The international communities of user interface, user experience and interaction designers are in an increasing need of considering Chinese users’ experiences when designing websites. China, along with other mandarin speaking populations, consists of a huge market. Almost one-fifth of global Internet users used Chinese as preferred language in 2020. Additionally, more and more companies worldwide are interested in doing business with the Chinese market.  Targeting the needs of internet users coming from a different cultural background requires a special approach as cultural characteristics may influence the users’ expectations. Even though there have been attempts to characterise user interface menus suitable for Chinese users, as of 2022, it is still challenging to access a study on explicitly navigation. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how local navigation can be adapted to the needs of Chinese users. This study also aims to examine the differences between Chinese and European users’ local navigation preferences. During the study, 2 Chinese subjects and 2 European subjects tested three versions of a web prototype that been developed according to the already established research on designing user interface (UI) for Chinese users. Each prototype alternative presented one of the three local navigation alternatives: inverted L, horizontal and embedded vertical. The data has been collected through conducting contextual inquiry in the form of semi-structured interviews and observations. The gathered information was then analysed through thematic analysis. The two themes: Accessibility of content and Interpreting functionality emerged from the coded data. This study acknowledged that differences between local navigation for Chinese and European users arise in cognitive traits. The Chinese users tend to categorise based on interdependence and relationship (thematic cognitive style) rather than to classify by functions, analyse components and infer common features (functional cognitive style). Furthermore, it has been recognised that Chinese population performs better with horizontal menu layouts with English interfaces. Results from this study show that the horizontal local navigation gained the biggest amount of positive feedback from Chinese interviewees, whereas vertical one the least. Even though, the findings illustrate that both Chinese and European subjects considered horizontal local navigation to be the most effective solution, interviewed Chinese users represented the least homogeneity in preferences. This study suggests that in order to develop guidelines for a fully functioning navigation system with English interfaces suitable for Chinese users, more studies on not solely local but also global and contextual navigation should be carried out. / Interaktionsdesigners samt UI/UX-designers över hela världen världen är i ett ökande behov av att ta hänsyn till kinesiska användares erfarenheter när de designar webbplatser. Kineserna, tillsammans med andra mandarintalande befolkningar, består av en enorm marknad. Nästan en femtedel av de globala internetanvändarna använde kinesiska som sitt föredragna språk i 2020. Dessutom, fler och fler företag globalt blir mer intresserade av att göra affärer med den kinesiska marknaden. För att se till att behoven hos internationella internetanvändare tillgodoses, krävs det ofta ett speciellt tillvägagångssätt. Detta eftersom kulturella egenskaper möjligtvis kan påverka användarnas förväntningar. Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att undersöka hur lokal navigering kan anpassas till kinesiska användarnas behov. Även om det redan finns några studier som satsar på att känneteckna användargränssnittsmenyer lämpliga för kinesiska användare, saknas det fortfarande studier som undersöker möjliga anpassningar av just navigering. Denna studie syftar vidare till att undersöka skillnaderna mellan kinesiska och europeiska användarnas lokala navigeringspreferenser. Under studien testade 2 kinesiska och 2 europeiska deltagare, tre versioner av en webbprototyp. Prototypen utvecklades enligt den redan etablerade forskningen kring design av användargränssnitt (UI) för kinesiska användare. Varje version av prototypen innehöll ett av de tre lokala navigeringsalternativen: inverted L, horizontal och embedded vertical. Data samlades in genom kontextuella undersökningar i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer och observationer. Den insamlade informationen analyserades sedan genom en tematisk analys. De två teman som framkom ur den kodade datan var: Tillgänglighet av innehåll och Tolkning av funktionalitet. Denna studie erkände att skillnader mellan lokal navigering för kinesiska och europeiska användare uppstår i kognitiva egenskaper. De kinesiska användarna tenderar att kategorisera baserat på ömsesidigt beroende och relation (tematisk kognitiv stil) snarare än att klassificera efter funktioner, analyskomponenter och härleda gemensamma drag (funktionell kognitiv stil). Dessutom har det insetts att den kinesiska befolkningen presterar bättre med horisontella menylayouter med engelska gränssnitt. Resultat från denna studie visar att den horisontella lokala navigeringen fick den största mängden positiv feedback från kinesiska intervjupersoner, medan den vertikala minst. Även om resultaten illustrerar att både kinesiska och europeiska ämnen ansåg horisontell lokal navigering vara den mest effektiva lösningen, representerade intervjuade kinesiska användare minst homogenitet i preferenser. Denna studie föreslår att för att utveckla riktlinjer för ett fullt fungerande navigationssystem med engelska gränssnitt lämpliga för kinesiska användare, bör fler studier om inte bara lokal utan även global och kontextuell navigering genomföras.

Background: Firms need to innovate to remain competitive and innovation requires multiple stakeholders to collaborate to successfully identify new opportunities. When unable to meet an interact, we would like to understand how these stakeholders connect and what other impact on innovation performance should be considered when collaborating remotely.  Objectives: The thesis aims to identify underlying management theory and establish a model which will be used to interview employees of suitable firms. The study will then apply the model and strive to validate whether COVID-19 drives innovation and if it can be successfully performed during personal movement restrictions.  Methodology: This study is exploratory and qualitative with 4 propositions based on theoretical models tested against a selected panel of interviewees.  Results: The analysis surfaces that COVID-19 positively impacted employee commitment, competency and satisfaction while balancing employees working remotely. Both employees and firms found themselves more productive, relying on IT systems for incremental simplification of non-value-added activities. All firms did not however convert this momentum to innovation related performance to date. Overall, employees did find it advantageous being able to balance work and life, while firms enjoyed greater productivity.  Recommendations for future research: The link between greater productivity, staff satisfaction and realization of the same deserves additional attention as the scope of this study did not permit further review on an industry and past innovation performance level.  Keywords: performance, innovation, remote work, covid-19, management, productivity

This report examines usability shortcomings of a self-checkout (SCO) and subsequently explores improvement suggestions for these issues using the double diamond design process. Shortcomings are identified through a heuristic evaluation against Jakob Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics and through a user study conducted in a retail environment. After prioritizing the identified problems, two issues are addressed: members missing to input their membership information and the checkout process slowing down due to the bag selection and payment method screens. After studying how other SCOs operate and gathering user opinions on SCO experiences, improvement proposals are presented. A new step for inputting membership information is proposed and a redesign of the screens for bag selection and payment method is suggested. To verify if the new design contributes to increased usability, a test is conducted; however, the results are not significant enough to demonstrate an improvement.

För att få vägledning till nya platser kan användare ofta förlita sig på navigationstjänster. Dockstår individer med rörelsehinder inför utmaningar när det gäller tillgänglighet, både i dessatjänster och i samhället i stort. Problematiken kring tillgänglighet för personer medrörelsehinder inkluderar bland annat svårigheter med vägförslag och bristande information omtillgängliga vägar. En möjlig lösning för att förbättra tillgängligheten är att implementerapersonaliserad talad interaktion i navigationstjänster, vilket kan ge användarna skräddarsyddoch anpassad information utifrån deras personliga behov. Denna studie syftar till att undersökahur personer med rörelsehinder upplever tillgängligheten genom användning av taladinteraktion i navigationstjänster. Genom att använda en kvalitativ ansats och semistruktureradeintervjuer har respondenternas upplevelser och behov undersökts för att förstå hurtillgängligheten kan förbättras för denna målgrupp. Resultaten av studien visar att personermed rörelsehinder ofta upplever tillgängligheten på olika sätt och att de använder sig avalternativa metoder, såsom satellitbilder i Google Street View, för att navigera och hittatillgänglig information. Respondenterna ser potential i personaliserad talad interaktion för attförbättra tillgängligheten i navigationstjänster, och betonar vikten av att tillhandahålla korrektoch användbar information för att möta deras specifika behov.

Online gaming has over the years become very popular and during the global pandemic of 2019, gained an even larger amount of people indulging in the activity. All this online activity has led to a decline in in-person social interactions which have been researched to have negative effects on young adults. This thesis aims to find ways to promote more in-person social interaction with the help of games. An artifact in the form of a video game was created with active video game principles and pervasive game characteristics in mind, with the goal of achieving social interaction between players and spectators. Nintendo Joy-Con controllers are the main controller used and an external microphone to capture sounds is used to fulfill the prerequisites of pervasive games. A collection of five different minigames was created, all with different ways that noise can affect the gameplay. The results of the experiments showed that the artifact promotes in-person social interactions between players and spectators by making the spectators able to interact with the games.

Although, Oceans are a fundamental part of our survival, covering 70% of our planet and producing 50% of our oxygen, public awareness of marine ecosystems and their functions remain very low. In United Nations list Life below water as one of their 17 development goals in the world, highlighting the need for raising Ocean Literacy. Recently in the Southern Wharf Basin in Malmö restoration has been done to shallowing the sea floor and invite nature back into the city. However, there lacks public knowledge about the restoration.  This thesis explores how Interaction Design can help bridge the knowledge gap by developing an interactive tool to enhance Ocean Literacy. The project adopts Research through Design as a methodology documenting the iterative phases of prototyping. The approach of combining tangible interaction with learning more about the unseen world of the Southern Wharf Basin sets the stage for new insights on how we engage with and learn about marine ecosystems. Strategically placed at the Basin, the periscope allows the local community to interact directly with the site where the restoration occurs. The findings of this study indicate that the interactive Upside-Down periscope manages to spark people's curiosity about the marine environment in the area.

Vården är i förändring och behöver vara mer förebyggande för att främja hälsa och ett hälsosamt åldrande, teknik kommer att behöva användas i större utsträckning. Eskilstuna kommun och Region Sörmland har skapat Digital hälsotvilling, vilket är en prototyp av en hälsoapplikation. I nuläget riktas den mot personer i pensionsålder och syftar till att hjälpa människor att bibehålla eller förbättra sin hälsa, att förebygga livsstilsrelaterade sjukdomar samt uppnå egna mål med sin hälsa. Hälsoapplikationer ska vara användbara och uppmuntra till fysisk aktivitet samt främja en hälsosam livsstil genom specificerade mål och motivation. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka huruvida Digital hälsotvilling upplevs motiverande och användbart för personer i pensionsålder, och att skapa ett gestaltningsförslag för att förbättra användbarheten och förstärka det som uppfattas som motiverande. Intervjuer och användbarhetstester gjordes med fyra personer i pensionsålder som hade viss vana vid teknik och använde smartphone dagligen. Under intervjuerna och användbarhetstesterna framkom att det som ansågs vara mest motiverande i Digital hälsotvilling var att se hälsodata i siffror och visualiserade framsteg samt individanpassad information och stöd med att planera vad man skulle göra för att uppnå sina mål. Flödet i prototypen uppfattades dock inte som logiskt och vissa ord och datavisualiseringar var svåra att förstå. Dörnyei och Ushioda (2021) teori om motivation och SDL (Self-Determination Theory) och Sharp, Rogers och Preece (2019) teori om användbarhet har använts. Gestaltningsförslaget skapades med grund i både teori och empiri. / Healthcare is changing and it needs to be more preventive to promote health and healthy aging. Technology will need to be used to a greater extent than it is today. Eskilstuna municipality and Region Sörmland have created a Digital health twin called Digital hälsotvilling, which is a prototype of a health application. It is currently aimed at people of retirement age and aims to help people maintain or improve their health, prevent lifestyle-related diseases and achieve their own health goals. Health applications should be usable and encourage physical activity as well as promote a healthy lifestyle through specific goals and motivation.  The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether Digital hälsotvilling is perceived as motivating and usable for people of retirement age, and to create a design proposal that enhances the perceived motivating aspects and improves usability. Interviews and usability tests were made with four persons of retirement age who had some experience with technology and engaged with their smartphone on a daily basis.  The interviews and usability tests showed that the perceived motivating aspects of Digital hälsotvilling was seeing ones health data and progress visualized, as well as the application providing individualized information and support in planning what to do to achieve ones goals. However, the user flow in the prototype was not perceived as logical and some words and visualizations were difficult to understand. Dörnyei and Ushioda (2021) theory of motivation and SDL (Self-Determination Theory) and Sharp, Rogers and Preece (2019) theory of usability have been applied in this thesis. The design proposal was created with both theory and empiricism as a basis.

The Agile software development model is driven by "learning by doing" and rejects Big Design Up Front (BDUF) for that reason. User-Centered Design (UCD) on the other hand requires a more holistic view to be able to create a usable user interface and in the end create a good user experience. Finding a balance between the incremental development and the need for a more comprehensive view of the user interface is therefore the key to usability in Agile software development. The objective of this master thesis was to construct a framework on how to combine UCD and Agile development in general, and specifically for the web based tool, called Alo, at the IS/IT department of Com Hem AB, Sweden. The results of this thesis was that the process of integrating User-Centered Design in Agile software development first of all needs a familiar starting point for both usability experts and developers. This can be achieved with what Desirée Sy describes as “Cycle Zero”, to let usability experts perform initial research ahead of implementation. Designing one sprint ahead should later converge to a more synchronized process where requirements and sketches of the interface are put together, with the help of developers, just in time for the implementation. This does not only prevents waste in the form of documentation and miscommunication associated with hand-offs, but also makes the implementation more purposeful and fun for developers.Secondly, build prototypes early in the process to create a holistic vision of the finished product and to test concepts in usability tests early. Thirdly, create shared understanding (within the development team as well as with outside stakeholders) of user needs by involving the entire team in usability testing. Critical to the success of all the above is that all outside stakeholders understands the Agile process and respects that the team is a self-organizing unit that solves problems within a set of given boundaries, rather than a code factory that feeds on specification documents.

I den senaste uppdateringen av läroplanen för förskolan beskrivs en metod som kallas pedagogisk dokumentation. Denna metod förväntas förskollärare använda för att uppnå läroplanens uppsatta mål kring uppföljning, utvärdering och utveckling för förskoleverksamheten. Många upplever dock att den pedagogiska dokumentationen blir ytterligare en arbetsuppgift i en redan stressad situation. Det här projektet utgör en förstudie för utvecklingen av en applikation för lärplatta vars syfte är att underlätta för förskollärare och minska den administrativa tiden för pedagogisk dokumentation. Resultatet av förstudien är en prototyp för en iPad-applikation med fokus på snabba dokumentationer och att göra barnen delaktiga i dokumentationsarbetet. Processen att skapa dokumentationer effektiviseras genom att använda enhetens inbyggda hårdvara samt erbjuda möjligheten att spara dokumentationer och media offline. Barnen involveras i dokumentationsarbetet genom egna profiler där material som berör dem samlas och där de själva kan lägga till bilder och spela in ljud. / The Swedish National Agency for Education has recently published an updated version of the preschools curriculum containing new guidelines for how preschool teachers are expected to work with documentation, follow-up, evaluation and analysis. However, preschool teachers experience frustration due to challenges such as insufficient amount of time to work according to these guidelines while acting as both caretakers and teachers for the children. Dokufant is a digital web based tool facilitating documentation, follow-up, evaluation and analysis in preschool environments. It enables the teachers to document the pedagogical process and use the documentation as foundation for evaluation, follow-up and analysis. Although Dokufant resolves some of the issues causing the teachers' frustration, the solution does not fully address the time challenges perceived by teachers. This is where an application for iPad could come in handy. This thesis is a pilot study of how an application for iPad could be developed to help preschool teachers work with the curriculum guidelines in an even more efficient way. The goal was to develop a prototype, as a complement to the web based tool Dokufant, which focuses on fast creation of documentation. It was also to enable the children to help in the documentation process and thus be a part of their own learning. The findings of the thesis and the developed prototype application show that faster documentation is made possible thanks to the iPad hardware and the possibility to save material offline. A photograph can be taken with the iPad camera and will subsequently be saved to the Dokufant media library in an instant. If there is no internet connection when the photo is taken it will reside locally on the iPad until a connection is found. The same goes for documentation, which can be saved offline, and if they are not finished the teachers can continue to work with them later on the iPad or, after they have been uploaded, in the web tool on the computer. Unlike in the web tool, there are no settings to be made before starting documentation on the iPad. All settings can be set later which further accelerates the documentation process. Children are made part of the documentation process through their own profiles where information concerning them is gathered. When the material is visible to them it opens up the possibility for a discussion on what they want to be documented and what they are interested in learning more about. Also the children can take photos with the iPads' camera directly from the app and record sound connected to the photo to tell their thoughts on why the photo was taken and what it captures. This prototype, if developed into an iPad application, can help preschool teachers meet the demands of the curriculum without interfering with their job as caretakers and teachers for the children. it will not only speed up the documentation process, it will also encourage the children to play an active part of their own learning.

Mobile applications are expected to be fast and responsive to user interaction, despite challenges mobile platforms and devices face in terms of limited computational power, battery, memory, etc. Ensuring that applications are performant is however not trivial, as performance bugs are difficult to detect, fix, and verify. In order for mobile applications and devices to appear perfectly responsive to the user, they need to meet a 60 frames per second frame rate, and keep load times preferably between 0-300 ms. Meeting these expectations means that there is no room for performance bugs, so there is a need for improving and developing better testing tools and strategies in order to help mobile developers improve performance in their applications. This thesis investigates strategies for testing and improving performance in Android applications by conducting a literary study, and a case study with the Spotify Android application. Some of the key findings of this thesis include promising results from tools that visualise sources of performance bugs in the user interface of applications, as well as proposed strategies and tools aimed to help developers profile and improve performance in their Android applications.