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Keeping the audience engaged when presenting a topic in a conventional setting (a class presentation or a keynote in a conference) can be challenging. Often, presenta- tions tend to be linear and non-engaging. It was my intention to research how the ex- perience can be improved by using different methods to engage the audience.In this thesis the reader will find the results of my exploration and research on how to make presentations more engaging for the audience via interactive methods.After some background information, I go through the process of developing concepts that could improve the presenting experience. I describe different contexts where peo- ple deliver presentations and research about these environments to discuss the context of the thesis. I also discuss the concept of audience engagement.After selecting one of these concepts I describe the development of a prototype that il- lustrates the concept and discuss it after a series of user testing procedures.Finally some conclusions and comments are discussed in the final part of the docu- ment.

Yes / This Case Study paper presents the first exploration of Speculative Design as a participatory democracy method for navigating the future of ageing in Malaysia. Speculative Design in the context of Global South is emerging, but without much data on how it is applied within different socio-economic conditions from the Global North countries. This Case Study considers the challenges and opportunities of employing Speculative Design as policy identification and development method from the context of Malaysia, a Global South country with its own unique characteristics. The paper concludes by suggesting that the novelty of Speculative Design as a policy-design approach in Global South countries, such as in Malaysia, requires the right selection of provocations and culturally familiar content to ease introduction of the methodology. Also, the efficacy of this approach as a participatory design application would require further enculturation within targeted communities, as well as sustained engagement through Champions. / This work was supported by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number: AH/S005684/1].

The performance of the Svoboda-Nadler-Vora algorithm for exact multiple-output boolean function minimization is studied and compared with a heuristic minimization method. For this purpose, the algorithm has been implemented in optimized ANSI C code. This implementation introduces a new set of procedures to reduce the cost of prime implicant generation. The concept of weight as the number of 1 and don't care neighbors of a state is used to take advantage of the special cases when a state has only one neighbor or no neighbors at all. The cost of prime implicant generation is further reduced by using the fact that the input dependency of any given state is limited by which of its neighbors exist within an output that are 1 's or don't cares. A detailed example illustrates how the heuristic method can fail to find the absolute minimum of a boolean function. / M.S.

This is a study in which landscape architecture is theoretically related to the "textile art." It establishes a theoretical analogy of the landscape as a kind of textual manifestation, "the landscape is a textile," and aims to establish new resemblances that show how the landscape and textile arts are related, not only with regards to the elements of composition, or to similarities between the elemental relationships that exist in both these arts, but to how the study of structure and form in the production of textiles may influence our understanding of the textile nature of the landscape. The first part of the research is developing a theoretical analogy between landscape and fabric. The process of making textiles is based on weaving and knitting, operations in which knots obviously play a most important role. The context of the urban landscape can also be viewed as a woven fabric of different threads, where knots are the summit of this interwoven textile. This study shows that the goal of landscape is to knit together the clusters of meaning so that the person can experience the unity that binds up these different qualities. Based on this theoretical analogy, the second part uses the "action research" method which in the context of this study would be a scholarly practice of design, "design-research." Both parts of the research are qualitative inquiry in nature and the qualitative manner of the investigation calls for an inductive investigation rather than a deductive one; theoretical discussions and the design section rely heavily on interpretation of the researcher. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Even though disciplines that are not traditionally affiliated with design have started to show interest in design thinking such as business, education, healthcare, engineering, and IT (Clark and Smith, 2008; Cross, 2007, 2011; Dorst, 2011; Finn Connell, 2013; Lawson, 2004, 2006; Owen, 2007; Razzouk and Shute, 2012) design thinking studies has tended to focus on limited design disciplines such as architecture, engineering design, and industrial design and there are not enough studies to prove that designers in different design fields perform design processes as design thinking literature proposed (Kimbell, 2011). This qualitative study explores the design process of professionals from different design disciplines, in order to understand the similarities and differences between their process and the design activities proposed by the design thinking literature. Design strategies of experts from different design disciplines were studied and compared, in relation to the activities proposed by the design thinking literature. This basic qualitative study was designed to use semi-structured interviews as the qualitative method of inquiry. This study employed purposeful sampling, specifically criterion sampling and snowball sampling methods. The researcher interviewed nine designers from instructional design, fashion design, and game design fields. A semi-structured interview protocol was developed and participants were asked demographic questions, opinion and values questions, and ideal position questions. Demographic questions provided background information such as education and number of years of design experience for the participants. Opinion and value questions were asked to learn what participants think about the research questions. Ideal position questions let participants describe what good design would be. The researcher analyzed the interview data and the results were reported in a way to demonstrate the differences and similarities within and across disciplines. / Ph. D.

This constructive design research dissertation aims to understand how design can be used as part of a composite research approach to generate knowledge about how complex phenomena are composed through their interactions and relationships with various actors, both human and non-human. It has done this by investigating a single phenomenon, the patient experience of radiotherapy. Through the purposeful selection and application of methods, theories, and existing research from design, nursing, and STS, this thesis utilizes a mixed-method approach comprised of qualitative, quantitative methods, and design experimentation, across multiple research sites and patient populations, in three research projects – PERT, DUMBO, and POIS – to generate rich and layered knowledge of the patient experience. Experience prototypes are used to challenge, through intervention or provocation, the relationships between the various radiotherapy actors identified through the empirical methods. Together, the research generated in PERT, DUMBO, and POIS construct a map of the networked, interdependent actors which shape the patient’s emotional experience of radiotherapy: the staff, technology, information, environment, and institutions. It also calls attention to the problematic relationship between radiotherapy patients and the technologies used to treat them, which can lead to anxiety, worry, and fear. This thesis offers contributions related to both improving patient experience and designing for complex social issues. First, this research suggests that individuals, other than primary users, need to be acknowledged in the design of medical technologies. It proposes calling attention to patients by naming them as interactors in their relationships with the aforementioned technologies, removing them from the role of implicated actor. Second, this thesis problematizes treating the actors within a network as independent entities, which medical research and user-centered design often does, and calls for a new type of design practice which attends to these networked relationships. Third, this thesis suggests two ways in which design research practice should be shifted methodologically if it wants to engage with and design for complex social issues like patient experience; widening the researcher’s perspective on the issue through the use of a composite methodology, and having the researcher maintain this scope by remaining closely connected to their research context. The implications of this work concern how design research, design education, and design practice might shift their approaches to fully acknowledge and attend to the complexity of systems like healthcare.

Programming was included in the curriculum for mathematics at highschool 2018 and to beused as a tool for problem solving in the courses mathematics 3b, mathematics in the c-track,mathematics 4 and mathematics 5. The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge to themathematics subject in high school by investigating and describing a teaching situation whereprogramming is used as a tool for problem solving in mathematics in high school. The study'sresearch design is design research and is based on a designed activity with principles fromblock coding and Kolb's experiential learning theory that aims to answer the question of howblock coding can introduce programming as a tool for solving mathematical problems in highschool. The study was conducted in two classes with 31 and 24 students, respectively. Thestudy shows how block coding can be used to introduce students to developing the ability tosolve mathematical problems with programming. / Programmering togs med i ämnesplanen för matematik på gymnasiet 2018 och ska användassom ett verktyg för problemlösning inom kurserna matematik 3b, matematik inom c-spåret,matematik 4 och matematik 5. Syftet med studien är bidra med kunskap till matematikämnetpå gymnasiet genom att undersöka och redogöra för en undervisningssituation därprogrammering används som verktyg för problemlösning inom matematik på gymnasiet.Studiens forskningsdesign är design research och grundar sig i en designad aktivitet medprinciper från blockprogrammering och Kolbs experiential learning theory som syftar till attsvara på frågan om hur blockprogrammering kan introducera programmering som verktyg föratt lösa matematiska problem på gymnasiet. Studien genomfördes i två klasser med 31respektive 24 elever. Studien visar hur blockprogrammering kan användas för att introduceraelever till att utveckla förmågan att lösa matematiska problem med programmering.

Digitalization has affected and changed society in many ways, and the use of ICT and smartphones has increased drastically over the last years. The two research questions that were addressed in this Master Thesis Project were: 1. Is there a connection between ICT use and stress? and 2. How can we help people to limit or reduce their smartphone use in bed at night? The project was divided into two parts, one research part (1) and one design development part (2), each with its own research question. Methods applied in the project included Design Research, Human-Centered Design and a Soma Design approach. An extensive background research and user studies, including deep interviews and a survey, both answered the first research question and led to the formulation of the second one. To answer the second research question four different concepts were developed, tested as trigger material and evaluated through a SWOT analysis. The concept that was chosen to be further developed, a massage pillow controlled by moving a smartphone around, was developed into a functional prototype. The purpose of the prototype was to give the user an experience as close to the real one as possible. Based on the prototype, a final concept of the massage pillow, called “Avkopplad”, was created. The answer to the first research question was that yes, there is a connection between ICT use and stress. The second research question was answered by the final concept, although further development and tests of it are necessary to confirm the answer. / Digitaliseringen har påverkat och förändrat samhället på många sätt, och användandet av ICT och smartphones har ökat drastiskt under de senaste åren. De två forskningsfrågor som det här examensarbetet ämnade besvara var 1. Finns det en koppling mellan användande av ICT och stress? och 2. Hur kan vi hjälpa människor att begränsa eller minska sitt användande av smartphones i sängen på kvällen? Projektet bestod av två delar, en forskningsdel (1) och en designutvecklingsdel (2), båda med sin respektive forskningsfråga. Några av metoderna som användes i projektet var Design Research, Human-Centered Design och Soma Design. En omfattande bakgrundsresearch och användarstudier, såsom djupintervjuer och en enkät, både besvarade den första forskningsfrågan och ledde till formuleringen av den andra frågan. Fyra olika koncept togs fram, testades och utvärderades med SWOT-analys för att besvara den andra forskningsfrågan. En funktionell prototyp togs fram för det utvalda konceptet, en massagekudde styrd av hur användaren rör på sin smartphone. Syftet med prototypen var att skapa en upplevelse som så mycket som möjligt liknade den tänkta riktiga upplevelsen. Utifrån prototypen skapades slutkonceptet ”Avkopplad”. Svaret på den första forskningsfrågan var att ja, det finns en koppling mellan användande av ICT och stress. Den andra forskningsfrågan besvarades med slutkonceptet, men ytterligare tester och utveckling krävs för att bekräfta svaret.

Elon saknar ett effektivt system vad gäller artikelplacering på lagret. Inkommande artiklar placeras på de platser där möjligheten finns att ta emot hela den inkommande volymen. Syftet med examensarbetet har två delar. En del är att ta fram en tydlig metod för Elon att använda vid en frekvensläggning samt att genomföra den valda metoden för 12 månader. Den andra delen är att simulera den totala körsträckan för truckförarna före och efter en frekvensläggning för det första kvartalet år 2021 med målet att uppnå en minskad körsträcka på 10 %. Arbetet ska även resultera i en färdig programmeringskod i Python som Elon ska kunna använda vid framtida simuleringar. Arbetet inleddes med en litteratursökning av relevanta metoder och tekniker som ska vara till grund för den frekvensläggning som genomförs i arbetet. De forskningsmetoder som identifierades och valdes var Design Research Methodology samt datainsamlingsteknikerna Litteraturstudie, Dokumentstudie, Intervju och Observation. Efter att en litteraturstudie genomförts valdes metoden ABC-analys som metod för frekvensläggning. Arbetet resulterade i en metod för frekvensläggning som innehåller fem steg som företaget bör följa och som beskrivs djupare i rapporten. ABC-analysen resulterade i att samtliga artiklar på lagret klassificerades i A-, B- eller C-klass efter uttagsfrekvens och ett platsbehov för varje klass beräknades. Den simulerade plockningen efter en frekvensläggning resulterade i en minskad körsträcka på 21,09 %. Arbetet kan utvecklas ytterligare genom att ta hänsyn till vilka portar det körs mer frekvent till, identifiera artiklar som ofta körs tillsammans och placera nära varandra, anpassa lagret efter kampanjvaror och dess tidsperioder samt om möjligt kunna torrköra plockning efter genomförd frekvensläggning i lagrets WMS som då resulterar i en noggrannare simulering. / The company Elon Group AB lacks an effective method when it comes to product placement within the warehouse. As of now incoming products are placed where storage space is available. The purpose of this work can be divided into two parts. One part is to create a method that Elon can use when placing their products using picking frequency, this method will be used in practice during this thesis when placing products using picking frequency for a period of 12 months. The second part of this thesis is to simulate the accumulated distance forklift drivers have driven before and after slotting by picking frequency for a period of 3 months. The goal is to accomplish a 10% decrease in driving distance after slotting has been made. The simulation requires a code in the programming language Python which is part of the thesis. The work started with a literature review to help choose the right methods. The methods that were identified and used were Design Research Methodology, literature study, document study, interviews and observations. After the literature study was made an ABC-analysis was chosen specifically as the method for conducting the slotting. The work resulted in a five step-method. The ABC-analysis resulted in all of the products being given a class (A, B or C) and the required number of storage bins for the different classes were calculated. The simulation showed a decreased driving distance of 21,09 %. The work can develop by taking into account that the exit-ports in practice do not ship out an equal amount of goods, identifying which products that are often picked together and placing them near each other, taking into account campaign products and if possible dryrun the warehouse WMS after slotting to obtain more accurate data.