pleine expansion (Yeh & Teng, 2012). Les principaux précédents travaux ont été construits autour trois théories : l’acceptabilité/l’acceptation (i.e., variables à l’origine de l’adoption ; Dubois & Bobillier-Chaumon, 2010), l’expérience utilisateur (i.e., qualités fonctionnelles et non fonctionnelles influençant l’expérience avec un produit ; Hassenzahl, 2004) et les variables affectivo-motivationnelles (i.e., dimensions rattachées au fonctionnement humain influençant le jugement et le comportement). Cependant, à notre connaissance, aucune approche unifiée n’a étéproposée. Ainsi, l’objectif de cette thèse était de créer un nouvel outil de mesure en mettant en lien ces travaux théoriques. Pour ce faire, plusieurs études ont été conduites aux diverses temporalités du jugement utilisateur. Les résultats ont, tout d’abord, mis en avant des qualités psychométriques satisfaisantes pour l’outil de mesure proposé. De plus, les modélisations statistiques ont montré un effet majeur de l’utilité perçue à travers les temps d’évaluation. Les autres variables empruntées à ces divers champs théoriques ont des effets différents en fonction de la temporalité du jugement. Enfin, des travaux ont été conduits pour offrir des échelles à items uniques, limitant les problèmes de modélisationclassique des échelles courtes, afin de faciliter les futures expérimentations. / The understanding of main dimensions influencing the evaluation and adoption of technological product by users is a growing up research field (Yeh & Teng, 2012). Majority of previous research was based on three theories: acceptability/Acceptance (i.e., key variables in product adoption; Dubois & Bobillier- Chaumon, 2010), user experience (i.e., functional and non-functional qualities influencing experience with a product; Hassenzahl, 2004) and affective-motivational factors (i.e., dimensions related to human functioning influencing judgements and behaviors). Nevertheless, to our knowledge, no unified approach was proposed. Thus, the objective of the thesis was to create a new measurement tool linking these theoretical fields. For the purpose, several studies were conducted at several temporalities of user judgment. The results indicated satisfactory psychometrics proprieties for the proposed measurement tool. Moreover, the statistical modeling showed a main effect of perceived usefulness through evaluation time. Lastly, work has been done in order to propose single-items scales, limiting the classical modeling problems with short scales, to facilitate futures experimentations.