Laboratory usability tests can be a rich source of usability information for software design, but are expensive to run and involve time-consuming data analysis. Expert review of software is cheaper, but highly dependent on the experience of the expert. Techniques are needed that maintain user involvement while reducing both the cost of user involvement and the time required to analyze data. The User Action Framework (UAF) is a classification scheme for usability problems that facilitates data analysis and reusability of information learned from one project to another, but is also reliant on expert interpretation of usability data, and classification can be difficult when user-supplied problem descriptions are incomplete. This study explored end-user classification of self-reported critical incidents (usability issues) using the UAF, a technique that was hoped to reduce expert interpretation of usability problems. It also explored end-user critical incident reporting from a usability session recording, rather than reporting incidents as soon as they occur, a technique that could be used in future studies to compare effectiveness of usability methods. Results indicate that users are not good at diagnosing their own critical incidents due to the level of detail required for proper classification, although observations suggest that users were able to provide usability information that would not have been captured by an expert observer. The recording technique was successful, and is recommended for future studies to further explore differences in the kind of information that can be gathered from end-users and from experts during usability studies. / Master of Science

Research related to the school counselor's journey to social justice advocacy is minimal. An exploration of the school counselor's journey to social justice advocacy and the impact it has on the counselor's work with students is needed. Furthermore, research related to the needs and challenges of undocumented students have not been explored. The purpose of this study was to explore the social justice identity development of professional school counselors who identify as advocates for undocumented students through critical incidents. The study is grounded in Bobbie Harro's Cycle of Liberation and Relational Cultural Theory to answer the following research questions: (1) What do school counselors who identify as social justice advocates describe as critical incidents in their social justice identity development when working with undocumented students? (2) How have these critical incidents impacted the social justice identity development of professional school counselors? I enlisted a qualitative approach utilizing the Critical Incident Technique (Flanagan, 1954) to address the research questions. Six secondary school counselors participated in this study. Five were female, two were white, two were Hispanic, one was African-American, and one was bi-racial. Four were citizens, one was a naturalized citizen and one was a DACA recipient. One had been a school counselor for 1 - 3 years, two for 3-5 years, and 3 had been school counselors for more than 7 years. The critical incidents identified by the participants related to personal experiences such as parental influence, family experiences, and influence of educators; formal learning such as experiential learning and academic learning; past work experiences; and student impact on the counselor.  The school counselor's relationship with an undocumented student or immigrant played a role in the participants social justice identity development. The school counselors' identity development mirrored Harro's (2000) Cycle of Liberation. As a result of the critical incidents provided by the participants, connection and introspection emerged. The connection and introspection liberated the counselor and served as the process towards the counselors' social justice identity development. / Ph. D.

Este trabalho aborda a avaliação do processo de projeto e desenvolvimento do produto do ponto de vista do projetista de nível superior. Ao fazê-lo, o autor espera estar pavimentando um caminho, que eventualmente, conduza a um método mais amigável de avaliar a qualidade do processo de projeto do produto e que possa vir a ser realmente considerado útil por divisões e/ou organizações de projeto. As razões para a seleção desta abordagem são explicadas. Ressalta-se também, que o trabalho envolve duas fases: a pesquisa preliminar e a pesquisa propriamente dita. Apresenta-se em seguida uma discussão que conduz à seleção de uma metodologia que combina a utilização da abordagem SERVQUAL e do método do incidente crítico (CIT) na primeira fase. Introduz-se o conceito central de fator de eficácia, bem como se estabelece suas relações com os itens de satisfação e as dimensões SERVQUAL. Com base nos resultados da fase preliminar, elabora-se um questionário de pesquisa abrangente, que é submetido a um grupo de projetistas de nível superior do setor automotivo, compreendendo as operações brasileiras de duas grandes montadoras internacionais, de dois fornecedores diretos (Tier 1) das montadoras e de uma grande montadora internacional de caminhões e ônibus. Os dados obtidos através das respostas ao questionário são compilados, apresentados e discutidos dentro de cada ambiente organizacional. Faz-se então uma análise conjunta, a fim de identificar aquelas ações gerenciais consideradas pelo setor automotivo como sendo mais importantes, tanto para garantir, quanto para avaliar a eficácia do processo de projeto e desenvolvimento do produto. Classifica-se essas ações em ações gerenciais de garantia e de avaliação de acordo com critérios fornecidos pelas normas ISO da qualidade. Finalmente, com base nas ações gerenciais de avaliação, define-se indicadores e se propõe um índice de eficácia único e flexível, que pode ser calculado utilizando-se, tanto dados organizacionais, quanto setoriais para fins de avaliação e benchmark. / This work approaches the subject of product design process evaluation from the designer?s point of view. In so doing, the author hopes to be paving the way that may eventually lead to a more ?friendly? method of evaluating the quality of the product design process and which may actually be found useful by design divisions and/or organizations. The reasons for selecting such an approach are explained. It is also pointed out that the work involves two phases: Preliminary research and research proper. Then, a discussion is made leading to the selection of a methodology combining SERVQUAL and the critical incident technique (CIT) for the first phase. The central concept of effectiveness factor is introduced and its relationship with satisfaction items and SERVQUAL dimensions is established. Based on the results of the preliminary phase a comprehensive questionnaire is drawn up, and submitted to a selected group of designers in the automotive industry, comprising Brazilian plants of two major car manufacturers, two tier 1 suppliers and one major truck (lorry) and bus manufacturer. Data provided by the answers to said questionnaire are compiled, presented and discussed within each organizational environment. A joint analysis is then carried out in order to identify those management actions that are considered by the automotive industry as being more important for both assuring and evaluating the effectiveness of the product design and development process. Assurance and evaluation management actions are classified according to criteria supplied by the ISO quality management standards. Finally, based on the evaluation management actions indicators are defined and a single and flexible effectiveness index is proposed, which can be calculated using both company and industry data for evaluation and benchmark purposes.

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to investigate if the library can be a real partner for researchers in managing and dealing with their research information. In this study, six researchers have been interviewed about their problems with information management. This study uses the method Critical Incident Technique for the interviews with the researchers. This method focuses mainly on problems and what happens around those problems. The interview results have been prepared with automatic clustering and analysed with the help of a theoretical model from Minnesota University Library. This is a model of the scholarly research process described in four overlapping areas: 1) Discover, 2) Gather, 3) Create and 4) Share. The studies result gives that there seems to be no problem with accessing full text information, the problem is rather narrowing down the search to get enough time to read it all. The researchers do not find any search skills in the library that match their own search skills. On the question if the library works well as a partner, the answer in this study is no. The researchers do not see the library as a partner in working with research information, but only as a supplier of documents. When they need assistance, they turn to colleagues, students, email, and as a last resort, the library.

Este trabalho aborda a avaliação do processo de projeto e desenvolvimento do produto do ponto de vista do projetista de nível superior. Ao fazê-lo, o autor espera estar pavimentando um caminho, que eventualmente, conduza a um método mais amigável de avaliar a qualidade do processo de projeto do produto e que possa vir a ser realmente considerado útil por divisões e/ou organizações de projeto. As razões para a seleção desta abordagem são explicadas. Ressalta-se também, que o trabalho envolve duas fases: a pesquisa preliminar e a pesquisa propriamente dita. Apresenta-se em seguida uma discussão que conduz à seleção de uma metodologia que combina a utilização da abordagem SERVQUAL e do método do incidente crítico (CIT) na primeira fase. Introduz-se o conceito central de fator de eficácia, bem como se estabelece suas relações com os itens de satisfação e as dimensões SERVQUAL. Com base nos resultados da fase preliminar, elabora-se um questionário de pesquisa abrangente, que é submetido a um grupo de projetistas de nível superior do setor automotivo, compreendendo as operações brasileiras de duas grandes montadoras internacionais, de dois fornecedores diretos (Tier 1) das montadoras e de uma grande montadora internacional de caminhões e ônibus. Os dados obtidos através das respostas ao questionário são compilados, apresentados e discutidos dentro de cada ambiente organizacional. Faz-se então uma análise conjunta, a fim de identificar aquelas ações gerenciais consideradas pelo setor automotivo como sendo mais importantes, tanto para garantir, quanto para avaliar a eficácia do processo de projeto e desenvolvimento do produto. Classifica-se essas ações em ações gerenciais de garantia e de avaliação de acordo com critérios fornecidos pelas normas ISO da qualidade. Finalmente, com base nas ações gerenciais de avaliação, define-se indicadores e se propõe um índice de eficácia único e flexível, que pode ser calculado utilizando-se, tanto dados organizacionais, quanto setoriais para fins de avaliação e benchmark. / This work approaches the subject of product design process evaluation from the designer?s point of view. In so doing, the author hopes to be paving the way that may eventually lead to a more ?friendly? method of evaluating the quality of the product design process and which may actually be found useful by design divisions and/or organizations. The reasons for selecting such an approach are explained. It is also pointed out that the work involves two phases: Preliminary research and research proper. Then, a discussion is made leading to the selection of a methodology combining SERVQUAL and the critical incident technique (CIT) for the first phase. The central concept of effectiveness factor is introduced and its relationship with satisfaction items and SERVQUAL dimensions is established. Based on the results of the preliminary phase a comprehensive questionnaire is drawn up, and submitted to a selected group of designers in the automotive industry, comprising Brazilian plants of two major car manufacturers, two tier 1 suppliers and one major truck (lorry) and bus manufacturer. Data provided by the answers to said questionnaire are compiled, presented and discussed within each organizational environment. A joint analysis is then carried out in order to identify those management actions that are considered by the automotive industry as being more important for both assuring and evaluating the effectiveness of the product design and development process. Assurance and evaluation management actions are classified according to criteria supplied by the ISO quality management standards. Finally, based on the evaluation management actions indicators are defined and a single and flexible effectiveness index is proposed, which can be calculated using both company and industry data for evaluation and benchmark purposes.

O propósito desta investigação foi identificar e analisar os incidentes positivos e negativos, que envolveram a exposição corporal do cliente e a invasão da sua privacidade durante a assistência em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva, visto que para a realização de vários cuidados e procedimentos a nudez parcial ou total é inevitável. A população constitui-se de 15 enfermeiras lotadas em UTIs de atendimento ao adulto, no município de Maringá - PR. Como procedimento metodológico empregou-se a Técnica do Incidente Crítico (TIC), obtendo-se 30 relatos, 15 positivos e 15 negativos, dos quais extraíram-se 22 incidentes críticos positivos (ICP) e 30 negativos (ICN). Estes foram compilados em 6 categorias denominadas como Necessidades Básicas, Admissão e Permanência na UTI, Procedimentos Terapêuticos, Avaliação Física, Horário de Visita e Manifestação da Sexualidade. Os comportamentos da equipe de saúde extraídos dos incidentes críticos foram agrupados em 5 categorias, constituindo-se em Questão de Gênero, Proteção e Manutenção da Privacidade, Atitudes do Profissional, Orientação ao Cliente e Orientação à Equipe de Saúde. Da mesma forma, os comportamentos dos clientes identificados foram distribuídos em 3 categorias, definidas como Questão de Gênero, Proteção e Manutenção da Privacidade e Atitudes do Cliente. As conseqüências para a equipe de saúde e para os clientes oriundas dos incidentes constituíram 4 categorias, formuladas como Sentimentos Negativos, Sentimentos Positivos, Prejuízo na Qualidade da Assistência e Garantia da Qualidade da Assistência. A interpretação dos resultados evidenciou que a categoria de situação mais freqüente nos ICP foi Necessidades Básicas (21,2%) e entre os ICN foi Admissão e Permanência na UTI (15,4%). A categoria de comportamento da equipe de saúde que prevaleceu nos ICP (41,1%) e nos ICN (41,4%) foi Proteção e Manutenção da Privacidade, ao passo que a categoria de comportamento dos clientes predominante entre os ICP foi Questão de Gênero (45,1%) e nos ICN foi Proteção e Manutenção da Privacidade (59,6%). A categoria de conseqüência mais freqüente para a equipe de saúde entre os ICP foi Garantia da Qualidade da Assistência (41,1%) e para os clientes foram os Sentimentos Positivos (37,6%), evidenciando-se que prevaleceram Sentimentos Negativos nos ICN para a equipe de saúde (41,5%) e para os clientes (57,3%). Verificou-se melhor preparo da enfermagem para contornar problemas relacionados ao atendimento das necessidades básicas, porém denota-se despreparo e falta de habilidade para lidar com a maioria das situações. Constatou-se que equipe de saúde e clientes, principalmente a enfermagem, manifesta os mesmos sentimentos frente à exposição corporal do cliente durante a assistência. Evidenciou-se que os aspectos que garantem melhor qualidade à assistência para ambos são proteção da intimidade, respeito, confiança, orientação e compreensão da mesma, ao passo que as que mais prejudicam a qualidade da assistência são desproteção e invasão da intimidade, desconsideração do profissional pelo cliente e dificuldade da equipe em lidar com algumas situações. Denotam-se como fatores complicadores, a diferença de gênero entre cuidador e cliente e a disposição dos leitos nestas unidades, predispondo o cliente à exposição e dificultando o resguardo da privacidade. Emergiu a necessidade de se preparar melhor a equipe para contornar situações de conflito oriundas da exposição corporal, devendo-se considerar os aspectos sócio-culturais das pessoas envolvidas. Por fim, ressalta-se que a compreensão dos aspectos que permeiam a exposição corporal na esfera do cuidado é imprescindível quando se tem por objetivo a humanização no contexto da assistência à saúde. / This study aimed at identifying and analyzing positive and negative incidents involving clients’ physical exposure and the invasion of their privacy during caregiving in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) resulting from the need of partial or total nudity for the performance of various types of care and procedures. The population consisted of 15 nurses working in the ICU for adults in the city of Maringá – PR, Brazil. The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) was used as a methodological procedure, thus obtaining 30 accounts of which 15 were positive and 15 were negative. From these, 22 positive critical incidents (PCIs) and 30 negative critical incidents (NCIs) were extracted. The incidents were compiled in 6 categories: basic needs, admission and permanence in the ICU, therapeutic procedures, physical evaluation, visiting hours and sexuality manifestation. The behaviors presented by the health team which were extracted from the critical incidents were grouped in 5 categories: gender-related questions, privacy protection and maintenance, attitudes from professionals, client orientation and health team orientation. The identified client’s behaviors were distributed in 3 categories defined as gender-related questions, protection and maintenance of clients’ privacy and attitudes. The outcomes to the health team and clients stemming from the incidents comprised four categories formulated as negative feelings, positive feelings, impairment of caregiving quality and assurance of caregiving quality. The interpretation of results showed that the most frequent situation category in the PCIs was basic needs (21.2%), whereas in the NCIs, it was admission and permanence in the ICU (15.4%). The health team’s behavior category which prevailed in the PCIs (41.1%) and in the NCIs (41.4%) was privacy protection and maintenance. The predominant clients’ behavior category in the PCIs was gender-related questions (45.1%) and in the NCIs it was privacy protection and maintenance (59.6%). The health team’s most frequent consequence category in the PCIs was assurance of caregiving quality (41.1%), and the clients’ was positive feelings (37.6%). It was also shown that the category negative feelings prevailed in the NCIs for the health team (41. 5%) as well as for clients (57.3%). It was verified that the nursing staff was better prepared to deal with problems related to meeting basic needs; however, lack of preparation and skills to manage most situations was also observed. It was found that the health team and clients, particularly the nursing staff, showed similar feelings concerning the client’s physical exposure during caregiving. Additionally, it was shown that the aspects ensuring better caregiving quality to both were intimacy protection, respect, trust, orientation and understanding with regard to such protection, whereas those which most frequently impaired caregiving quality were lack of protection, intimacy invasion, disregard of clients by the professionals and the team’s difficulty in dealing with certain situations. Gender difference between the caregiver and the client was noted as a complicating factor in addition to the arrangement of beds in the units, which predisposes the client to exposure and impairs privacy protection. The need to better prepare the health team to cope with conflict situations stemming from physical exposure arose, while the sociocultural aspects of the individuals involved must be taken into account. Finally, it is pointed out that understanding the aspects which permeate physical exposure in the realms of caregiving is essential if the humanization of health care settings is to be achieved.

In the island-city state of Singapore, growth and development are very much dependent on global trade. Project management is one of the key competencies that organizations and the government seek to develop to stay relevant and plugged-in to the global community. This research attempts to examine the predictors of project success in the Singapore context. This study uses Pinto's Project Implementation Profile (PIP) instrument as a basis and starting point for further study. It seeks to discover and identify critical success factors (CSFs) in Singaporean project environment. The study also aims to validate whether the PIP, which is commonly used in western societies, is also applicable in the Singapore context. A methodology combining Critical Incident Technique (CIT) has been used to identify possible CSFs, which are subsequently rationalized and validated with the CSFs in the PIP. A questionnaire survey (n= 267), involving project management professionals across several key sectors and industries, provided data for quantitative analysis. Multivariate analyses, which include factor analysis and multiple regression, were applied to identify and validate the CSFs that are significant in predicting project success. The results produce a predictive equation involving five CSFs that are significant in predicting project success in the Singapore context. The study generally supports the applicability of Pinto's PIP in Singapore, although with some differences. It is expected that the findings of this study will provide value to future researchers who are keen to further explore the 'elusive' CSFs of project management. The business community is also expected to leverage on the findings of this study to optimize their scarce project management resources in achieving and sustaining business competencies.

The aim of this thesis is to empirically study challenges and opportunities in the operational work in contract-based R&amp;D alliances in order to increase the understanding of this type of work system and explore how these work systems could be sustainable. Based on the concept of sustainable work systems, this thesis addresses issues of how work in R&amp;D alliance should support both the competitiveness of the firm as well as regeneration of human resources. In the area of product development, the main drivers for creating alliances are often strategic and concern the globalization of today’s business environment. Issues such as increased cost-based competition, shorter product life cycles, and a greater need for flexibility to tackle technological or strategic shifts have all been argued to motivate companies to form R&amp;D alliances. No doubt adopting the firm’s development of new products to an R&amp;D alliance strategy has a substantial impact on the operational work. However, despite the vast research on why companies engage in R&amp;D alliances, the knowledge of operational work and how they are operationally managed is still limited. Several scholars have recently reported that failed operations may be one of the most important reasons for situations where R&amp;D alliances do not reach their goals. An empirical investigation covering 14 R&amp;D alliances has been conducted based on the Critical Incident Technique. The findings – supported by 158 critical incidents, which have been identified by operational leaders – reveal new knowledge about the R&amp;D alliance operational work with implications for both competitiveness and regeneration of human resources. A central contribution stems from the specific insights given to challenges and opportunities that operational leaders face in the R&amp;D alliance work, in five perspectives on the R&amp;D alliance process: Formation, Formal R&amp;D process, Informal relationships, Embeddedness, and Exit. Further examination of the critical incident data showed several implications for operational leaders with direct contributions to both product development and alliance theory. First, four critical roles for operational leaders in R&amp;D alliances have been suggested: Facilitating, Finishing, Ambassadoring, and Trustkeeping. Secondly, a framework of trust formation mechanisms has been applied and tested. This concluded that process-based, characteristic-based, and institutional-based mechanisms represent important aspects in alliance operation; the relevance of these trust formation mechanisms contributes both to the knowledge of micro-processes of trust formation and specific managerial abilities in R&amp;D alliances. Third, we examine the influence of two types of contextual risks that have been addressed in previous alliance research: relational and performance risks. The comparative analysis of a sub-sample of alliances shows that these risks influence the operational work in R&amp;D alliances for which operational leaders could be specifically trained and prepared. Lastly, a framework that addresses support from HRM in inter-organizational context has been developed and analyzed. This has indicated that HRM represents an important, although unexploited, resource when engaging in R&amp;D alliances. Furthermore, we have suggested a tentative framework for the R&amp;D alliance as a sustainable work system. The overall findings from this study have been synthesized from a sustainable work systems perspective, based on three organizational principles that have been drawn from practice-centered product innovation: broadened roles and responsibilities, work as a collaborative process, and decentralization of strategic information. A fourth principle has been incorporated as well: support systems for sustainable work. This concluded that, in order to be sustainable, companies that engage in R&amp;D alliances should carefully manage and reassess the consequences of these organizational principles in order to simultaneously support the goals that are involved in this type of work system: to simultaneously support innovation, inter-organizational relationships, and the regeneration of human resources. / <p>QC 20100813</p>

The purpose of this study was to discover, document, and describe the salient actions, events, beliefs, attitudes, social structures and processes related to professional learning conversations from the perspective of nine assistant principals (APs). The participants were elementary, middle and high school APs, three at each level. Using a modified critical incident technique through participant written response and two in depth interviews with each respondent, this study investigated the lived experiences of these APs related to the practice of professional learning conversations in their schools. The research questions focused on: (1) the participants' beliefs and attitudes about professional learning conversations, (2) their roles in facilitating these conversations, (3) their ability to identify elements of trust within the groups of teachers with whom they work and (4) their roles in building trust. The research literature is clear that teacher collaboration is a key factor in professional growth and self-efficacy, yet often the structure of the school day, a negative emotional environment, and a culture of teacher isolation prohibit meaningful teacher collaboration. Although faced with many obligations and directives, school administrators have considerable influence over the organizational structure within their individual schools. Furthermore, assistant principals often become the face of administration within their schools as they directly supervise teachers and APs are less studied than students, teacher or principals. How these individuals perceive and value professional learning conversations will likely impact the level of collaboration at their individual schools. The findings of this study indicate that professional learning conversations for teacher growth were more prevalent at the elementary school level, that trust may be more difficult to cultivate at the middle and high schools, and that protocols as structures for facilitating conversations and building trust were not widely in use. A better understanding of the opportunities and barriers schools face related to professional learning conversations as well as a better understanding of the dynamics of trust will assist district and school administrators to engage in a problem solving process for better collaboration. Ultimately, administrators have an opportunity and a responsibility to touch the hearts and minds of the individuals on the front line of the work - the teachers in the classrooms working with students. Without teacher confidence, hope, optimism, resilience and self-efficacy, no amount of financial incentive, cajoling, or sanction will improve student learning.

The intensity and emotional demands of the health care environment place exceptionally high performance expectations and stress on hospital social workers. Critical Incident Stress (CIS), a specific type of stress associated with dramatic, emotionally overwhelming situations, known as Critical Incidents (CIs), produce several emotional and physical reactions that can threaten the well-being of the hospital social worker. CIS, as experienced by hospital social workers, is absent from the literature and not well understood. The purpose of this study was to describe how hospital social workers appraised, reacted to, and coped with CIs in their work environment. Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theoretical framework of stress appraisal and coping was used to guide this descriptive study. A sample of 30 hospital social workers was recruited from two Vancouver tertiary care hospitals. Four instruments (Participant Information Sheet, Critical Incident Information Form, Emotional Appraisal Scale, and Ways of Coping Scale) were used to gain knowledge on how hospital social workers appraised, reacted to, and coped with CIs in their work environment. Quantitative data were coded, qualitative data were subjected to content analysis, and descriptive statistics calculated. Data revealed that hospital social workers encountered CIs in their work environment and that the majority of CIs centred on death-related events. The primary traits of events appraised as CIs were novelty, suddenness, and uncertainty. Respondents reacted to the CI with a variety of emotional (anxiety, fear, frustration, worry, anger) and physical reactions (feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, withdrawn, anxious, difficulty with sleeping), and although they experienced some discomfort, these reactions were not debilitating. Most hospital social workers indicated that their personal beliefs had been challenged by the CI and revealed that they were unsure as to what their social work role or function should have been during the event. However, despite this, respondents remained confident and comfortable with the decisions they made. Hospital social workers appeared to cope well with CIs, used a variety of emotion- and problem-focused coping strategies, and reported few negative effects on their professional and/or personal lives. The top four coping strategies utilized by respondents were seeking social support, planful problemsolving, positive reappraisal, and self-control. The implications of the findings for hospital social work administration, social work training and education, hospital social work practice, and future research are discussed.