This report aims to discusse how to create more sustainable indoor greenery that can make benefit for people’s health and well-being. The accounts for sustainability in this project has three layers, which are design for people’s sustainable life (people’s health and well-being), design for sustainable indoor greenery and principles of sustainable design. The question I come up with in this project is “what is the sustainable relationship between people and indoor greenery”. The assumption I hope to challenge with my project is how to create a sustainable solution for house planting to bring back the nature into the daily experiences of city inhabitants by product design. As a result, people could have more sustainable and healthier life at home through living with nature in the urban settings. The content of this report demonstrates the whole steps (background and motivation, contexts, research, ideal generation, sketch and prototype, model making and visualization of results) towards the design results supported by theoretical studies.  The relevant studies I mention in this project are biophilic design, permaculture and NASA clean air study, which are related to sustainable indoor greenery and sustainable house planting relatively. The results obtained in this project include one product design - a planter that offers a sustainable way of cultivating health plants at home through reusing water and designing micro forest garden, and one product-based App design proposal - creating a house-planting community, in which people can communicate and support each other with sustainable house-planting tips and knowledge.

The thesis proposes a mobile app design along with an innovative business plan aiming to encourage sustainable purchasing. To uncover the limitations in current design practices, firstly, represented examples of sustainable design were reviewed. Then, in an attempt to bridge the gap between sustainability and design commercialization, the techniques of persuasion were studied. It is to figure out how to incorporate hot triggers into computational technologies. As an outcome of the study, the final deliverable is a social networking application that provides sustainable product reviews. Instead of following a traditional sustainable design framework, the final deliverable focuses on creating an efficient supply-and-demand circulation for sustainable products. It delivers a unique corporate proposition showing how the system works, gaining modest profits while promoting sustainable development. Based on an online survey and the user study, the value of the proposed idea was validated. Also, the usability and functionality of the app were improved based on participant feedback. / Master of Science

Tekniska apparater och spelapplikationer blir en allt större del av den nya generationens vardag och lärande applikationer används allt mer som läromeldel i förskolan. Enligt läroplanen för förskola så skall multimedia och informationsteknik ha en lika stor del av lärandet som bild, sång, dans, rytm och rörelse. Denna utveckling gör det allt viktigare att fokusera på kvaliteten hos applikationerna som används och en större förståelse behövs för hur en god pedagogisk applikation bör utformas för att inbjuda spelaren till flera aspekter av lärande såsom sociala, kognitiva, och problemlösande. Syftet med denna uppsats är därför att genom grundläggande förstudier designa en pedagogiskt genomtänkt memoryspelsapplikation till ipad för barn i åldern 5-6år på förskola. Projektet är utfört i tre delar; förstudie, implementation och utvärdering. Förstudien består kvalitativa intervjuer med förskollärare som ger inblick i hur förskolorna arbetar med spel i dagsläget . Därefter har en genreanalys genomförts på liknande memoryspel idag. Implementationen har sedan gjorts i form av krevgenerering, och designutveckling genom ramverksdesign, detaljdesign och prototypskapande. Slutligen har designen utvärderats med hjälp av användbarhetstester på förskolebarn.  Studien visar tydligt att spel som förmedlar inlärningsmoment i både ljud och bild lyckas bäst, att innehållet bör gynna social interaktion och samtal samt att pedagogens närvaro har stor betydelse för hur eleverna tar till dig informationen. Det krävs tydliga anvisningar med både ljud och bild för att påvisa hur användaren ska navigera och gå vidare i spelet. Orden bör vara skrivna i versaler och ljudas fram via applikationen. / Technical devices and game applications are taking a far greater part of the new generation’s everyday life and learning apps are used as educational tools in preschools. According to the Swedish national agency for education, multimedia and information technology should represent an equivalent part in the curriculum as arts, song, dance, rhythm and movements. This development calls for a lager focus on the quality of the applications being used and an understanding of how a pedagogical app should be designed to invite the user to several aspects of learning such as social, cognitive and problem solving tasks. The purpose of this essay is thus to study and design an educational memory game application for Ipads for children aged 5-6 years in preschool.  This project has been performed through three steps; pre-study, implementation and evaluation. The pre-study consists of qualitative interviews with preschool teachers that provide an understanding for how educational games and apps are used today. A genre analysis has been conducted to understand the aspects of similar apps out on the market today. The implementation was proceeded trough requirement definition and design evolvement trough framework design, detailed design and prototype making. Finally the design was evaluated through usability tests on preschoolers.  The Study clearly shows that games that provides learning instructions through sound and image is the most successful, that the content should encourage social interaction and discussion and that the teacher’s presence substantially affect the way children grant information. Directives on navigation should be given both through images and sounds and the written words should be in capital letters and read out loud by the application.

This paper examines the issue of our over-consuming society and its consequences using the example of the fashion industry. As the fashion industry alone is one of the biggest culprits in the global environmental deterioration and overexploitation of resources, the paper mainly focuses on the environmental impact. As a solution, the paper presents the application “Lessly”, which can help individual consumers to change their shopping behaviour and become more sustainable in their choices. In particular, the paper outlines the development of the app and the design decisions. The main token of the app is a mascot which also shares the name of the app, “Lessly”. The name originates from the saying “less is more” – the slogan of the app, which intends to describe the counter-movement of the ever-accelerating fashion consumption. Thus, the Lessly app represents a convenient tool for positive consumer change and the potential for a better environment and future.

No description available.

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects women or people with female reproductive organs negatively, by irregular periods, difficulties in getting pregnant, and excessive hair growth. The symptoms can be eased by taking on habits of regular physical exercise and a balanced diet. Taking on new habits is however a challenging task. This thesis aims at harnessing the affordances (if any) that the design of gamification in a mobile application for women with PCOS could bring. The theoretical lens of self-determination theory has been used to underpin the design of gamification elements that can engage the users of an app. After creating designs and implementations in the app, evaluations were made with 29 participants through surveys and interviews. The results from the user evaluations show that participants’ thoughts on features and elements differed and that they were interested in them being designed in different ways. Designing an app that allows the user flexibility was desirable, and even viewed as motivational. Another take is that one should be careful in designing elements in a health app that uses comparing elements of gamification, since it can generate negative feelings such as anxiety. In the future, it would be interesting to include more features in the app and let users test it for a longer time to see if that would have a significant impact on the user engagement, and if habits could form for a better well-being. / Polycystiskt ovarialsyndrom (PCOS) påverkar kvinnor eller människor med kvinnliga reproduktiva organ negativt, genom oregelbunden mens, svårigheter i att bli gravid, och ökad hårväxt. Symptomen kan lindras genom regelbunden fysisk aktivitet och en balanserad kost. Att skaffa nya vanor är en utmaning. Det här examensarbetet har i syfte att se vilka möjligheter (om några) som en design av spelifiering i en mobilapp för kvinnor med PCOS kan ge. Linsen av självbestämmande teorin har använts för att stödja designen av spelifiering element som kan engagera app användare. Utvärderingar gjordes med 29 deltagare i form av enkäter samt intervjuer efter att ha skapat designer samt gjort implementationer i appen. Resultaten, baserade på deltagar utvärderingarna, visar på att användarnas tankar kring funktioner och element skilde sig åt samt att de var intresserade i olika designer för dessa. Att designa en app som erbjuder användaren flexibilitet var önskvärt, och sågs även som motiverande. En annan insikt är att designa delar av en hälsoapp som använder sig av spelifiering element där man jämför sig med andra bör ske med omsorg, då det kan medföra användaren med negativa känslor såsom ångest. Vidare vore det intressant att inkludera fler funktioner i appen och låta användare testa den en längre period för att se om det skulle ha en signifikant påverkan på användarnas engagemang, samt om vanor kunde skapas för ett bättre välbefinnande.

The use of the Internet and digital services has increased significantly during recent years, and as Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field keeps on expanding, it is influencing aspects of our daily lives, though not always for the better. Researchers and practitioners, including a small number of designers, are addressing the growing concerns about the Internet’s environmental impact, such as electronic waste, increased energy use, resource depletion, and carbon footprint, which have emerged in recent years, and are calling for a more environment-friendly approach to web and app design. However, it is still a relatively new area of concern. This study evaluates existing guidelines for designing low-impact user interfaces in the mobile food delivery sector. First, the study investigates users’ food delivery habits and their impressions of low-impact interfaces. The findings from this section are then used to design a low-impact food delivery application (FDA) prototype and are tested with users to see how to make low-impact interfaces attractive for a possible change in user behaviors. This thesis builds on previous research about sustainable web design, but the focus area of this study is to investigate whether applied guidelines and low-impact design features are desired by users on mobile screens as well. The research reveals that low-impact features are indeed useful on smaller screens as well and users are generally open-minded and acceptive of front-end changes that have a more positive impact on the environment. However, it is crucial to communicate clearly about any low-impact modifications made to an application, due to the current low level of user awareness and knowledge in this field.

Marknaden för smartphones har vuxit stort under de senaste åren och även utveckling av applikationer till dessa. Då utveckling av applikationer för smartphones skiljer sig från traditionell utveckling så passar inte traditionella utvecklingsprocesser för utveckling till smartphones på ett optimalt sätt. Denna studie undersöker mobilapplikationsutveckling med fokus på användbarhet. Då det råder brist på systemutvecklingsprocesser för mobilapplikationsutveckling så vill denna studie utvärdera ISO standarden ”ISO 9241-210 – Användarcentrerad design för interaktiva system”. Denna standard är en samling av riktlinjer och krav för generell systemutveckling. Studien utvärderar därför lämpligheten att använda ISO 9241-210 för utveckling av mobilapplikationer, då fokus ligger på användbarhet. En prototyp för iPhone utvecklades med ISO 9241-210 som bas och utvärderades sedan för att se om användbarheten var acceptabel. Författarna utvärderade också hur ISO 9241-210 riktlinjer hade implementerats i utvecklingen av prototypen och även utvärderat om riktlinjerna i Apples App Design Strategies har motsvarande riktlinjer i ISO 9241-210. Slutsatsen är att ISO 9241-210 är en bra grund att stå på vid utveckling av mobilapplikationer men att det finns några riktlinjer som kan ges mer eller mindre fokus, beroende på projektets omfattning. / Program: Systemarkitekturutbildningen

This Master's degree thesis deals with a specific area of creative industries: development of mobile applications. The aim is to identify and understand the work routines of Czech iOS developers while considering the importance of design as one of the benchmarks of mobile application quality on the Apple App Store. I mainly focus on mapping work routines of selected developers and their thinking about design in the context of Apple devices and iOS platform, assuming that Apple establishes a high standard of visual and functional qualities. I am addressing an issue of application usability not only in terms of design of the user interface, but also its functioning and more aspects of application development within the ecosystem of Czech mobile app industry. The theoretical part of my thesis subjectively describes fundamental concepts from the mobile app development field and theories related to the topic. Empirical part of the study is based on qualitative interviews with 9 Czech mobile app developers and following thematic analysis. This study can serve as an interesting resource of understanding of the work of Czech mobile app developers, how they think about design and Apple as a platform or as a solid foundation for further quantitative investigation to confirm or revise my findings.