Despite the complexity of the video game, interest is growing by leaps and bounds due to its increasing relevance in entertainment history, but understanding of the medium is still up in the air. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the knowledge and skill acquisition of people with little or no gaming experience (non-gamers) about the digital 3D puzzle game Portal within the framework of the Hermeneutic Spiral. Using qualitative interviews, supported by gameplay recordings and think-aloud protocols, eight non-gamers aged 21-69 reveal seven categories that determine the complexity of video game understanding and skill acquisition. Results show that skill acquisition is highly individual and depends on previous gaming experiences in terms of game literacy, the language understanding of games. As they form the basis, general expectations determine the next gaming experience which adds to the catalogue of video game understanding and influence the process of skill acquisition. / Trotz der Komplexität des Videospiels wächst das Interesse aufgrund seiner zunehmenden Relevanz in der Unterhaltungsgeschichte sprunghaft an, das Verständnis für das Medium ist jedoch noch nicht gefestigt. Ziel dieser Studie ist es daher, im Rahmen der Hermeneutischen Spirale das Wissen und den Kompetenzerwerb von Menschen mit wenig oder keiner Spielerfahrung (Nicht-Spieler) über das digitale 3D-Puzzlespiel Portal zu untersuchen. Mittels qualitativer Interviews, unterstützt durch Gameplay-Aufnahmen und Think-Aloud-Protokolle, decken acht Nicht-Spieler im Alter von 21-69 Jahren sieben Kategorien auf, die die Komplexität des Videospielverständnisses und des Kompetenzerwerbs bestimmen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Kompetenzerwerb sehr individuell ist und von früheren Spielerfahrungen im Sinne von Game Literacy, dem Sprachverständnis von Spielen, abhängt. Die allgemeine Erwartungshaltung bildet die Grundlage für das nächste Spielerlebnis, das den Katalog des Videospielverständnisses ergänzt und den Prozess des Kompetenzerwerbs beeinflusst.

Woodruff (1997) 認為企業若沒有由建構滿意度的顧客價值 (customer value) 中做更為深入的了解，則顧客的意見將無法完全引導管理者研擬競爭策略。因此Woodruff (1997) 進而主張顧客價值才是企業當前最主要競爭優勢的來源，而非滿意度而已。Peterson (1995) 的研究指出，透過經驗所給予顧客的價值，是促使顧客願意與廠商進一步建立起長久關係的驅動因子。Spiegelman (2000) 也建議：「廠商若希望能夠將第一次消費的造訪者，進而轉變成為重複購買的顧客，則廠商必須在消費體驗的過程中不斷的傳遞價值」。換言之，體驗價值 (experiential value) 可視為提高顧客忠誠的最佳利器 (Stoel, Wickliffe and Lee, 2004)。再者，Babin, Darden, and Griffin (1994) 認為體驗價值是消費經驗後的主要結果，若研究者沒有確實掌握所知覺的體驗價值為何，則無法清楚了解消費者的消費經驗全貌。然而體驗價值雖然對於行銷研究與管理者相當重要，但有關消費者體驗價值的探討，主要都限制在網路購物的人機互動情境。關於線上人際互動情境中，將可能產生何種體驗價值，學者就較少進行探究 (Mathwick, 2002)。 Pine and Gilmore (1999) 在體驗經濟《Experiential Economics》一書中曾指出，消費者之所以能夠形成難忘且有價值的體驗，關鍵乃在於廠商是否能夠設計一個使消費者完全融入，且如同身歷其境的感受。換言之，引發消費者沈浸當下的消費情境，成為企業傳遞體驗價值給消費者的關鍵因素所在。但很遺憾的，沈浸與體驗價值的關係，過去研究較少深入的分析與探討，而且先前的研究情境卻也僅限於線上搜尋的人機互動經驗 (Mathwick and Rigdon, 2004)，忽略了人際互動的體驗才是消費者最為渴望的經驗 (Spiegelman, 2000)。因此在今日人們相當渴望透過網路進行人際接觸的同時，研究更應深入討論與分析，在線上人際互動情境中，沈浸 (flow) 與各種體驗價值 (experiential value) 的關係。 基於上述，研究將選擇以同時具有人際與人機互動的線上遊戲為主要研究情境，藉此以補足缺乏探討人際與人機互動共有的沈浸經驗之缺口，同時也進一步將沈浸概念擴大其應用的範疇，不在只限於人與特定事物間的沈浸研究。 在研究方法方面，有鑑於人際與人機互動的沈浸概念必須重新被審視並釐清 (Huang, 2006)，並且考量消費者的沈浸狀態是具有動態且連續發生一段時間的特性，同時也由於沈浸本身是一種內心深處的感受，若訪談過程中沒有任何憑據可提供受訪者作事後的回憶，則受訪者將很難描述沈浸當時發生的所有感受與心路歷程 (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, 1988)，基於此，本研究選擇能夠幫助受訪者回憶起所有心路歷程的自發性導引法 (auto-driving) (Belk and Kozinets, 2005)，為探討沈浸的質化研究方法，如此才能藉此重新釐清在人際與人機互動情境中，消費者沈浸的定義與構面。更進一步的，由於能夠更清楚掌握沈浸的本質，也才能夠使得研究者可以更為明確的探究出引發沈浸產生的人際與人機互動因子以及在沈浸歷程中消費者所知覺體驗價值類型。 經訪談17位受訪者後，不僅探究出在人際與人機互動媒體情境下的沈浸成份，同時也依據沈浸所包含的特質，對沈浸下了如下的定義：「所謂沈浸是指消費者產生情境推想、整合思維、具象化、情緒感染與情緒激發的狀態。」其中「情境推想」，是消費者猜想線上其他消費者的想法、意圖與動向所釀成；「整合思維」是來自消費者多方思索回應他人策略與執行策略效果所促成；「具象化」則是消費者將線上他人的表情或揣摩想像內容予以圖像化所形塑而成的狀態；「情緒感染」的狀態則源自消費者感同他人情緒的效果；「情緒激發」是來自消費者將個人內心的情緒，藉由肢體或表情予以宣洩的狀態。另外，從消費者的自我沈浸描述內容中，研究得知，前述這五種沈浸成份，其彼此間存有因果關係，而這樣的研究結果，是先前沈浸研究未能確實發現的。 其中，情緒激發的形成深受情緒感染與整合思維兩元素直接影響，又具象化分別會直接影響情緒感染與整合思維兩成份的產生。最後情境推想也會分別引發具象化、整合思維、情緒感染等沈浸成份的產生。 更進一步，研究也根據訪談內容結果得知，影響沈浸的前置因子可分為人際與人機互動兩種類型的因素，其中在人際因素方面，包含具有二元對立目標設定的競玩，以及源自環境成份所營造出探索趣味的嬉玩。同時人際與人機互動情境中所引發的人際互動競爭性與親和性，可營造出競玩氣氛。而人際互動中的不確定性與嘲弄則是構成嬉玩的主要成份。最後影響消費者沈浸經驗的人機互動因子包括驚奇性、因果性、生動性等三種因素。因此這將可以給予研究者與管理者，在設計吸引消費者融入購買或消費情境時的重要參考。 另外，訪談內容的結果也顯示，人際與人機互動的沈浸經驗不只是一種最佳互動消費經驗 (Novak and Hoffman, 1996; Privette and Bundrick, 1987)，同時它包含了許多豐富且多元的體驗價值 (Mathwick, et al., 2001)。換言之，當消費者全心投入在情境推想、整合思維、具象化、情緒感染與情緒激發等任一種活動時，都可以知覺到成就感、尊重、趣味性等這三種價值類型。隨著沈浸經驗本身具有多元且豐富的體驗價值，使得參與線上人際互動的消費者，更因此希望再次透過如此的經驗獲取價值。也因此，沈浸經驗提高了消費者願意再次經歷的意圖。 在經過第二階段研究中一系列沈浸量表的發展與檢測分析後，研究結果顯示，所發展的沈浸量表與體驗量表不論是在探索性因素分析、一階驗證性因素分析與二階驗證性因素分析都具備很好的信度與效度。不僅如此，藉由結構方程式模式的統計分析，研究進一步驗證五種沈浸成份間、沈浸與體驗價值間、五種沈浸成份與體驗價值間、沈浸與持續消費行為間以及五種沈浸成份與持續消費行為間的因果關係。而研究結果顯示，不僅整體模式的配適度達評鑑要求的水準，同時每一個變數彼此間的因果關係也都達顯著。 / Woodruff (1977) maintains that customers’ opinions can lead managers to plan competitive strategies if enterprises can have a profound understanding and analysis of customer value, which influences on the formation of customer satisfaction. Accordingly, it’s Woodruff’s contention that the primary source of competitive edge among present-day enterprises isn’t just concerned with “customer satisfaction”, but with “customer value” as well. According to Peterson’s research (1995), the experience-based value bestowed upon customers is an impetus to customers’ desire to develop a long-term relationship with enterprises. Furthermore, Spiegelman (2000) also suggests that enterprises have to incessantly deliver value to customers in their consumption process if enterprises expect to turn customers purchasing for the first time into those making purchase over and over again afterwards. In other words, experiential value can be seen as the best way to enhance customer loyalty (Stoel, Wickliffe, and Lee 2004). What’s more, Babin, Darden, and Griffin (1994) think that experiential value is the major result of consumption experience, and that observers won’t get a clear, and panoramic picture of the consumption experience in case they can’t tell exactly what the perceived experiential value is. However, though experiential value plays an integral part between managers and marketing research, discussions on customer’s experiential value are primarily confined to the online-shopping machine-interactivity context. As for online person-interactivity context, scholars are to put less emphasis on what experiential value can be generated and delivered to customers under such a context (Mathwick 2002). According to the book Experiential Economics, written by Pine and Gilmore (1999), Pine and Gilmore indicate that whether enterprises can create a context for customers to fully engage themselves in and live vicarious with is the key to the formation of customer’s unforgettable and valuable experience. To put it differently, the consumption environment which can prompt customer’s flow in the present plays a pivotal role in helping enterprises deliver experiential value to their customers. However, it’s a pity that in-depth discussions and analyses of the relationship between experiential value and flow are usually overlooked by previous researchers. Besides, previous research context is limited to online-searching machine-interactivity experience (Mathwick and Rigdon 2004), neglecting that person-interactivity experience is the one that customers yearn for the most (Spiegelman 2000). Therefore, in-depth discussions and analyses of the relationship between various experiential values and flow in online person-interactivity context should be made, especially in modern times when people are desperate for personal exposure through the Internet. As aforementioned, by choosing online games with both person-interactivity and machine-interactivity as the primary research context, the research aims to make up for the lack of discussions on flow experience shared by person-interactivity and machine-interactivity contexts. In the meanwhile, the research puts concepts of flow to a wide range of use, not just in the flow research between people and specific things. As far as the research method is concerned, the research takes the facts into consideration that concepts of flow in person-interactivity and machine-interactivity contexts need re-examining and clarifying (Huang 2006), and that customer’s flow conditions are dynamic and capable of lasting for a period of time consecutively. Moreover, since the flow is a feeling in the recesses of mind, interviewees might have a hard time delineating the course of thought developments and feelings in the flow experience if there are no reminders in the interview process for them to recall afterwards (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi 1988). Considering the above-mentioned factors, the research chooses a method called “auto-driving”, able to help interviewees recall their courses of thought developments and feelings in their consumption process (Belk and Kozinets 2005), as the qualitative research method for exploring what flow is. In this way, the definition and dimensions of customer flow experience in person-interactivity and machine-interactivity contexts are likely to be clarified. What’s more, researchers can get a more explicit picture of what types of experiential value that customers would perceive in the process of flow are due to the fact that such a method will better the understanding of the essence of flow. Furthermore, once the elements of the flow have been confirmed, the researcher may also clearly ascertain what kinds of the person-interactivity and machine-interactivity factors triggering flow. After the first phase interviews, the present study not only finds out components of flow, but also defines flow as consumers’ state of inferring thinking, integrated thinking, visualization, emotional contagion and emotional arousal. Besides, according to the content of consumers’ self-description about flow experience, the study also found that causal relationships among the five elements of flow which were not found in the previous flow studies. For example, emotional contagion and integrated thinking influenced simultaneously emotional arousal and visualization influenced simultaneously emotional contagion and integrated thinking. Finally, inferring thinking directly influenced visualization, integrated thinking, and emotional contagion. Furthermore, the researcher identifies both person-interactivity and machine-interactivity factors that influence flow in base on the result of interviewees’ description about flow experience. Also, there are ludus which comes from the design of winning or losing and paidia which comes from exploring interesting content in person-interactivity factors. At the same time, the elements of ludus are competition and affiliation, and the elements of paidia are uncertainty and teasing. Finally, the machine-interactivity factors which influence flow include surprise, causality, and vividness. These findings would be practical implications for design consumers’ flow experience in further for the researcher and the management in service marketing. The result of the interviews also proves that flow experience with both person-interactivity and machine-interactivity is not only the optimal interactive consuming experience (Novak and Hoffman, 1996; Privette and Bundrick, 1987), but also delivers the multiple and rich experiential value to consumers. (Mathwick, et al., 2001). On the other word, consumers would perceive experiential value of achievement, reputation, and playfulness when they act with total involvement in one of the inferring thinking, integrated thinking, visualization, emotional contagion, or emotional arousal. Because of flow experience including multiple and rich experiential value, consumers in online person-interactivity would like to have the same flow experience in order to perceive these experiential value again. Therefore, flow experience positively influences re-patronage intention. The result of flow scale development and detection and analysis in the second step of this study shows flow scale is validity and reliability base on the exploratory factor analysis, the first confirmatory factor analysis and the second confirmatory factor analysis. The study further confirms causal relationships among the five elements of flow, causal relationships between flow and experiential value, causal relationships among the five elements of flow and experiential values, causal relationships between flow and re-patronage intention, and causal relationships among the five elements of flow and re-patronage intention by the statistic analysis of structure equation modeling.

Au cours des dernières années, le domaine du documentaire interactif s’est progressivement développé en raison des changements survenus dans le monde de l’Internet et d’études académiques croissantes sur le sujet. Pourtant, on sait relativement peu de choses sur la relation entre l’usager et le documentaire interactif. L’objet de cette étude est précisément de mesurer les attitudes et les interactions de l’usager exposé à un documentaire interactif décliné en différentes versions, disposant chacune d’un degré d’interactivité plus ou moins développé. L’étude de l’attitude des usagers nous a conduit à approfondir les notions d’engagement narratif, d’interactivité perçue, d’engagement perçu et d’attitude à l’égard du site Web documentaire interactif. Un autre objectif de cette étude est d’examiner la relation entre interactions réelles et perceptions des usagers. L’étude a cherché à comparer l’interactivité et la linéarité en terme d’engagement narratif et d’engagement perçu. Un travail de terrain a été conduit auprès de 360 étudiants jordaniens. L’échantillon a été divisé en trois groupes, chaque groupe visualisant un des 3 documentaires interactif et répondant au questionnaire relatif. L’étude a également utilisé deux logiciels pour tracer le comportement réel de l’usager. Les résultats de cette étude mettent à jour une relation significative entre d’une part le haut niveau d’interactivité réelle et d’autre part l’interactivité perçue et l’attitude à l’égard du site Web documentaire interactif. D’autre part, les résultats ont révélé une corrélation positive entre d’une part l’interactivité perçue et de l’autre l’engagement perçu et l’attitude à l’égard du site Web documentaire interactif. Cependant, l’étude n’a pas trouvé de corrélation entre l’interactivité perçue et l’engagement narratif. De plus, les résultats ont montré que l’interaction réelle des participants est positivement corrélée à leurs perceptions. Enfin, les participants qui ont regardé le documentaire linéaire sont significativement plus engagés dans la narration documentaire que les autres groupes. Cette étude présente enfin les résultats, les discute et envisage des perspectives futures. / In recent years, interactive documentary field has been gradually growing because of great changes in the world of Internet, promising interactive documentary projects, and the increase in academic studies within the field. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the relationship between user and interactive documentary. The aim of this study was to measure users’ attitudes and actual interaction toward different levels of interactivity manipulated in two designed interactive documentaries. The users’ attitudes were categorized in this study as: narrative engagement, perceived interactivity, perceived involvement, and attitude toward the interactive documentary website. Another purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between users’ actual interaction and their perceptions. To fully understand interactive documentary, the study, therefore, sought to compare interactivity with linearity in terms of narrative engagement and perceived involvement. A sample of 360 participants was randomly divided into three groups and assigned to view three designed documentaries, and to answer the related questionnaire. The study also used software packages to measure and monitor users’ actual behaviors. The findings of this study indicated that there was a significant relationship between the high level of actual interactivity and both perceived interactivity, and attitude toward the interactive documentary website. On the other hand, the findings revealed that there was a positive correlation between perceived interactivity and both perceived involvement and attitude toward the interactive documentary website. However, the study did not find a correlation between perceived interactivity and narrative engagement. Moreover, the findings showed that the participants’ actual interaction was positively correlated with their perceptions, and the participants who viewed the linear documentary were significantly involved with the documentary narrative more than other groups. Discussion, limitation, and future studies were presented in this study.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: The New Type of Music Industry at AllEars.se (Den nya musikbranschen på AllEars.se)</p><p>Number of pages: 49 (53 including enclosures)</p><p>Author: Viktor Backemar</p><p>Tutor: Else Nygren</p><p>Course: Media och Communication Studies C</p><p>Period: Fall 2007</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare AllEars´ own view of the website AllEars.se to an observed view of the same site. The comparison is based on theories regarding the Internet in today’s society, convergence, communities and collective intelligence, interactivity and participation, and business in today’s society.</p><p>Method: Since the paper has a purpose to compare two views of the same website there are two main methods in use. AllEars´ own view has been created via an interview with the company’s CEO, a press release that was released in connection with the launch of the website and texts found on the website. The other view is based on an observation of the website, preformed in November 2007.</p><p>Main results: The views are different from each other seeing that AllEars´ own view is more positive than the observed view. The biggest and most crucial difference between the two views where found in the relationship between the producers and the users, in terms of who has got the actual power on the website. The users aren’t the ones who has got the actual power, instead the producers has the power and controls the activity on the website with predesigned rules and limitations. However there are some similarities between the two views: The website has a strong connection to the offline world, a good possibility for the users to interact with each other, and the fact that AllEars.se represents something new in the music industry.</p><p>Keywords: AllEars.se, music industry, Internet, convergence, communities, collective intelligence, interactivity, participation, SonyBMG, TV4.</p>

This thesis explores cultural differences on interactive design features used in websites of South Korea and the United Kingdom from the perspective of both: professional website designers and end-users. It also investigates how the use of interactive design features from different cultures change over time. Four interaction types on websites; User to Interface (U2I), User to Content (U2C), User to Provider (U2P), and User to User (U2U) interactivity, and three interaction types on blogs; Blogger to Interface (B2I), Blogger to Content (B2C) and Blogger to Blogger (B2B) interactivity have been identified. Four cultural dimensions were used for the theoretical base of this study based on which four hypotheses were proposed in relation to the interaction types identified above; (a) High versus Low Context cultures for U2I, (b) High versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance for U2C, (c) High versus Low Power Distance for U2P and (d) Individualism versus Collectivism for U2U interactivity, in order to discover the effects of national cultures on interactivity in websites. We derived our own interactivity dimensions and mapped them to the four interaction types for websites and three for blogs. Interactive design features were derived from interactivity dimensions and examined in our studies. The findings revealed that there have been some changes towards homogeneity in the use of interactive design features on charity websites between South Korea and United Kingdom although there is still evidence of some cultural differences. With regard to end-users’ perspective, the result show that the use of interactive design features of blogs may be influenced by culture but this is only within a certain context. The findings also provide a valuable indication that users interacting within the same blog service can be considered as being shared concerns rather than shared national location, thus create a particular type of community in which bloggers are affected by social influence so they adopt a shared set of value, preferences and style that would indicate almost a common social culture. As a result, the cultural differences derived from their country of origin do not have that much impact.

Le terme manga a été utilisé pour la première fois en 1814 par le peintre Katsushika Hokusai pour désigner ses travaux. Littéralement ce terme signifie « esquisse rapide » ou encore « image dérisoire ». En France le mot manga a perdu cette signification et désigne la bande dessinée japonaise au même titre que l’on nomme comics la bande dessinée américaine. La bande dessinée japonaise est, en termes quantitatifs, le premier marché du monde dans ce secteur. Beaucoup plus diversifié dans les sujets abordés que ne le donnent à penser les dessins animés diffusés sur le petit écran en France, le manga a longtemps été un genre peu connu des « bédéphiles » européens. Aujourd’hui, le manga connaît un fort essor en France et tend à s’imposer comme produit et phénomène culturel, pour toute une génération qui a grandi avec son arrivée sur les postes de télévision. Dans ce travail de thèse, il s’agit de comprendre le manga en tant que dispositif communicationnel. En raison de ses spécificités graphiques et narratives nous pouvons appréhender un procédé visuel-narratif qui lui est propre. Celui-ci modifie le rapport iconique/linguistique, construit un nouveau mode de lecture et joue sur les perceptions. Il génère un jeu tensif entre ce que le lecteur-spectateur regarde et ce qu’il voit. Le manga diffuse dans notre société un univers graphique, mais aussi et surtout, une technique de la narration visuelle qui peut se passer de texte. L’image est à la fois vue et lue. Dans le manga, lire l’image c’est lire le texte ou pour le dire autrement, il y a du texte-image, de l’image-texte. Elle est en elle-même un dialogue qui agit sur les sensations et les perceptions. Au travers de ses représentations, le manga montre une image de sa culture. Il diffuse par ses personnages des normes et des valeurs ainsi qu’un imaginaire pouvant « influencer » son lectorat et générer de nouvelles pratiques sociales. Par ses spécificités l’image manga devient mouvante. Elle inclut le lecteur-spectateur : celui-ci a la possibilité de naviguer, d’errer dans l’image. Notre travail de recherche porte sur l’analyse des procédés « visuels-narratifs » du manga qui génèrent un nouveau rapport à l’image et un jeu d’interactions entre l’image et son « lecteur-spectateur », ainsi que sur le processus de transmission des messages dans le manga. / The manga term was used for the first time in 1814 by the painter Katsushika Hokusai to indicate his works. This term literally means “fast rough sketch” or “derisive image”. In France the original meaning of the manga word has been lost and it is now employed to indicate the Japanese comic strip in the same way as we name comics the American comic strip. The Japanese comic strip is, in quantitative terms, the first market of the world in this sector. The topics covered in the written manga are much more diverse than the “cartoon-manga” broadcasted on tv in France. Not so long ago, the manga was a little-known genre by the European comic readers, the “bédéphiles”. Nowadays, the manga is a growing genre in France and it tends to develop and become a cultural product and phenomenon, for all a generation who grew up with the first manga on tv. This thesis explores the manga culture and analyzes it as a primary device in a whole communication system. Its graphic and narrative aspects reveal a particular visual-narrative process, specific to the manga. It modifies the image and language combination, it builds a new reading mode and plays with perceptions. It generates a stretching game between what the reader-spectator looks at and what he sees. The manga spreads in our society a graphic universe but most of all, a specific visual storytelling technique that replaces narration words. At the same time, the image is seen and read. In the manga, to read the image it is to read the text. In other words, the picture is narrative and the narration is pictured. There is a text-image, an image-text. The image is in itself a dialogue which acts on the sensations and the perceptions. In its depiction, the manga reflects its culture. It spreads characters, norms, values and an imagination which can “influences” his readership and generates new social practices. By its specificities the manga image is unstable and moving. It involves the reader-spectator: this one has the possibility of navigating, of roving in the image. This research work analyzes the manga “visual-narrative” interactive processes which generates a new relationship to the image and creates a playful interaction between the image and its “reader-spectator”, and it becomes a narrative process to transmit messages in it.

TITLE: Educational programs in the www enviroment ABSTRACT: The aim of this work is to analyze the availability of educational web site aimed at teaching media and evaluate them on the basis of a given set of criteria and to moni- tor the situation in secondary schools in terms of the use of tutorials on the web. Sub- sequently, a methodology of the previous educational sites is developed. It is also deployed in the teaching and verified in the practice, thus obtaining feedback, which will serve to further develop this environment. KEYS WORDS: sound, image, video interactivity, multimedia feedback, mobility,language, complexity

Africa’s way forward requires integration, democracy, good governance, participation and inclusive communication of all issues. Intergovernmental organizations are essential to facilitate the above mentioned goals. New thinking highlights the role of new media especially the Internet in democracy and governance in Africa. Therefore, the question solicited here is whether e-governance facilitates continental governance in Africa and under what circumstances would this be possible? This research introduced the internet (web) as a distinct medium of communications with distinct features and characteristics. A number of scholars argue that the Internet as a distinct medium of communication can better facilitate the democratizing role of the media in society, while others argues that the internet has not changed the nature of politics since ordinary politics in all its complexity and vitality has invaded and captured cyberspace. These arguments are divided respectively between Technological Determinism and the Social Shaping of Technology. This research investigates (AU, EU and Nepad) e-governance websites in order to understand practices, prospects and challenges of continental e-governance systems. It was found that the AU and Nepad use the websites for institutional information rather than interaction with citizens and online service delivery. However, significant steps are taken to enhance interaction in Nepad. It is therefore recommended that, the AU and Nepad need to invest time and commitment in enhancing interactivity and rising awareness for these e-governance systems. As projected, EU performs much better than the above two in terms of interactivity. This is because it has more experience and internet penetration and uses is widespread in Europe than it is here in Africa.

[pt] O trabalho trata das possibilidades de atuação do designer no campo da telemedicina e apresenta uma proposta pedagógica para um curso de especialização em Design para Projetos de Telemedicina. O modelo de processo de aprendizagem, desenvolvido e aplicado ao curso, é baseado na interação entre ensino, pesquisa e desenvolvimento, e se propõe a promover a reflexão sobre o campo ao qual for aplicado, através da produção de experiências práticas. Uma primeira etapa do estudo consta de revisão de literatura sobre telemedicina. Conceitos, definições, formação, questões éticas, recursos tecnológicos, políticas de saúde e vantagens de sua aplicação em países periféricos. Um panorama da telemedicina no Brasil é apresentado, tomando como referência experiências desenvolvidas na Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz e na Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo - FMUSP. Em seguida, questões de interatividade são enfocadas, trazendo a discussão sobre convergência de mídias e a abordagem de Media Ecology - estudo do ambiente midiático como estrutura, conteúdo e impacto nas pessoas - , à luz do design. A proposta de um curso de especialização em Design para Projetos de Telemedicina surge como desenho de uma parceria entre o design e a telemedicina. O modelo pedagógico proposto integra os dois campos, e pretende ser responsável pelo surgimento de um espaço de destaque, constituindo-se como local de produção, construção e inovação em telemedicina. Na conclusão do estudo são feitas considerações sobre design colaborativo, design participativo, e acima de tudo, design centrado no homem. São apresentadas oportunidades para os designers no campo da telemedicina e possíveis desdobramentos para a pesquisa. / [en] The possibilities for designers` performance in the field of telemedicine are the focus of this thesis. A pedagogic proposal for a Design Specialist Program in Telemedicine Projects is presented. The academic structure suggested for the program is based on a learning process model conceived for integrating education, research and development; stimulating, through a trainee program based on practical experiences, a reflexive attitude towards the field to which the model is applied. The first part of the research contains a review of literature relating to telemedicine. Concepts, definitions, educational issues, ethic concerns, technological resources, political health strategies and the advantages of using telemedicine in peripheral countries are addressed. An overview of Brazilian telemedicine state of the art is presented, based on initiatives conducted by Fiocruz - Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and by the University of Sao Paulo Medical School - FMUSP. Interactivity issues are discussed next, from the perspective of design, covering the convergence of media and the Media Ecology approach - the study of media environments as structure, content and its impact on people. The proposal of a Design Specialist Program in Telemedicine Projects emerges from a partnership between design and telemedicine. The pedagogic model proposed integrates two fields, intending to favor the birth of a distinct space, which aims excellence in the production, as well as construction and innovation in telemedicine. To conclude the study, considerations concerning collaborative design, participatory design and human- centered design are presented. Design opportunities in the field of telemedicine are suggested and possible directions for further research are raised.

[pt] Esta pesquisa investiga a possibilidade da construção de estímulos à conduta ativa dos usuários de sítios web. Diante do fato de que produtos hipermidiáticos necessitam do encadeamento de ações de seus usuários para que possam cumprir seu desígnio comunicacional, esta dissertação argumenta que tais produtos podem ter configurados, em si próprios, os elementos que estimulam, orientam e conectam entre si as ações de seus usuários. Para tanto, esta dissertação empreende reflexão teórica a partir de novas abordagens da relação entre o produto de design e o seu usuário - abordagens que se fundamentam nos conceitos de design de experiência e design de emoção, compreendidos, nesta pesquisa, sobretudo enquanto reflexo de novas demandas na prática e na teoria do design contemporâneo. A idéia de engajamento é desenvolvida enquanto tradução da dinâmica da interatividade e implica questões acerca de motivação, estranhamento e envolvimento. Projetos que buscam estimular a ação do público podem ser identificados nos percursos históricos da Arte e do Design. Destes projetos, emergem padrões que, por sua vez, podem ser observados em projetos de sítios web. Os principais aspectos destes padrões são categorizados enquanto elementos conceituais visando orientar a dinâmica do engajamento em hipermídia. / [en] This research investigates the possibility of designing active behaviour stimuli for websites users. Since hypermedia need the users actions chain to communicate, this dissertation argues that hypermedia products can be configurated to carry, within themselves, the elements that stimulate, guide and interconnect the users actions. This dissertation reflects upon new approaches of the relation between the design product and its user - approaches that are based in the concepts of experience design and emotional design, which are understood, within this research, primarily as consequence of new demands of the contemporary design practice and theory. The idea of engagement is developed as translation of interactivity dynamics and requires topics on motivation, strangement and involvement. Projects that stimulate the audience action can be identified in the histories of Art and Design. From these projects, this research recognized patterns that can also be recognized in websites. The main aspects of these patterns are categorized as conceptual elements that envisage to orient the engagement dynamics within hypermedia.