Achieving the feeling of a personal connection over the internet is difficult but at the same time more relevant than ever with the world moving more and more towards digital meetings and online events. This study investigates how an exhibition area at an online conference could be created to provide a good user experience as well as provide value for the exhibitors at the conference. The study was performed through interviews, three stages of prototyping as well as usability testing of these prototypes to gather data and feedback on what could be done to achieve this goal. Through the principles of social presence, human centered, and user centered design, a prototype of how such a solution could look was developed. As a result, the test users felt that they would feel welcome in the digital booth and that they felt a greater incentive to join conversations with the exhibitors. On the other end, the exhibitors also felt like this solution would provide value in the form of monitorable gathered data that could be followed up on to investigate the value that the conference has given them. This concludes that engaging and valuable online exhibitions can be created as long as careful thought is put into designing them with the user and human in mind.

The administration software is a crucial component of any successful company. It is often overlooked, but it plays an essential role in ensuring the smooth operation of the business. It is the backbone of the company's operations, and it must be able to meet the evolving needs of its users. Although many people may not notice the admin systems, their impact on the overall performance of the company should not be underestimated. The system's ability to reduce the cognitive load on users helps them to work more efficiently and effectively. A well-designed user interface (UI) can also shorten the learning curve and reduce errors, resulting in cost and time savings for the company. This project delves into the design of Once Upon's administration system, aiming to enhance efficiency for expert users, those intimately familiar with the system. The study includes an analysis of the current software, identification of areas for improvement, and proposals for design modifications. The overarching goal is to reduce the workload and improve efficiency for the customer care team. The study employs the human-centred design thinking process, encompassing phases such as empathising, defining, ideating, prototyping, testing, and implementing. Methods include literature studies, heuristic evaluations, semi-structured interviews, affinity diagramming, brainstorming, and prototyping.  Key issues found in the study included intricate workflows, necessitating excessive steps for routine tasks, resulting in heightened cognitive load and slower task execution. The non-intuitive information architecture posed difficulties for users in navigating and locating essential data. Inconsistencies in language and icon usage introduced confusion, impacting the overall coherence of the system. Moreover, the absence of a clear visual hierarchy hindered users' ability to identify and retrieve crucial information swiftly. Addressing these issues was imperative for enhancing the overall usability and effectiveness of the administration software at Once Upon. The new design, addressing identified challenges, received positive feedback, showcasing improved clarity and aesthetics. Using the System Usability Scale, the current interface scored 68, while the prototype scored 94, indicating a substantial improvement in usability. Despite the promising results, the study acknowledges limitations, including a small sample size. Further testing and refinement of the proposed design changes are essential. The broader field requires additional research on defining efficiency in user systems, ensuring optimal design for work tools used predominantly by expert users.

The shift from analogue to digital data has been a trend the last couple of decades. One reason for such a switch is the ease and effectiveness with which it can be stored and spread. Among the most common methods people use to spread their data today is by e-mail and therefore, the goal should be to decrease the cognitive load when utilizing e-mail services. The main hypothesis of this thesis is that a prototype of an e-mail application designed to induce lower levels of cognitive load to its users is more time effective and less mentally demanding than one of its market counterparts; Gmail. Male and female participants with the age group 18-40 (N=21) performed five different tasks on both the prototype and the Gmail application. These tasks were accompanied by a dual-task, which was to tap their finger(s) rhythmically with their non-dominant hand on a metal plate to induce further cognitive load. The result showed that the tasks were more mentally demanding and frustrating when using the Gmail application compared to the prototype. The results showed that the execution time for five out of five tasks where longer when using the Gmail application compared to when using the prototype, but only three out of five had a statistically significant difference in time. / Växlingen från analogdata till digitaldata har varit en trend de senaste två decennierna. En anledning till en sådan förändring är fördelarna i att mer lätthanterligt kunna spara och sprida digitaldata. Bland de vanligaste metoderna människor använder idag för dataspridning är e-mejl och därför bör vi sträva att minska den kognitiva belastningen vid användandet av e-mejl tjänster. Hypotesen av denna uppsats är att en e-mejls applikations prototyp designad för att ge mindre nivåer av kognitiv belastning är mer tidseffektiv och är mindre mentalt belastande än en av dess marknadsmotparter; Gmail. Manliga och kvinnliga deltagare i åldersgruppen 18–40 (N=21) fick utföra fem olika uppdrag utförda på både prototypen och Gmailapplikationen. Uppdragen var kompletterade med ett samtida sidouppdrag vilket var att under uppdragens gång slå deras finger rytmiskt mot en metallplatta med deras icke-dominanta hand för att öka kognitiv belastning. Resultaten visade att uppdragen krävde mer mentala resurser och att deltagarna hade högre frustrationnivåer under användningen av Gmailapplikationen än på prototypen medan 3 utav 5 uppdrag visade statistisk signifikant skillnad i tid.

Home adpats to different life stages of family members. It provides an envrionment for kids to explore and learn. It balances the private life between adolescent and parents. However, it is different for families with Down syndrome because of their slow life path and demaning for time. This project aims to explore how might we improve the family relationship during the transition of living together in the context of a family with Down syndrome. I concentrate on the family plan for independent living: cooking-related activities. It is a long-term life project which demands time and higher motivation. From the research, parents have control over the learning process, which can influence young adults' confidence in making decisions and parents' building trust in their abilities. How might we support the process of collaborative learning for parents and DS young adult to achieve the long-period life project? Take the food planning as an example, this project explores touchpoints of trust building, learning transfer and decision-making points. "COOKIES" is a platform that connects different learning scenarios and on-going practice together. It helps to transfer the learning from outside home to the home cooking context. It motivates young adults with DS to leveling up missions defined by themselves. Parent's ambition is balanced with DS young adult's exploration. With the ability learned in this process, it can also influence several other domains of life choices.

Dagens industri håller på att förändras inom en mängd olika sektorer på grund av det ökade intresset för AI. Efterfrågan på AI blir allt större även inom designyrken, vilket gör att blivande UX-designers behöver bredda sina kunskaper inom området. Tidigare forskning visar att AI kan på många sätt påverka eller förändra designprocessen. I takt med att nya AI-verktyg kommer ut på arbetsmarknaden, ökar behovet av att utforska upplevelsen av dess effekter. En viktig målgrupp som drabbas av denna förändring är UX-design studenter, som är framtidens designers. Det finns därför ett behov av att utforska studenters upplevelser av AI inom UX-design. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka UX-design studenters upplevelse kring användningen av AI-verktyg i designprocessen. Det ville även utforska hur implementeringen av dessa verktyg påverkar upplevelsen av kreativitet hos studenter. Studien vägleddes av det teoretiska ramverket AI Device Use Acceptance (AIDUA) modellen. Studien utgick från en kvalitativ ansats för att få mer djupgående individuella svar från deltagarna. Undersökningen bestod av ett användartest med observation och en semistrukturerad intervju. För att analysera datan utfördes en tematisk analys. Dessa metoder avslöjade att studenter upplever AI-verktyg som mest användbara i början av designprocessen för idégenerering. De är däremot vaksamma med att använda det i en alltför stor grad, eftersom UX anses fortfarande vara ett hantverk som kräver mänsklig förståelse. De upplever att kreativiteten påverkas mer eller mindre beroende på det genererade svaret från AI. Studien rekommenderar vidare forskning om seniora UX-designers upplevelse av AI för ett bredare perspektiv. / Today's industry is changing in a variety of sectors due to the increased interest in AI. The demand for AI is also increasing in design professions, which means that future UX-designers need to broaden their knowledge in the field. Previous research shows that AI can influence or even change the design process in many ways. As new AI tools are presented, the need to explore the experience of its effects increases. An important target group affected by this change is UX-design students, who are the designers of the future. Therefore, there is a need to explore students' experiences of AI in the field of UX-design. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experience of UX-design students regarding the use of AI-tools in the design process. The study also explored how students perceive the effects of AI on creativity. The study was guided by the AI Device Use Acceptance (AIDUA) theoretical framework. The study was based on a qualitative approach to get more in-depth individual responses from the participants. The research consisted of a user test combined with observation and a semi-structured interview. A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data. These methods revealed that students find AI-tools most useful for idea generation at the beginning of the design process. However, they are cautious of using it to an excessive degree, as UX is still considered a craft that requires human understanding. They feel that creativity is affected more or less depending on the generated response from AI. The study further recommends research on senior UX designers' experience of AI for a broader perspective.

This project investigates how embodied interaction and stress reduction methods can work together to reduce students’ stress at Malmö University. Furthermore, it explores how this project can contribute to the field of interaction design. Various research methods were used to gain insight into stress levels, coping mechanisms and how students relax at the university through desktop and field research. In addition, students explored different room settings and created their own “perfect” relaxation space. A low-fidelity prototype was developed using the "Wizard of Oz" method and tested with users. The results of this work show that both the concept of a relaxation space and a tangible artifact can reduce students' stress levels. Moreover, they open up possibilities for further research to develop these topics further. Keywords: Interaction design, embodied interaction, stress relief, mental health, tangible

This study was conducted in collaboration with Eskilstuna Strängnäs Energi och Miljö, which is in the process of developing an application for its customers. The study examined how user experience is affected by the design of navigation structures when switching between an application and a web solution for ordering one-time services.  A prototype of a design solution was developed based on insights from users in the primary target group. These individuals participated in usability tests and shared their thoughts and opinions, which were then compiled into an affinity diagram for further iteration.  By involving users in the design process, it is possible to ensure that their needs and requirements form the basis of the design solutions. One conclusion of the study is that well-designed navigation structures can create seamless experiences for users in their journey to achieve their goals.

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.

This case study provides new insights on the designer role in co-design processes. Co-design has shifted the designer role into a facilitator, which requires a new skillset. In this thesis, this new role is investigated through the three psychological constructs; empowerment, ownership and power dynamics. The process consists of two main parts: pre-study and case study. In the pre-study, designers with different roles are interviewed about co-design. In the case study, three co-design sessions are observed and the facilitators interviewed in retrospect. Several strategies and actions are identified for empowering participants, some for the participants to feel ownership and almost none for balancing out power dynamics. The identified strategies include using straightforward methods and having a selfless mindset. However, there are indications that long term relationships are prioritized over actual outputs. This notion might be explained by the fact that the case companies are consultants. The need to always satisfy the clients makes the facilitators disregard some of the power differences in the room.

Direct volume rendering techniques for scalar fields make use of transfer functions to map optical properties to the field; the field can subsequently be visualized through the drawing of isosurfaces in the volume spanned by the field. The utility of this approach is limited in the case of nested or clustered structures with the same isovalue and further does not easily allow for quantitative measurements of the visualized data. This report explores the use of topological structures (contour trees and Morse-Smale complexes) as an augmentation of traditional direct volume rendering and describes a fully functional implementation in the visualization software Inviwo. The implementation is evaluated through analysis of valency charge density fields in cubic MgO2 and FeO2. It is demonstrated that both contour trees and Morse-Smale complexes provide information and segmentation of initial volume data that allows for selective transfer function application (based on the segmentation), on-demand information on critical points and an overview of the scalar field through a topological representation embedded in the visualized volume. Analysis of the provided charge density fields show that contour trees generate physically irrelevant artefacts and thus are ill-suited for analysing highly symmetric data. On the other hand, the Morse-Smale complex approach is used to extract information of the bond strength of O-O contacts in MgO2 and FeO2 consistent with previous findings, as well as information on electronic charge configuration consistent with previous findings on MgO2. In the case of FeO2, the electronic configuration results are not consistent. This is speculated to be due to a combination of factors, most notably the lack of periodic boundary conditions in the implementation and the more complicated structure of FeO2.   In light of the partially accurate data analysis, as well as the added functionality and utility provided to visualization software, this approach to topology-guided visualization is considered promising and worthy of further study and/or development.