Background: The endeavour for more effective and personalised health care requires exploration and implementation of new methods. Digital technology solutions may offer increased accessibility and efficiency and have already been proven to be both time- and cost-effective. Increased knowledge of the use and experience of e-health tools among physiotherapists may lay the ground for further development. Objective: To explore and describe the usage and experiences among Swedish physiotherapists' regarding e-health tools and evaluate which are the most used technologies. Method: A digital survey translated with cross-cultural adaptation was sent out to physiotherapists in Sweden invited to participate through digital platforms. Data were descriptively analysed and presented in tables, box diagrams, and statistical analysis was performed in Jamovi with Fisher's exact test. Results: 111 physiotherapists responded to the digital survey, but only 72 completed all of it because of a technical error. One of the most common digital tools to use was technological communication where 70% used it for their patients. The attitudes towards digital tools were generally positive among the respondents, but about 20% was however neutral in their attitude. No significant relationship was found between the variables dependent on digital tools and professional experience (p = 0.61) or to workplace (p = 0.11), respectively. Conclusion: Swedish physiotherapists in this pilot study have a positive attitude towards digital health tools. However, different tools are used to different extents, and many physiotherapists do not consider themselves dependent on them in their professional life. Further investigation is needed about opinions and experiences in the field of e-health, as well as regarding advantages and disadvantages of digital tools for further development and implementation in the clinics. / Bakgrund: Strävan efter mer effektiv och personcentrerad sjukvård kräver kartläggning och implementering av nya metoder. Digitala lösningar kan erbjuda ökad tillgänglighet och effektivitet och har redan visat sig vara både tids- och kostnadseffektiva. Ökad kunskap om användning och erfarenhet av e- hälsoverktyg bland fysioterapeuter kan lägga grunden för vidare utveckling. Syfte: Att utforska och beskriva användning och erfarenheter av e-hälsoverktyg bland svenska fysioterapeuter, och vilka de mest använda verktygen är. Metod: En digital enkät översatt och med tillämpad kulturell anpassning skickades ut till fysioterapeuter i Sverige genom digitala plattformar. Data analyserades och presenterades i tabeller, stapeldiagram och statistisk analys utfördes i Jamovi version 1.6.23.0 med Fishers exakta test. Resultat: 111 fysioterapeuter besvarade den digitala enkäten, men endast 72 genomförde hela pga ett tekniskt fel. Ett av de mest använda digitala verktygen var teknologisk kommunikation, där 70 % använde den till sina patienter. Attityderna till digitala verktyg var generellt positiva bland respondenterna i undersökningen, men ett ungefär 20% var neutrala inom ämnet. Inget signifikant samband hittades mellan variablerna beroende av digitala verktyg och arbetslivserfarenhet (p = 0,61) eller arbetsplats (p = 0,11). Slutsats: Svenska fysioterapeuter i denna pilotstudie har en positiv inställning till digitala verktyg. Olika verktyg används dock i olika utsträckning och många anser inte sig vara beroende av dem i sitt verksamma yrkesliv. Fortsatt forskning behöver göras om åsikter och erfarenheter inom området e-hälsa, samt vad som är fördelar och nackdelar med digitala verktyg. Detta för att möjliggöra att de kan utvecklas vidare och bli mer implementerade i det kliniska arbetet.

This study set out to investigate how mobile money apps facilitate the maintenance of interpersonal relationships and transnational communication practices among migrant women entrepreneurs. Mobile money apps such as MamaMoney, MoneyTrans and Mukuru are a form of communication that are relevant and beneficial to the unbanked migrant women entrepreneurs in South Africa. The main research question was: how do mobile money apps facilitate the maintenance of interpersonal relationships and transnational communication practices among migrant women entrepreneurs? The methodology was informed by a feminist qualitative approach to three focus group discussions with fifteen participants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A thematic analysis of transcriptions of focus group discussions was conducted and two broad themes were identified. The first broad theme explores the communicative dimensions of money transfer through mobile money apps by migrant women entrepreneurs, particularly in relation to their roles as mothers, daughters, sisters and friends in the diaspora. The second broad theme is the use of mobile money apps to solicit emergency funds and financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that mobile money apps have reshaped communication practices of migrant women entrepreneurs by enhancing interpersonal communication and facilitating social practices. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the two-way nature of bonds of mutual support amongst migrants. This study also draws on the idea of remittance scripts (Carling, 2014). Remittance scripts are a helpful way to conceptualise remittances as social transactions that take several different forms. The theoretical frameworks used in this dissertation are reverse remittances (Mazzucato, 2011), networked individualism (Raine and Wellman, 2012) and polymedia (Madianou and Miller, 2013). The importance of reverse remittances during the COVID-19 period highlights reciprocal bonds of social saving when eMWEs used mobile money apps to solicit financial help and emergency relief when they were unable to work due to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa. Reverse remittances also highlight the shift in power relations and the need for communication between eMWEs' and their families and friends at home. As suggested by Kusimba et al., (2015) the application of networked individualism in modern African societies is used in this study to understand how mobile money apps have afforded eMWEs with personal communication channels in addition to household-centred communication around money. Polymedia is used in this study to understand how eMWEs use mobile money apps in conjunction with the complementary affordances of other platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, which compensate for limitations of mobile money apps.

We have investigated two different smartphone meditation apps to determine if they have any effects on stress and check if they are a viable tool that users can engage with to cope with stress during a work break. The dependent variables being measured include affective and cognitive restoration. The control group performed a coloring activity using a mandala figure. The experimental conditions engaged in app guided meditation through either 10% Happier or Calm. Both are health apps that are intended to help users practice a variety of mindfulness meditation exercises and help build healthy habits. This research focused on a specific form of meditation known as mindfulness meditation for gratitude, afterward we analyzed the findings. Previous workplace mindfulness intervention trials have focused on reducing psychological stress, with limited empirical evidence showing that mindfulness training leads to improvements in the other domains, such as affective and cognitive processes. Research on mobile meditation apps may have been limited by ceiling effects given that previous research did not attempt to induce stress and fatigue prior to intervention. The vigilance task has been used to reduce the occurrence of the ceiling effect, it has the purpose of inducing stress and cognitive fatigue prior to intervention. We ran participants through the experiment then measure and analyze their data to see if stress reduction benefits of mindfulness-based meditation for gratitude can effectively restore stress levels once induced. Benefits associated with meditation include an improved capacity to cope with stressful situations and enhanced attention regulation which are key performance indicators across many domains. First participants took the Big Five Personality test. Then completed a baseline affective and cognitive assessment (ACA), which included the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the shortened version of the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire, and the N-back test. Next, participants completed the vigilance task, followed by another ACA. Participants were then randomly assigned to complete a coloring activity, 10% Happier, or Calm followed by an ACA. Last, participants in the experimental conditions completed the System Usability Scale. Application: Everyday life involves cognitive demands that can be stressful and decrease performance, especially for workers and college students whose performance is vital within their domains. This research investigates the potential of mindfulness meditation apps' ability to restore cognitive and affective processes once depleted.

Despite its benefits to both physical and mental health, physical activity levels worldwide remain low and new solutions for behaviour change must be sought. Smartphone apps are extremely popular and prevalent across the population, however their quality is still questionable. Physical activity produces an acute ‘feel good’ effect and intervention designers should consider the role that affect (mood) plays in uptake and maintenance of behaviours. It is timely to examine the use of affect as a motivator for physical activity, using new tools that allow real-time capture of both affect and physical activity (smartphones). The existence, characteristics and quality of physical activity apps that provide feedback on affect were explored in this thesis A mixed methods approach, comprising a systematic review (study 1) and a systematic evaluation (study 2) was taken. Data collection methods included both quantitative and qualitative assessments, using pre-existing and fit-for purpose tools. Twenty-two physical activity apps that provided feedback on affect were identified. Apps often failed to target groups most at risk of poor physical activity levels. Feedback on affect was performed in a variety of ways. Quality of apps, based on 13 criteria, was mixed. Recommendations are made for researchers, app developers and funders, including the need for development of high quality physical activity apps incorporating and emphasising affective benefits, consideration of archiving processes for developed apps once development ceases, and collaboration between researchers, developers and users when designing apps.

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A sedentary life leads to numerous health problems, thus the need of constant motivation for a more active lifestyle. This paper presents a design process for a smartwatch app in its early stages while exploring and involving users in engaging activities. Potential users have been involved throughout the design process, in design experiments in order to co-create engaging physical activities. The key element “engaging” refers to physical activities as being fun, captivating, attractive. After an online questionnaire about physical activity and reasons for not being active, followed by an autoethnography on fitness apps, like Let’s Muv, Zombie, Run!, Coach5K, 7 min workout and Fitnet, three experiments were conducted. The experiments - interview, bodystorming, brainstorming - were performed with the focus on exploring engaging physical activities in a work environment, and therefore understand the effective features a smartwatch could have to motivate people to a more active lifestyle.

This research examines the relationship between online and offline sales in an omnichannel sales environment centered around the selling of parking spaces. This dissertation consists of a pilot study followed by an expanded study. The studies delved into the effects of e-commerce additions upon traditional brick and mortar revenue channels. The parking industry was selected as the backdrop, given the high degree of current relevant concerns in this space around internet sales-related cannibalization concerns against physical stores, and given the author’s substantial access to relevant research data. Data was collected for an intervention group and a control group from a leading parking management firm with thousands of parking garages located across North America. In the pilot study, and using panel data gathered from the firm, we sought to examine the effects of an online intervention to existing aggregate revenues through the implementation of a new 3rd party e-commerce sales channel (Parkwhiz.com). Under the intervention group, data was collected on 1.7 million revenue transactions over an approximately two-year period, from 2016 through 2018 across 15 parking properties in New York City. The control group consisted of 493,950 revenue transaction entries, also spanning a roughly two-year period from 2016 through 2018, and across 28 different parking properties throughout the City of New York. A fixed-effect model was used for analyzing the data, which came with unforeseen challenges of balance, outlier concerns, and sample size. Ultimately, insignificant results were observed, but these were attributed mainly to difficulties in data structure and sample size (N = 386) of daily revenue observations. Despite those challenges, individual summary statistics showed potential strength in the primary hypothesis, and this motivated further examination. In the expanded study, an adapted approach from the pilot was used to correct for a majority of its shortcomings in the data structure, sample size, balance, and modeling. Further, several moderating components were incorporated to test practice relevant relationships between revenue, the competitive landscape, and online search sessions. Using the same primary hypothesis from the pilot study, the expanded work provided for 15 intervention group properties and 15 control group properties in New York City, with a balanced dataset of 90 days pre-intervention and 90 days post-intervention for each property examined in the year 2018 or 2019. The original hypothesis (H1A) evaluates whether or not an online intervention increases total revenue at a given location. Additional hypotheses (H1B) evaluating whether offline revenue sources are affected by the online intervention, (H2) moderation of revenue by the volume of competition using the same online channel, (H3) moderation of revenue by the volume of parking locations in the marketplace (zip code area) regardless of selling online or offline, and (H4) revenue predicted by the volume of online searches for parking occurring in the marketplace. Sample sizes ranged from N = 3,491 to 5,098 across our various regression models. Our overall H1 outcomes (across four different regression models) showed strong statistical significance with p-values less than 0.001, and moderate R^2 scores between 37%-47% for the online ParkWhiz intervention. Online intervention increases revenue per parking space in the range of $1.171 to $1.196 in the experiment. The results provide support for the proposition that adding an online sales channel to an existing body of physical parking facilities is additive, non-cannibalistic and overall productive for the business. Our H2 and H3 study outcomes were inconclusive, as the moderators were not significant. The tests of the moderating effects in H2 and H3 provided no practical results, other than perhaps anecdotal perception to supplement the other findings. The testing of H4 did show significance in the importance of the assessment of online search demand in a given zip code as an amplifier of the effect of online intervention on parking revenue. Search volume is positively related to a change in the net new revenues. Overall, the analysis generated learnings valuable for future researchers to expand upon through better data gathering, statistical models, and analysis. In totality, the desired contribution of this body of research is to provide today’s brick and mortar business manager with strategic insights into the conditions needed to make healthy e-commerce decisions, based on observable market conditions, in an omnichannel environment that combines online and offline models for maximum aggregate revenue growth. Avoidance or minimization of cannibalization between existing channels and new channels can ensure success. Our work demonstrates several critical aspects of the phenomena of successful online and offline channel cohabitation with practical conclusions for the strategic decision-maker to use in reaching that equilibrium, and leaves a discernible path for future researchers to supplement our efforts with additional moderating variables. Keywords: Omnichannel, cannibalization; externality; brick and mortar; platform; two-sided marketplace; e-commerce; parking; retail; online/offline; distribution; multi-channel; cross-channel; offline-to-online service platform, channel addition, mobile apps. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

Yes / Online retailers are increasingly using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to solve mental and physical intangibility issues in a product evaluation. Moreover, the technologies are easily available and accessible to consumers via their smartphones. The authors conducted three experiments to examine consumer responses to technology interfaces (AR/VR and mobile apps) for hedonic and utilitarian products. The results show that AR is easier to use (vs. app), and users find AR more responsive when buying a hedonic (vs. utilitarian) product. Touch interface users are likely to have a more satisfying experience and greater recommendation intentions, as compared to AR, for buying utilitarian products. In contrast, a multisensory environment (AR) results in a better user experience for purchasing a hedonic product. Moreover, multisensory technologies lead to higher visual appeal, emotional appeal, and purchase intentions. The research contributes to the literature on computer-mediated interactions in a multisensory environment and proposes actionable recommendations to online marketers.