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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
11

A Macroergonomics Path to Human-centered, Adaptive Buildings

Agee, Philip 26 September 2019 (has links)
Human-building relationships impact everyone in industrialized society. We spend approximately 90% of our lives in the built environment. Buildings have a large impact on the environment; consuming 20% of worldwide energy (40% of U.S. energy) annually. Buildings are complex systems, yet architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals often perform their work without considering the human factors that affect the operational performance of the building system. The AEC industry currently employs a linear design and delivery approach, lacking verified performance standards and real-time feedback once a certificate of occupancy is issued. We rely on static monthly utility bills that lag and mask occupant behavior. We rely on lawsuits and anecdotal business development trends as our feedback mechanisms for the evaluation of a complex, system-based product. The omission of human factors in the design and delivery of high performance building systems creates risk for the AEC industry. Neglecting an iterative, human-centered design approach inhibits our ability to relinquish the building industry's position as the top energy consuming sector. Therefore, this research aims to explore, identify, and propose optimizations to critical human-building relationships in the multifamily housing system. This work is grounded in Sociotechnical Systems theory (STS). STS provides the most appropriate theoretical construct for this work because 1) human-building interactions (HBI) are fundamentally, human-technology interactions, 2) understanding HBI will improve total system performance, and 3) the interrelationships among human-building subsystems and the potential for interventions to effect the dynamics of the system are not currently well understood. STS was developed in the 1940's as a result of work system design changes with coal mining in the United Kingdom. STS consists of four subsystems and provides a theoretical framework to approach the joint optimization of complex social and technical problems. In the context of this work, multidisciplinary approaches were leveraged from human factors engineering and building construction to explore relationships among the four STS subsystems. An exploratory case study transformed the work from theoretical construct toward an applied STS model. Data are gathered from each STS subsystem using a mixed-methods research design. Methods include Systematic Review (SR), a descriptive case study of zero energy housing, and the Macroergonomics Analysis and Design (MEAD) of three builder-developers. This work contributes to bridging the bodies of knowledge between human factors engineering and the AEC industry. An output of this work is a framework and work system recommendations to produce human-centered, adaptive buildings. This work specifically examined the system inputs and outputs of multifamily housing in the United States. The findings are supportive of existing scientific society, government, and industry standards and goals. Relevant standards and goals include the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Macroergonomics and Environmental Design Technical Groups, International Energy Agency's Energy in Buildings ANNEX 79 Occupant Behavior-Centric Building Design and Operation, the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Research to Market Plan and zero energy building goals of the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). / Doctor of Philosophy / We spend approximately 90% of our lives in the built environment. Buildings have a large impact on the environment; consuming 20% of worldwide energy (40% of U.S. energy) annually. As we work to reduce energy use in buildings, new challenges have emerged. As buildings become more complex, the architecture, engineering, and construction industry (AEC) must adapt. The industry historically employs a linear design and delivery approach, lacking verified performance standards and real-time feedback once a certificate of occupancy is issued. We rely on static monthly utility bills that lag and mask occupant behavior. We rely on lawsuits and anecdotal business development trends as our feedback mechanisms for the evaluation of a complex, system-based product. The omission of human factors in the design and delivery of high-performance building systems creates risk for the industry and occupants. To better understand that risk, a comparative analysis of zero energy housing explores the relationship between humans and the buildings of the future. A second case study explores the work systems of builder-developers by using the Macroergonomic Analysis and Design method. The work reports risks and barriers in the system, as well as opportunities to create human-centered, adaptive housing. Specifically, this project enhances our understanding of 1) high performance housing, 2) their occupants, and 3) the builder-developers that produce high performance housing.
12

Smart Hydroponics : Conceptual Design of Hydroponic Plant System for Home Environment

Földhazy, Erik January 2018 (has links)
Hydroponics is a method of cultivating plants without the use of soil. Soil acts as a growth medium which gives plants stability, provides nutrients and allows roots to be kept wet without drowning. In hydroponics the soil’s functions are replaced by synthesized methods. Stability comes from a substrate (i.e. LECA, rockwool perlite).The 16 essential nutrients are solved in water which are distributed to plants’ roots by different techniques. To generate photosynthesis natural light is replaced by artificial light, especially red light in the proximity of 660 nm. Hydroponics has been used as a cultivation method for at least 2000 years. During the 20th century industrial applications became common since plastics allowed for complex systems engineering. The method also makes it possible to grow the same amount of crops with approximately 10% water usage and 25% of the area compared to conventional cultivation. During the past few years systems for home use has emerged but the product genre is still in its cradle. This master thesis covers a new conceptual design of a hydroponic home system. The project was carried out at Omecon AB in Stockholm as a consulting design project. Omecon AB is an engineering consultant agency within mostly mechanical construction looking to widen the competence base. Using a design process based on Human-Centered Design the project involved the stakeholders users, extreme users, Omecon AB, plant experts, electronics engineering and service as well as plastics design engineering. Additional/supplemental economical–, ecological– and social sustainability aspects has been considered during all phases of the process. By using the Human-Centered Design process the problem range is expanded from its initial state which results in a more complete end result. Common methodology altered with some unorthodox twists has been utilized throughout the project. The final result is a conceptual hydroponic system for home environment which is designed as an interior design product as well as a high-performance cultivation system. By using natural materials such as wood and steel the users expands its life span and thus mitigates the negative environmental impact. Another aspect which prolongs the products life span is the modular usage which lets users vary and choose their preferred settings. All manufactured materials included in the final concept were flow resources and the parts were engineered to be easily separable for future replacement and recycling. A new type of pot was invented along with a new way of adjusting the height-wise position of lamps. The aeroponic technique, which was applied to this concept, is generally considered to generate the largest plants and thus comprises higher performance compared to other home systems. The use of substrate was also eliminated which decreases continous material consumption within hydroponics. / Hydroponik är en metod för att odla växter utan jord. Jord i odling agerar som ett växtmedium som ger plantor stabilitet, tillför näringsämnen och tillåter rötter att vara i väta utan att dränka dem. I hydroponik ersätts jordens funktioner med syntetiska metoder. Stabilitet ges av ett substrat (t.ex. LECA-kulor, stenull eller perlit). De 16 essentiella näringsämnena löses i vatten och distribueras till plantors rötter med hjälp av olika tekniker. For att skapa fotosyntes ersätts naturligt ljus med artificiellt ljus. Speciellt rött ljus i närheten av 660 nm. Hydroponik har använts som odlingsmetod i åtminstånde 2000 år. Under 1900-talet blev industiella applikationer vanliga eftersom plast möjliggjorde tillverkling av komplexa system. Metoden tillåter även att odla samma mängd grödor med 10% av vattenmängden och 25% av ytan jämfört med konventionell odling. Under de senaste åren har system avsedda för användning hemma blivit vanligare men produktgenren är fortfarande ung. Det här examensarbetet täcker en ny konceptuell design av ett hydroponiskt system för hemmabruk. Projektet utfördes på Omecon AB i Stockholm som ett konsultarbete inom design. Omecon AB är en konsultfirma som mestadels är verksamma inom mekanikkonstruktion men de vill vidga sin kompetens. Genom användning av en designprocess som har baserats på Human-Centered Design har projektet involverat intressenterna användare, extrema användare, Omecon AB, växtexperter, en elektronikingenjör samt plastkonstruktion. Vidare har aspekter inom ekonomisk–, ekologisk– och social hållbarhet beaktats genom alla faser av processen. Via användning av Human-Centered Design-processen har problemrummet expanderats från den initiala utgångspunkten vilket resulterar i ett mer komplett slutresultat. Vanlig metodik varvat med okonventionella anpassningar har använts genom projektet. Slutresultatet består av ett konceptuellt hydroponiskt system för hemmabruk som är designat som en inredningsprodukt samt ett odlingssystem med hög prestanda. Genom användning av naturliga material som trä och stål förlänger användarna produktens livslängd och på så sätt förmildras den negativa klimatpåverkan. En annan aspekt som förlänger produktens livslängd är moduläriteten som låter användare variera och välja deras föredragna inställningar. Alla tillverkade material inkluderade i slutkonceptet var flödesresurser och delarna konstruerades så att de går lätt att separera för framtida ersättning och återvinning. En ny typ av kruka uppfanns tillsammans med ett nytt sätt att justera höjden av lamporna. Den aeroponiska tekniken, som används is konceptet, är allmänt ansedd att generera de största plantorna och innefattar därför högre prestanda jämfört med andra hydroponiska hemmasystem. Användning av substrat eliminerades också vilket minskar kontinuerlig materialkonsumption inom hydroponik.
13

PITEPULS : Så kan Piteå bli en attraktiv stad för musikstuderande

Franzén, Anna January 2022 (has links)
Studentantalet på Luleå Tekniska Universitet I Piteå har gått från hela 900 till 300 de senaste ca 12 åren. En trend som både Piteå kommun och LTU vill motarbeta, samtidigt som Piteå kommun vill öka antalet inflyttande till platsen. På uppdrag av det kommunala företaget Piteå Science Park så var därför målet med detta examensarbeteatt ta fram en lösning som både ökar intresset för de musikutbildningar som erbjuds på LTU i Piteå och Framnäs Folkhögskola samt uppmuntrar de studerande till att vilja bo kvar i staden efter avklarade studier. Examensarbetet ingår i utbildningen Teknisk design högskoleingenjör vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet. I projektet användes IDEOs Human-Centered design-process bestående av de tre faser inspiration, ideation och implementation. I varje fas användes ett antal metoder för att, på ett metodiskt och produktivt vis, utveckla ett koncept som uppfyllde de krav och önskemål som satts av uppdragsgivaren och målgruppen. Här genomfördes bland annat, en mängd intervjuer med både användare och experter, olika workshops för att ta fram och vidareutveckla idéer, insamling av inspiration med hjälp av metoden benchmarking och slutligen prototypande av konceptet. Under intervjuerna med användarna kom en hel del intressanta behov och önskemål fram, till exempel att de tyckte att det måste finnas fler och prisvärda aktiviteter i Piteå och att de inte besöker centrum oftare än 1 gång per vecka i snitt. Arbetet resulterade i slutkonceptet Pitepuls som är en eventhemsida där alla Piteås evenemang är samlade under ett och samma tak. Sidan innehåller event kopplade till kultur, sport, religion, och friluftsaktiviteter och skall vara tillgänglig för både studerande, fastboende och turister. Projektet genererade ett koncept som har potential att lyfta fram Piteå som eventstad och därmed öka dess attraktivitet, både bland unga vuxna men också bland fastboende och turister, samt att det därmed hjälper Framnäs och LTU Piteå att sticka ut bland mängden folkhögskolor och musikhögskolor.
14

Development of a Low-level laser therapy product for home use : With focus on function and aesthetic design

Sandström, Vendela, Klara, Westerberg January 2023 (has links)
Today, 27 out of 1000 individuals suffer from neck pain, affecting both individuals and society (Kazeminasab et al., 2022). These problems are most prevalent in the Scandinavian countries, with Sweden being one of the countries experiencing the greatest increase (Safiri et al., 2020). Non-invasive treatments for neck pain, such as low-level laser therapy, yoga, massage, aquatic therapy, and acupuncture, are already available in the market and have shown positive results (Kazeminasab et al., 2022). In this project, a handheld product with low-level laser therapy has been developed to reduce neck pain. The goal was to create a high-quality, safe, and reliable product that was aesthetically pleasing and could cover a premium market for home-use products. This thesis is produced at Luleå University of Technology in the spring semester of 2023 as a part of the Industrial Design Civil Engineering program. The project was conducted in collaboration with Ozoneair, a local company based in Luleå that specializes in producing air purifiers. The design process drew inspiration from IDEO's human-centered approach (2015) and incorporated various design methodologies to comprehend user requirements and develop a dependable product. The process encompassed three distinct phases, namely inspiration, ideation, and implementation, all of which centered around the target users. During the inspiration phase, user information was collected through contextual investigations, observations, interviews with experts, focus groups, and user testing of existing products in order to compile a comprehensive needs analysis. In the ideation phase, multiple concepts were generated and refined through iterative cycles of user testing, ultimately leading to the selection of a final concept. The chosen concept was realized in the implementation phase by creating of a digital prototype using Blender as a program, followed by the development of a full-scale physical prototype. The result is a clean and sleek product with a distinctive aesthetic that sets it apart in the market, diverging from the conventional sterile appearance often associated with medical devices. / Idag lider 27 av 1000 individer av nacksmärtor, vilket påverkar både individer och samhället i stort (Kazeminasab et al., 2022). Dessa problem är vanligast i de skandinaviska länderna, där Sverige är ett av de länder som upplever störst ökning (Safiri et al., 2020). Icke-invasiva behandlingar för nacksmärtor, såsom lågnivå laserterapi, yoga, massage, vattenterapi och akupunktur, finns redan på marknaden och har visat positiva resultat (Kazeminasab et al., 2022). I detta projekt har en handhållen produkt med low level laser thearpy utvecklats för att minska nacksmärtor. Målet var att skapa en högkvalitativ, säker och pålitlig produkt som är estetiskt tilltalande och som kan täcka en marknad för premiumprodukter för hemmabruk.  Detta examensarbete är framtaget vid Luleå tekniska universitet vårterminen 2023, som en del av civilingenjörsprogrammet Teknisk design. Projektet genomfördes i samarbete med Ozoneair, ett Luleåbaserat företag specialiserat på luftrenare. Designprocessen inspirerades av IDEOs (2015) människocentrerade process och inkluderade flera designmetoder för att förstå användarnas behov och skapa en pålitlig produkt. Processen bestod av tre faser: inspiration, idé och implementering, som alla fokuserade på potentiella användare. Inspirationsfasen gick ut på att samla information om användare genom kontextuella undersökningar, observationer, expertintervjuer, fokusgrupper och användartester av befintliga produkter, för att sedan sammanställa en behovsanalys. I idéfasen skapades och itererades olika koncept utifrån mindre användartester, vilket ledde fram till valet av ett slutgiltigt koncept. I implementeringsfasen väcktes konceptet till liv genom en digital prototyp i programmet Blender och en fullskalig fysisk prototyp. Slutprodukten är minimalistisk och avskalad, med ett unikt utseende som sticker ut på marknaden och utmärker sig från det klassiska sterila uttryck som medicintekniska produkter förknippas med.
15

I Still Play: Exploring Play and Creativity in Early Adulthood Amongst Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics Professionals

Earl, Emily Charlotte January 2015 (has links)
Play is acknowledged as a fundamental need and right of the human experience. However, across the human lifespan is not always valued. Research on play has traditionally been on children, and while some attention is now being paid to older adults, there is little scholarship regarding play in adulthood. This exploratory study examined how early adulthood (25-40 years old) play, the influence playing has on creativity and career performance, and implications for future research on play. The study was completed utilizing traditional and non-traditional research methods with the intent to incorporate the participants' voice and perspectives into a human-centered research design. The end results of this study, demonstrated that early adults engage in a number of play experiences that shape their development and learning as well as influence their creativity and work performance. The use of human-centered research provided participants with the opportunity to individualize data collection, analyze results, and have a voice in the final product.
16

Elevating the Everyday: Designed Objects as Companions

Hester, Cassie 01 January 2012 (has links)
From fleeting interactions to long affairs, our relationships with things are diverse and complex. Like people, designed objects and environments are close companions in our lives. The way we understand and engage with artifacts is parallel to the way we interpret and interact with each other. A constant source of comfort and delight, frustration and anxiety, their personalities inform our everyday dialogues and experiences. Designed artifacts assume engaging and pleasurable personalities when they transcend materials, challenge perceptions, and garner active, reflective interactions. Through the investigation of familiar materials such as concrete, crayons, paper, sequins, and thread in unfamiliar formats and contexts, I am creating objects that are playful in construction and interaction. By imbuing objects with friendly and intriguing personalities, everyday interactions and experiences with these objects are elevated, as users invest in pleasurable forays and relationships.
17

Beröringsskydd för elskena : Utveckling med användaren i centrum

Nordgren, Johan January 2019 (has links)
This thesis is the final assignment for a bachelor degree in Industrial Design Engineering via Luleå University of Technology. The project comprises 15hp and has been carried out in collaboration with MECON AB in Luleå, which works with construction, among other things. This report contains the development process of a touch guard for the power rails that runs along a traverse path. The task of the touch guard is to protect the staff at SSAB from risks that may arise if something falls on the power rails. Objects such as a wrench could create short circuits and be pushed off by the current in the electrical rails with high speed causing a hazard. The work is based on IDEO- the field guide to human-centered design, which is a human-centered process with three phases. In this case, the installer is the user. It is the installer who is affected by how easily mounted the touch guard is. Therefore, in order to design a user-friendly touch protection, an understanding of the user and its needs is required. By collecting information using interviews, observations, study visits and a literature study, a design specification could be created. This was then the basis for the remaining work that led to a bracket and three versions of the protection plates. Together with the users and the stakeholders, a final concept was chosen that fulfills the design specification. The report presents the process and its steps leading to a final concept. Later, the results are discussed and how well the work fulfilled the purpose and goals, and whether the work answered the research questions. / Detta examensarbete är utförts som den avslutande uppgiften för programmet högskoleingenjör Teknisk Design på Luleå Tekniska Universitet. Examensarbetet omfattar 15 högskolepoäng och har utförts i samarbete med MECON AB i Luleå som arbetar med bland annat konstruktion. Rapporten behandlar utvecklingen av ett beröringsskydd för en elskena som löper längs en traversbana. Beröringsskyddets uppgift är att skydda personalen på SSAB från risker som kan uppstå om någonting faller ned på elskenorna. Föremål som till exempel en skiftnyckel skulle kunna skapa kortslutning och skjutas iväg av strömmen i elskenorna. Arbetet utgår från IDEO-the field guide to human-centered design, som är en användarcentrerad process med tre faser. I detta arbete är det montören som är användaren. Det är montören som är berörd av hur lättmonterat beröringsskyddet är. För att kunna utforma ett användarvänligt beröringsskydd krävs därför en förståelse för användaren och dess behov. Genom att samla in information med hjälp av intervjuer, observationer, studiebesök och en litteraturstudie kunde en designspecifikation skapas. Denna låg då till grund till resterande arbete som ledde till ett fäste och tre stycken skyddsplåtar. Tillsammans med användarna och intressenterna valdes ett slutgiltigt koncept som uppfyller designspecifikationen. Rapporten redovisar processen och dess moment som leder till ett slutligt koncept. Senare diskuteras resultatet och hur väl arbetet uppfyllde syfte och mål, samt om arbetet besvarade frågeställningen.
18

(Re)Constructing the Professional Formation of Engineers: A Human-Centered Model of Communication Design

David H. Torres (5930330) 14 May 2019 (has links)
<div>This study introduced a design-inspired approach to unpack problems of professional formation</div><div>of engineers: 1) the gap between what students learn in universities and what they practice upon</div><div>graduation; 2) the perception that engineering is solely technical, math, and theory oriented; and</div><div>3) the lack of diversity and inclusion (incorporation of difference in perspectives, values, and</div><div>ways of thinking and being engineers) in many engineering programs. The current project</div><div>investigated the discursive practices and institutional processes that contributed to or inhibited</div><div>innovative and inclusive professional formation within an undergraduate engineering setting.</div><div>Specifically, this project showed how Grounded Practical Theory (GPT), Communication as</div><div>Design (CaD), and Human-Centered Design (HCD) offer alternative pathways to conceptualize</div><div>the processes of professional formation.</div><div><br></div><div><div>The context for this study involved the professional formation of engineers at a School of</div><div>Biomedical Engineering (BME) at a large, Midwestern university. Participants for this study</div><div>included undergraduate students and faculty, staff, and administration (FSA). Semi-structured</div><div>interview data was collected and explored participants’ descriptions, accounts, and experiences</div><div>related to professional engineering formation in BME. Data collection included 33 total</div><div>interviews including 15 FSA and 18 student interviews. The study involved an empirical</div><div>examination of discursive practices that invoked, reproduced, and maintained discourses of</div><div>professional engineering at the BME school.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>Based on insights gained from the empirical examination of discursive practices, a GPT</div><div>framework was applied to examine conflicts in professional formation, strategies participants</div><div>used to overcome these challenges, and the underlying rationale for these strategies. Specifically, the goal of gaining a broad knowledge base—incorporating expertise across various engineering</div><div>and science disciplines—often can come at the expense of realizing specific application and</div><div>technical know-how. For many participants, both goals were critical for becoming a professional</div><div>biomedical engineer but often times blocked a discourse of professional formation that was</div><div>innovative and inclusive. Participants revealed that a standard lecture curriculum influenced this</div><div>tension, in many cases for the worse. However, findings suggested that strategies for overcoming</div><div>these conflicts were by integrating lecture curricula with more active learning formats (e.g.,</div><div>undergraduate research, lab participation). Moreover, findings showed how standard lecture</div><div>communication designs shaped and maintained a discourse community more likely to emphasize</div><div>understanding engineering as a science and also gaining a broad knowledge base often times at</div><div>the expense of realizing specific application and technical know-how.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>This study’s analysis offers several theoretical contributions. First, GPT pointed to the deeply</div><div>integrated relationship between the ontological and epistemological foundations of biomedical</div><div>engineering professional formation. That is, becoming a biomedical engineer meant having</div><div>knowledge of several sets of disciplinary expertise while also understanding when and how to</div><div>enact this knowledge in practice. Second, professional formation designs for communication</div><div>(e.g., lecture designs, active learning designs) presupposed something about the recurrent</div><div>practices held within the school and how these recurrent practices constituted professional</div><div>ontology and epistemology in ways that were both enabling and problematic, Third, and from a</div><div>HCD perspective, exploring designs for communication brought to life the ways participants,</div><div>through interactivity, actively designed discourses of professional formation in an attempt to</div><div>achieve and meet their epistemological and ontological goals.</div></div>
19

Student conceptions about the field of computer science

Hewner, Michael 07 November 2012 (has links)
Computer Science is a complex field, and even experts do not always agree how the field should be defined. Though a moderate amount is known about how precollege students think about the field of CS, less is known about how CS majors' conceptions of the field develop during the undergraduate curriculum. Given the difficulty of understanding CS, how do students make educational decisions like what electives or specializations to pursue? This work presents a theory of student conceptions of CS, based on 37 interviews with students and student advisers and analyzed with a grounded theory approach. Students tend to have one of three main views about CS: CS as an academic discipline focused on the mathematical study of algorithms, CS as mostly about programming but also incorporating supporting subfields, and CS as a broad discipline with many different (programming and non-programming) subfields. I have also developed and piloted a survey instrument to determine how prevalent each kind of conception is in the undergraduate population. I also present a theory of student educational decisions in CS. Students do not usually have specific educational goals in CS and instead take an exploratory approach to their classes. Particularly enjoyable or unenjoyable classes cause them to narrow their educational focus. As a result, students do not reason very deeply about the CS content of their classes when they make educational decisions. This work makes three main contributions: the theory of student conceptions, the theory of student educational decisions, and the preliminary survey instrument for evaluating student conceptions. This work has applications in CS curriculum design as well as for future research in the CS education community.
20

Design and evaluation of a health-focused personal informatics application with support for generalized goal management

Medynskiy, Yevgeniy 04 April 2012 (has links)
The practice of health self-management offers behavioral and problem-solving strategies that can effectively promote responsibility for one's own wellbeing, improve one's health outcomes, and decrease the cost of health services. Personal informatics applications support health self-management by allowing their users to easily track personal health information, and to review the changes and patterns in this information. Over the course of the past several years, I have pursued a research agenda centered on understanding how personal health informatics applications can further support the strategies of health self-management--specifically those relating to goal-management and behavior change. I began by developing a flexible personal informatics tool, called Salud!, that I could use to observe real-world goal management and behavior change strategies, as well as use to evaluate new interfaces designed to assist in goal management. Unlike existing personal informatics tools, Salud! allows users to self-define the information that they will track, which allows tracking of highly personal and meaningful data that may not be possible to track given other tools. It also enables users to share their account data with facilitators (e.g. fitness grainers, nutritionists, etc.) who can provide input and feedback. Salud! was built on top of an infrastructure consisting of a stack of modular services that make it easier for others to develop and/or evaluate a variety of personal informatics applications. Several research teams used this infrastructure to develop and deploy a variety of custom projects. Informal analysis of their efforts showed an unmet need for data storage and visualization services for home- and health-based sensor data. In order to design a goal management support tool for Salud!, I first, I conducted a meta-analysis of relevant research literature to cull a set of proven goal management strategies. The key outcome of this work was an operationalization of Action Plans--goal management strategies that are effective at supporting behavior change. I then deployed Salud! in two fitness-related contexts to observe and understand the breadth of health-related behavior change and goal management practices. Findings from these deployments showed that personal informatics tools are most helpful to individuals who are able to articulate short-term, actionable goals, and who are able to integrate self-tracking into their daily activities. The literature meta-analysis and the two Salud! deployments provided formative requirements for a goal management interaction that would both incorporate effective goal management strategies and support the breadth of real-world goals. I developed a model of the goal management process as the framework for such an interaction. This model enables goals to be represented, evaluated, and visualized, based on a wide range of user objectives and data collection strategies. Using this model, I was able to develop a set of interactions that allow users of Salud! to manage their personal goals within the application. The generalized goal management model shows the inherent difficulty in supporting open-ended, highly personalized goal management. To function generically, Salud! requires facilitator input to correctly process goals and meaningfully classify their attributes. However, for specific goals represented by specific data collection strategies, it is possible to fully- or semi-automate the goal management process. I ran a large-scale evaluation of Salud! with the goal management interaction to evaluate the effectiveness of a fully-automated goal management interaction. The evaluation consisted of a common health self-management intervention: a simple fitness program to increase participants' daily step count. The results of this evaluation suggest that the goal management interaction may improve the rate of goal realization among users who are initially less active and less confident in their ability to succeed. Additionally, this evaluation showed that, while it can significantly increase participants' step count, a fully automated fitness program is not as effective as traditional, instructor-led fitness programs. However, it is much easier to administer and much less resource intensive, showing that it can be utilized to rapidly evaluate concrete goal management strategies.

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