Computer supported work is often stressful and inadequate computer systems and poor usability contribute to the problem. Still the work situation, and work environment of users are seldom considered when developing computer systems, and it is difficult to incorporate the ideas of User Centred Systems Design (UCSD) in practice. Hence, this research addresses the difficulty in integrating usability, UCSD and occupational health issues in IT systems development in order to improve the resulting work situation and well-being of users. How do basic values and perspectives of stakeholders in systems development projects affect the work with UCSD, usability and users’ health issues in the organisations studied? This research aims at influencing systems development in practice; hence, research is carried out in real life settings with an action research approach. Data is gathered and analysed with a qualitative research approach with interview studies, meetings with stakeholders, analysis of documentation, observations and field studies. The theoretical framework adheres to situated action, participatory design, and UCSD that stresses the importance of involving users in the design process. This research shows that several basic values and perspectives affect systems development and hinder the usability work, for example, the perspective on user representatives, the value of rationality and objectivity, and the perspective underpinning descriptions and discourse on work. Moreover, this research indicates that the strong business values of automation, efficiency and customer satisfaction shape the development of new technology, and ultimately the tasks and work practices of the civil servants. In short, the studies show that there are some contradictions in business values and the implementation of user-centred systems design, usability and health issues in systems development. Attitudes and perspectives are not easily changed, and change comes gradually. In these organisations, we continuously discuss the integration of health issues in systems development, and by introducing and changing the models of systems development these will hopefully enable communication and change forwards of new perspectives and values. However, a focus on models alone is insufficient and therefore we need to develop a systematic approach to include reflection and new perspectives. Perhaps the reflection itself would help us see our values and perspectives and to alter them?

Train traffic in Sweden have increased over the last years and is today at an all time high. At the same time demands for improved punctuality and better predictability are increasing. If it would be possible to improve punctuality and thereby the possibility to use the infrastructural resources more optimally by providing improved systems for controlling train traffic, this could be a very cost efficient way to improve the train traffic. This thesis addresses research with a primary goal to investigate how, from a Human-Computer Interaction perspective, systems could be designed to better support the human's capacity and capabilities to control train traffic in an efficient way. Earlier research on humans in control of complex systems contributes to this work. One important part of the research is to gain knowledge on how train dispatchers perform their work today and which difficulties that exist. The research has a user centered approach. In close co-operation with train traffic professionals we try to discuss and develop solutions for improving the situation. Since the project started in 1996 proposals of new strategies for control and also solutions for how such a system can be designed have been developed and to some extent evaluated. The Swedish National Rail Administration (Banverket) is now planning to build an operative control system based on control strategies and ideas from this research project.

Interaction design is more crucial than ever as an ingredient in product development and digitalization. Its need is driven by a trend where software based functionality is becoming increasingly important in all types of product features, simultaneously as new technology moves the frontier where interaction between human and computer takes place. There is also a market demanding renewed experiences, more efficient, stimulating and fashionable, which enterprises seek to deliver to attract customers. Also[WM1] , as systems, for example vehicle systems, get increasingly information intense, the information exchange with the user becomes a factor for safe and successful operation, thus increasing the need for a proficient interaction design. This research investigates how interaction technologies, interaction design principles, and machine information systems can be used to provide user experiences and efficient interaction between the operator and industrial mobile machines; for example, agricultural machines and construction machines. The research combines software engineering and interaction design together with an industrial perspective. It does so by studies, both in literature and through field studies of operators, by design exploration and prototype realization. The thesis describes the design space for heavy vehicles through different perspectives. It outlines the principal dimensions of interaction design and the benefits of including design in product and services realization. It presents perspectives on the challenges for the different stakeholders involved, covering the operator of the machines, the software engineer and the designer. It depicts a method for gaining detailed insights into operator’s daily behavior, with minimal interference with their work. Furthermore, it introduces a tool for practitioners to explore interaction design using mixed reality and free head movements, and it investigates possible interfaces using augmented reality. / Interaktionsdesign är mer avgörande i produktutveckling och digitalisering än någonsin. Utvecklingen här drivs av en trend där mjukvarubaserad funktionalitet blir allt viktigare i alla typer av produkter samtidigt som ny teknik ökar designrymden för var samspelet mellan människa och dator kan äga rum. Användare efterfrågar förnyade upplevelser, mer effektiva, stimulerande och moderiktiga. Företag söker möta denna efterfrågan för att locka kunder och genera affärer. Dessutom, genom att system, exempelvis fordonssystem, blir allt mer informationsintensiva, blir sättet som informationsutbytet sker med användaren en allt viktigare faktor för säkerhet och funktionalitet. Sammantaget ökar behovet av en skickligt utförd interaktionsdesign. Den här avhandlingen undersöker hur interaktionstekniker, interaktionsdesignsprinciper och informationssystem kan användas för att leverera användarupplevelser och effektiv interaktion för operatörer av industriella mobila maskiner, exempelvis jordbruksmaskiner och anläggningsmaskiner. Forskningen kombinerar interaktionsdesign och mjukvaruutveckling i ett industriellt kontext. Forskningen har bedrivits genom studier, i litteratur och etnografiska studier av användare i fält, genom utforskande design och genom prototyprealisering. Avhandlingen beskriver designrymden för industrifordon från flera perspektiv. Dels från perspektiven av de grundläggande elementen inom interaktionsdesign, processerna för att skapa och forska inom interaktionsdesign samt fördelarna med designdriven produkt- och tjänste-förverkligande. Vidare tar den upp perspektiv utifrån situationen och utmaningarna för inblandade aktörer, såsom operatören av maskinen, mjukvaruutvecklaren och designern. Avhandlingen bidrar också med praktiska perspektiv, dels en metod för att få detaljerad inblick i operatörens dagliga beteende med minimal störning i sitt arbete, och dels ett verktyg för interaktionsdesigners att undersöker möjliga designs med virtuell förstärkt verklighet med hjälp av blandad virtuell verklighet och fria huvudrörelser.

Användargränssnitt utgör skiljeväggen mellan en användare av ett system och systemet självt. I datorspel använder spelaren gränssnittet för att navigera i spelet, både i och utanför det egentliga spelläget. För att spelaren snabbt och enkelt ska komma igång med att spela ställs krav på interaktionsdesign och användbarhet hos gränssnittet. Det här examensarbetet undersöker hur gränssnitt i 2D-spel kan designas för att uppnå hög användbarhet genom naturliga gränssnittsflöden. Utvecklingsarbetet föregicks av en förstudie som tog fram designvärden och heuristiker att basera utvecklingsarbetet på. Resultatet utvärderades genom en användbarhetsutvärdering i två steg; observation av användare följt av en enkät som användarna svaradepå. Det främsta syftet med det här arbetet är att undersöka om valda designvärden och heuristiker hjälper till att utveckla ett system till att uppnå användbarhet.

Syftet med denna studie var att ta fram ett förslag på hur ett gränssnitt för en automatisk textförenklare profilerad mot webbredaktörer vid Linköpings universitet skulle kunna se ut. För att åstadkomma en välgrundad utformning har studien undersökt webbredaktörers arbetssätt och behov, och utforskat lösningar på liknande problem i andra verktygsgenrer. För att uppnå syftet har tre frågeställningar ställts upp: 1) Hur kan ett stödverktyg för att skriva lättläst utformas för att passa webbredaktörer vid Linköpings universitet?, 2) Vad finns för existerande lösningar på liknande designproblem? Och 3) Givet funktionaliteten i verktyget, hur bör ett gränssnitt utformas? För att besvara den första frågeställningen utfördes intervjuer med sex olika webbredaktörer. I besvarandet av den andra frågeställningen utfördes en förebildsanalys på liknande verktyg för att identifiera potentiella lösningar. Slutligen presenteras en prototyp baserad på de första frågeställningarna och vissa typografiska avväganden som ett svarsförslag till den tredje frågeställningen. Resultaten visar på att ett textförenklingsgränssnitt profilerat mot webbredaktörer kräver skilda funktioner från textförenklingsverktyg riktade mot en målgrupp med lässvårigheter.

Due to the increasing prevalence of tablets in families, tablets have become a major platform for computer play for pre-school children. While children may potentially learn great deal from tablet play, it is at present unclear to what extent tablets support the wide variety of play activities that characterise their play and that form a necessary basis for children's development. This thesis presents the results of a heuristic evaluation, inspecting the play modes that presently are supported by children’s tablet games. The evaluation focused on the extent to which the mode of play was designed to correlate with children’s stage of development. Theoretical models representing the social and cognitive stages of play were used to examine all tablet games, examining how they support solitary play, parallel play, group play, functional play and dramatic play. The results show that for most of the investigated games, the age declaration correlates with their supported mode of play. More specifically, the investigated games supported solitary play, group play, functional play, constructive play and dramatic play in ways that were appropriate for their target age. However, none of the games supported parallel play, which is an important play form for children between 2 to 3 years old. Furthermore, very few games supported group play and constructive play. The conclusion is that while tablet game designers seem to understand and acknowledge the cognitive development of their target users, they pay less attention to the social modes of play corresponding to children's development stages.

Despite the knowledge on the interaction between humans and computers, too many IT systems show great deficits when it comes to usability. Every day we run into technology that makes our every day life and our work unnecessarily complex and difficult because of the IT systems that are not designed to support our tasks in a usable way. This thesis deals with different aspects of usability and the process of how to develop usable IT systems effectively. Primarily, the systems concerned are used in professional work, such as case handling systems in large government organisations. The main objective of this research is to understand which essential factors in the system development process that facilitate the development of usable IT systems. Another key subject is how human-computer interaction (HCI) knowledge can be integrated into systems development, in particular the integration of user-centred design (UCD) and agile software development. The research is based on a qualitative approach and on reflections from my own experience in development projects. It also includes exploratory studies and design cases. The attempts of bridging the gap between HCI and software engineering have not been notably successful in practice. To address some of these problems, there is a need for a more precise definition of user-centred design, which is proposed in the thesis. Also, the complicated reality of systems development is not considered enough by HCI researchers and practitioner. To reach better results, UCD has to be integrated as a natural part of the development process. In the thesis, I argue that the agile approach together with UCD can be a good starting point for this integration. The agile approach emphasises that responding to change in development is more important than strictly adhering to a plan. Also, it prioritises regular deliveries of working software over extensive models and documentation. However, from an HCI perspective, agile processes do not inherently provide the required support for user-centred design. Nevertheless, the basic values and specific methods of agile development may have the potential to work very well together with UCD. For instance, iterative development is fundamental to both user-centred design and agile development. Finally, the research addresses how iterative methods can be used to find design solutions that support the users to cope with the problems of overview and control in case handling work.

Computers have become an everyday encounter, not at least in work settings. These computers must support the user in order for her to work in an effective and efficient manner. The field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has among other things been focusing on this issue, and there are numerous methods and activities that aim at helping developers to develop usable computer systems. However, the methods and activities must be used in practice in order to be beneficial, not only within research, thus the methods must make sense to the system developers, as well as the organization in which they shall be applied. Furthermore, the organization must change in order to incorporate these methods and activities, and this change must impact a larger part of the organization than just the IT-department. My research has revolved around the introduction of usability methods in public authorities, in particular user-centred systems design (UCSD). My methodology has been action research, which implies a close collaboration with practitioners. Some of the methods used to gather data have been interviews, participatory observations, research diaries and field studies. In this licentiate thesis I present my work up to date and the theories that have informed my understanding of organizations and organizational change. Furthermore I have been influenced by the sensemaking theory, which can be used in order to understand how people make sense of technology, methods and organizational change. With the help of these theories, I extend my results further than presented in the papers. The notion of organizational change when introducing usability issues has not achieved sufficient attention in the HCI-field. This thesis is a step towards an understanding of this issue. Furthermore, I have, with the results from my papers together with the theories presented shown that although formal documents can be used to promote change, it is not enough. Rather there is a need to further explore the interplay between formal aspects and the situated work, and how to enhance sensegiving in this sensemaking process.

A vast majority of the people in the western world use software systems on daily basis for achieving their goals. To be able to do that each person needs to communicate what he or she wants to do to the system and receive a response. This communication needs to be easy for the user, especially when the system is new to him or her. Otherwise, the user either quits using the system; it takes a very long time or gets very irritated. A software team that is making new software needs to evaluate the usability of the system and various methods have been introduced in the literature to do that. My research focus in this thesis is on usability evaluation. I study particularly, how usability evaluation methods can be compared, what data should be gathered in usability evaluation to gain knowledge on how the software affects users who are getting new software for their daily work and how useful this data is to the recipients. Two experiments are reported in this thesis where results from using three different usability evaluation methods are compared. The main result from these two studies is that the think-aloud evaluation method should be used, if the goal of the evaluation is to gather as realistic information as possible on usability problems that the users will have when using the system. Furthermore four case studies are described in the thesis, in which usability evaluation was done by using the think-aloud method in co-operation with real users in their real work situation. These studies give much richer information on the actual use of the systems involved. The findings from one of these case studies indicate that the results from user observation done on a system that users have not seen before or used only for few days are rather similar to the results from usability evaluation done when users have used the system for a longer period. So the common practice of doing user observation on a software system that the participants have not seen before and then interpreting that the results will be the same for actual usage of the system when users will use the system for their real tasks for shorter or longer period is adequate.

This thesis explores change and resistance to change of IT systems in organisations from a sociotechnical perspective. The work is drawing on empirical data gathered during two Action Research projects in Swedish Health Care: one regarding the deployment of electronic patient record systems within health care organisations, and the other regarding the deployment of eHealth services geared towards patients and citizens. Resistance to change is classified as an indicator of social inertia, and the concept of counter-implementation, comprising three general strategies to obstruct change initiatives, is used to highlight the political aspects of social inertia. For the analysis, the concept of social inertia is used as a point of departure towards inertia in sociotechnical systems by applying values and principles from sociotechnical systems research, most prominently the interdependence-characteristic. This extended concept is used to show and discuss how IT systems can either enforce change or be a source of inertia preventing change in organisations, and such planned or inadvertent effects of implementing IT systems are discussed as a significant source of user resistance.