Information Technology (IT) in health services has become increasingly important for people's wellbeing. The nature of design of these technologies is complex – even more so when the context is of a sensitive nature, such as the user's health. Furthermore, when the users are children, several additional difficulties surface. Apart from the design context being sensitive, children have cognitive and communicational limitations that make any design method employed require adaptations. This thesis is conducted within the research project Child Health Interactive Peer Support (CHIPS) at Halmstad University. The project aims at developing Online Peer Support (OPS) for advancing the wellbeing of children who have or have had cancer. The project thus presents a unique design situation, and the aim of this thesis is to answer the question: How can children participate in the design of Online Peer Support for children with cancer? In order to answer this question, a literature review was performed to identify common properties of design methods with children, children were involved in the design of OPS for children with cancer, and the lessons learned from the empirical case were discussed. The properties of design methods with children were organised into three categories and later supplemented with properties of methods for performing research in a sensitive context. The empirical material was made up of six design workshops with two groups of children who were, or had previously been treated for cancer. From the design workshops and the subsequent discussions several lessons were learned, in addition to the result from the literature review, about how children can be involved in the design of OPS for children with cancer. Based on this, seven suggestions were made for adapting methods to suit design with children in a sensitive context.

The CATS TCT is a military wargaming simulator used by the Swedish Armed Forces for education of position holders within battalion or company staffs. The CATS TCT was developed during the nineties and one of the challenges today is how the system can be modernized in order to meet the increased demands on usability. This master thesis is part of the work with modernizing the CATS TCT and a usability study has been conducted in order to identify issues and problems of the current system related to usability. This thesis is conducted at BAE Systems C-ITS in Linköping and the main focus of this study has been how to analyze and re-design the CATS TCT in order to enhance the usability of the system. Empirical data in this study has been collected through six semi-structured interviews, one observation and two focus group interviews and the result of this study has elicit several problem areas related to any of following usability aspects: effectiveness, efficiency or satisfaction. The conclusions from this investigation is that the CATS TCT simulator is an valuable and appreciated educational tool – especially from an effectiveness point of view. When it comes to efficiency, however, several problems areas has been identified and these areas are: information architecture, interface interaction, how orders are issued to units and how the simulation rules are implemented. When it comes to the users satisfaction of the system no unequivocal conclusion has been possible to present. As a complement to the identified issues and problems of the simulator this study has also presented examples on how prototypes could be used to solve some of the identified problems. More specifically, in this report re-design solutions related to how the users interact with the map, how orders are issued and how status overview is displayed has been presented.

Application of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) has increased recently as a sustainable alternative in concrete construction. Although application of RCA has substantially grown over the past decades, issues related to its structural performance and long-term behaviour still prevent its widespread application, especially in structural purposes. In this study, a new mixture proportioning method called the “Equivalent Volume (EV)” method is proposed for RCA concrete, which is developed on the assumption that the RCA mix is based on a companion conventional concrete mix having the same volume of “cement paste and aggregates” as the companion mixture. RCA mixes containing different aggregate types and mechanical properties were designed using the EV method. Chemical, mechanical and non-destructive tests were performed and their performance was investigated. Finally, a quality control protocol for evaluating the suitability of RCA sources for structural applications is proposed. Results show that the EV method seems a promising approach to mix-proportion eco-friendly recycled concrete mixes. Moreover, the RCA type and properties seem to influence in the behaviour of RCA concrete and thus should be accounted in the mix- design.

In today’s world music streaming is the most dominant form of music consumption. Introducing platform capitalism to music streaming has changed the music commodity and its effects serve as a motivation for this thesis. The role of emotions in music listening is explored and design research is conducted to find unmet latent needs of users in respect to the emotional side of music.  Semi-structured user interviews are used to understand how users relate music to their emotional lives. Co-design workshops are conducted to identify unmet user needs and feelings. The data is analysed inductively and results treated through the theoretical lenses of emotional design (Norman D. (2003)) and psychological ownership theory (Pierce J.L., Kostova T., & Dirks K. Y., (2003)). The main themes generated by the research show that users want -- to know their music and their music service to know them; new ways to feel music, relive the “first time”; to connect music to their emotional and personal lives; to control music more easily. These findings motivate and inform the design of a conceptual artefact.

This work starts with a simple question of ; Why not to draw the garment directly on the body since this is the way it will inevitably be worn? Working through steps; wrapping into a fabric and drawing the garment on the body to reveal lines for constructing that is directly based on the body, this work shows an alternative way of constructing a garment; the result that is presented can be seen as a base for further development within the field this method has explored. Further, the work challenges the current norms in archetypical garments with the intention to redefine their expression, where the methods aim is to broaden the field of garment construction, investigating the gap between construction lines and material expectations. The method Write Drunk/ Edit Sober is both discovering the fundamentals of garment construction and questioning the systematic interpretations we place on a garments connection to materials.

The design of smart, interactive, computational, and electronic textiles involves working with unknown variables that expand the tangible dimensions of textiles. Non-visual concepts such as electromagnetic fields, electrical current, computational code, and the temporal attributes of materials that exhibit dynamic qualities require that textile designers be able to perceive and manipulate domains of the textile that extend beyond its conventional forms of expression. Through these qualities, the textile becomes an interface to otherwise imperceptible phenomena of electromagnetism and thereby opens up to new textile design expressions. However, to do so requires a shift in the understanding of how fundamental textile concepts such as material, form, and expression interrelate to affect the expressive domain of the textile itself. This research aims to describe the material attributes, characteristics, and expressions of electromagnetic phenomena as explored through experimental research methods and suggests ways in which electromagnetic phenomena can be worked with as a design material for smart textiles. Further, it seeks to expand upon conventional design variables of textiles to include its electromagnetic domain. The experiments presented in this thesis suggest a framework for working with magnetic, dielectric, and conductive materials through textile techniques of weaving and knitting. The experiments point to the interrelationship between the textile material, structure, and form, identifying this triad as the key influencers that determine how textile expressions can embrace electromagnetic phenomena. The results of the experimental work are methods that show accessible ways for textile designers to visualize and perceive electromagnetic fields in textiles, such as sensing the impressions of textile structures on the magnetic field using a method of scanned-surface imaging; perceiving electromagnetic fields using textile antennas and spatial exploration, resulting in sonic expression; and kinetic textile behaviours at the yarn level through magnetic interactions. Furthermore, the design possibilities of the materials, methods and tools suggested in this thesis are demonstrated through examples of interactive artefacts, e.g., in the form of ambient energy harvesting forest mobiles and radio-frequency (RF) body extensions. The results suggest the variety of electromagnetic textile expressions that can be created when methods and tools to perceive and manipulate electromagnetic phenomena in textiles are consciously utilized.

<p>A key aspect of color change is altering perceived value or intensity. This dissertation presents a methodology to achieve value change through mechanical means via the deflection of bistable structures. We create the Mechxel, two methods of mechanical pixel-based, reversible color change using 3D printed switchable multistability and bistable switch panels that augment the projected area a viewer perceives which enables the creation of image and character tessellation.</p> <p>Switchable multistability (SMS) arises from the combination of pre-strain and shape memory, allowing us to access multiple elastically programmed shapes at elevated temperatures with fast morphing and low actuation forces, while retaining high stiffness at room temperature. We design and manufacture SMS Mechxels using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing on the Ultimaker 3D printer in a bilayer layup of polylactic acid (PLA) with a [90/0] print direction while iteratively miniaturizing the physical size to enhance the resolution while also reducing the size of the overall tessellated display. Leveraging SMS properties programmed into each Mechxel, the projected area to a viewer will vary between the unit’s stable states, creating a difference in perceived value of coloration due to changes in area. To ease the tessellation process, we also introduce a tessellation user interface that maps images to their tessellated equivalent to reduce tessellation trial and error. This interface also calculates the number of Mechxels required in their respective states and the final physical size of the display. We then carry out image processing to justify this change in value between stable states and run preliminary optical character recognition.</p> <p>Inspired by mechanical bistable mechanisms, the bistable switch Mechxels utilize changes in a surface’s projected area to a viewer via changes in the angle of a bistable tile using a 5-by-5 grid for character replication and display. Comprising of three main components – two bistable switches, a colored tile and a base, design considerations were made to create an easy to assemble and replaceable 3D printed grid system that could be interacted with by audiences or easily electromechanically actuated. Using pixel-by-pixel comparisons and Sorensen-Dice coefficient, characters using the typeface Silkscreen were documented on these tiled grids yielding high similarity and low error when compared to their digital reference images in various positions and orientations. We also experiment with transitional waves as a promising means of actuation to change the Mechxel between their stable states.</p> <p>The Mechxels considered in this research introduce a new means of purely mechanical color change, character, and image display either leveraging the elastic properties of shape memory polymers (SMPs) or bistable mechanisms. With potential applications in passive morphing architecture, adaptive camouflage, and interactive aesthetic, Mechxels opens the door to limitless design possibilities through a new perspective into color change.</p>

The project Kera-Plast aims to re-loop humans and nature by questioning the current systems and ethics through materiality. Human hair, currently considered as waste, functions as the base for the material exploration fabricated through thermo-compression molding. The flexible, short and opaque keratin-fibers get glued together with heat, pressure and water, acting as a plasticizer during the compression molding process. The results are stiff and remind on plastic due to shine and translucency. Aesthetics and function of the resulting material are controlled and designed by traditional textile techniques as knitting, weaving and non-woven processes. The material samples display the potential of Kera-Plast in the categories of 3D surface structures, patterns, shapeability and the influence of light. The findings also provide information about the parameters for designing with keratin fibers through the thermo-compression process. It can be concluded that despite all ethical and cultural factors, Kera-Plast and its fabrication method has the potential to add a sustainable, functional and aesthetical value to the design field and our future material consumption.

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One method to create and work with personas is to abstract the user data into a character with a background story and a set of goals. This method has been argued against as the method is argued to lead to, for example, stereotyping users and for not exposing User Experience (UX) designers to user data. User data has been argued to be used by UX designers to make design decision. This study examines the possibility for UX designers to empathize with a persona that have additional accessible representations of user data. The results from this study imply that it is possible for UX designers to empathize with a persona while having access to representations of user data. Additionally, the results indicate that the persona design methods used in this study need further development. / En metod för att skapa och jobba med personas är att abstrahera användardatan till en karaktär med en bakgrundshistoria och ett antal mål. Denna metod har argumenterats mot bland annat för att metoden leder till att man skapar stereotypa användare och för att inte exponera User Experience (UX) designers till användardatan. Användardata har argumenterats användas av UX-designers för att göra designrelaterade beslut. Denna studie undersöker möjligheten att empatisera med en persona som har ytterligare representationer av användardata tillgängliga. Resultatet av denna studie indikerar att det är möjligt för UX designers att empatisera med en persona medan representationer av användardata finns att tillgå. Ytterligare indikerar resultaten att designmetoderna för den persona som användes i denna studie är i behov av ytterligare utveckling.