Usability plays an important role in user-experience design and when designing for usability it is necessary that a suitable design process is planned and executed. A question designers may have experienced is "what is the best design process for this project?" when in reality, the best design process is a combination of several design processes. This thesis combines competitive, parallel and iterative design processes when designing for usability and user engagement. The three design processes segues into each other as they aid in the process of identifying current problems with the design, find solutions that are both tested and untested, and then iteratively improves these solutions to a point of satisfactory result. The result shows, however, that combining three design processes can be expensive in terms of resources and that instead of having a set number of design processes with then resources divided between the processes, resources should determine the numbers of design processes to combine. / Användbarhet spelar en viktig roll i design av användarupplevelser och vid design för användbarhet är det nödvändigt att en lämplig designprocess planeras och genomförs. En fråga som designers kan ha upplevt är "vilken är den bästa designprocessen för detta projekt?" när i verkligheten är den bästa designprocessen en kombination av flera designprocesser. Denna avhandling kombinerar konkurrens, parallell och iterativ designprocesser vid design för användbarhet och användarengagemang. De tre designprocesserna går in i varandra när de hjälper till att identifiera aktuella problem med designen, hitta lösningar som är både testade och oprövade och sedan iterativt förbättrar dessa lösningar till ett tillfredsställande resultat. Resultatet visar dock att att kombinera tre designprocesser kan vara dyrt resursmässigt och att istället för att ha ett visst antal designprocesser med sedan resurser uppdelade mellan processerna bör resurserna bestämma antalet designprocesser som ska kombineras.

Creating visualizations for Internet of Things (IoT) data can be a challenge due to the uncertain and voluminous nature of this type of data. Many different tools have been made to visualize voluminous data. One such tool is Amazon Web Service (AWS) Quicksight. Quicksight is marketed as a scalable system for big data. For IoT developers, the visualization task is only a smaller subtask, which is often not the focus for the developer. Therefore it is in the developer’s best interest to use an easy tool for visualizing their data. To study if Quicksight is a viable tool for developers of IoT systems a user study was executed. Both the perceived usability and measured understanding when using the system were studied. This was done by using the System Usability Scale (SUS) for the perceived usability. For measured understanding some questions regarding trends and errors were asked and a statistical classification was made. The study showed a tendency for the users to rely too much on the visual structure Autograph as well as their difficulty to extract information from aggregated visualizations. In addition it was cumbersome to connect data between different datasets. / Att skapa visualiseringar för IoT data kan vara utmanande på Internet of Things (IoTs) oförutsägbara och voluminösa natur. Det finns många olika verktyg för att visualisera data. Ett sådant verktyg är Amazon Web Service (AWS) Quicksight. Quicksight marknadsförs som ett skalbart system för big data. För IoT utvecklare är dock visualisering oftast en mindre deluppgift som inte ligger i fokus. Därför är det viktigt för utvecklare att använda ett lättanvänt verktyg för att visualisera data. För att undersöka ifall Quicksight är ett bra alternativ som verktyg för utvecklare av IoT system så utfördes en användarstudie. Både den uppfattade och uppmätt förståelsen av systemet studerades. System Usability Scale (SUS) användes för att mäta den uppfattade användbarheten. För att mäta den uppmätta förståelsen ställdes frågor om trender och fel i data som sedan delades in i statistisk klassificering. Studien visade att användare tenderar att förlita sig för mycket på den visuella strukturen Autograph samt att dem hade svårigheter att utvinna information från aggregerad visualisering. Därtill ansåg användarna att det var besvärligt att koppla samman flera dataset i en visualisering.

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I denna studie jämförs två olika navigationsmenyer i kontexten av en nyhetsapplikation. Vi utvecklar själva två olika prototyper där vi implementerar två olika navigationsmenyer, som sedan används för att utföra användartester där vi mäter hur effektivt en användare kan utföra ett antal specifika uppgifter. En förstudie genomförs där redan existerande nyhetsapplikationer studeras. Där undersöker vi vilka olika navigationsmenyer som faktiskt används i populära nyhetsapplikationer. Förstudien visar att det egentligen bara finns två alternativ, nämligen det vi väljer att kalla för toppmeny samt drawermeny. Resultatet från genomförda tester visar att skillnaden i användbarhet inte är särskilt stor mellan toppmeny och drawermeny, men vi upptäcker en del styrkor och svagheter hos de båda. Toppmeny resulterar i flera antal klick och felklick, men testerna utförs i regel lite snabbare med toppmeny jämfört med drawermeny. Testpersonerna som utförde testerna på toppmeny verkade lite nöjdare än de som fick utföra testerna med drawermeny. Vi upptäckte att drawermeny kan vara lite svår att använda om användaren inte är van vid den, men när användaren väl förstått hur den fungerar så kan den användas på ett mycket effektivt sätt. Slutsatsen av denna studie är att skillnaderna är små mellan de två navigationstyperna men överlag verkar användare nöjdare med en toppmeny i den givna kontexten. Dock ser vi flera fördelar med användandet av en drawermeny som talar för att det är en väldigt användbar navigationsmeny om en applikation har en “bred” navigationsstruktur. / In this study we compare two different navigation menus in the context of a news application. We develop two prototype application implementing two different navigation menus. User-tests are used to measure how effectively a user can perform a set of specified tasks. An exploratory study is performed where already existing news applications are studied. We analyze which navigation menus are actually used in popular news applications. Our study shows there are really only two options, namely what we choose to call a top-menu, and a drawer menu. The results from our tests shows that the difference in usability is not so big between the two menus. Although we do find some strengths and weaknesses in both navigation menus. The “top menu” results in a greater amount of clicks and errors, but the test is completed a bit faster compared to the drawer menu. The persons doing the tests on the top- menu seems more satisfied compared to those doing the same tests with the drawer menu. We notice that the drawer menu can be a bit difficult to use if the user is not accustomed to it. However, it can be used very effectively if the user knows how to use it correctly. The conclusion of this study is that the differences are quite small between the two navigation menus, but overall the users seem to be more satisfied with a top menu in the given context. However, there are advantages with using a drawer menu which shows that it is a very usable navigation menu if the application has a “broad” navigation structure.

I denna uppsats har det undersökts vilka användbarhetsproblem som är framträdande i HRutan, samt vilka förbättringar som kan härledas i HRutan avseende användbarhetsproblemen. HRutan är en samlingsplats för allmän självservice och information i anknytning till arbetet inom HR-området inom Malmö stad och används av anställda inom Malmö stad för arbetsrelaterade uppgifter. Undersökningen har gjorts genom att analysera ett utvalt HR-system med hänvisningar till utvalda designanvisningar och direktiv. Designanvisningarna och direktiven presenterades för den utvalda målgruppen genom en undersökning i form av intervjuer. Syftet med den första genomförda intervjun var att samla åsikter och synpunkter från målgruppen angående potentiella användbarhetsproblem i det utvalda HR-systemet. Datainsamlingen kom sedan att användas vid utformningen av ett prototypbaserat användargränssnitt. I samband men den första genomförda intervjun genomfördes även en expertutvärdering av användargränssnittet vars syfte var att styrka de användbarhetsproblem som målgruppen tidigare uttryckt. Detta genom att jämföra resultatet från båda undersökningarna och därmed finna ett framträdande resultat av användbarhetsproblem. Avslutningsvis genomfördes ytterligare en intervju med målgruppen avseende det prototypbaserade användargränssnittet för att finna underlag för om några förbättringar skett. Syftet med undersökningen är att fastställa vilka designanvisningar och direktiv som är relevanta för att uppnå en högre grad av användbarhet i ett HR-system och därmed leva upp till användarnas krav och behov. Detta för att finna de förbättringar som är vid behov för att underlätta de grundläggande funktionerna i ett HR-system och därmed finna hur design, struktur och navigering i ett HR- system kan förbättras ur ett användbarhetsperspektiv. Resultat tyder på att det finns en varierande grad av relevans för samtliga designanvisningar och direktiv där kategorierna felhantering samt feedback och återkoppling påvisar en högre grad av relevans. Kategorin hjälpmedel och genvägar tyder på en lägre grad av relevans i samband med HRutan. Resultatet påvisar även att det finns ett behov av förbättringar för samtliga kategorier. Förslagen till förbättringar baseras bl.a. på en ny konsekvent layout och dess innehållande information samt tydliggörandet av aktuella händelser och platser genom en indelning av de olika kategorierna i menyn i s.k. flikar. Andra förslag till förbättringar bygger på en ny strukturering och placering av information som presenteras med fokus på dess väsentlighet, meddelandefönster som är anpassade för de olika handlingarna men även tillägg av utgångs och ångerfunktioner. Förslagen till förbättringar belyser även vikten av ett system som sköter de grundläggande justeringarna och inmatningarna i systemet, genväg för den mest frekventa arbetsuppgiften samt en ny layout av användargränssnittet. Ytterligare förslag till förbättringar baseras på utnyttjandet av symboler samt genvägar till funktioner med flervalsalternativ för att uppnå en mer målgruppsanpassad sida. Avslutningsvis framhävs förbättringar i form av flerstegsanvisningar för utförandet av arbetsuppgifter och en logisk utformning av layout, menyer, termer, symboler och fraser. / The thesis explores the most prominent usability problems in HRutan but also addresses the improvements that can be made. This has been accomplished by studying a specific/selected HR system with references to carefully selected design guidelines and directives. The design guidelines and directives were shown to the target group through a survey in the form of an interview. The aim of the first interview was to collect the opinions and the feedback of the target group regarding the usability problems of the selected HR system. These opinions and the feedback were later used in the design of a prototype-based user interface. Together with the first interview an expert evaluation was conducted which aimed to confirm the usability issues that the target group expressed. This was completed by combining the results of usability problems from both studies and thus find a prominent result of the usability problems on the selected HR system. Finally, one more interview regarding the prototype-based user interface was done by the target group. The intention of this interview was to examine if any improvements had been made. The aim of this study is first of all to determine what design guidelines and directives are relevant to achieve a higher degree of usability in an HR system and thus meet requirements and needs of the user. The second aim is to discover and determine the improvements necessary to simplify the basic features of an HR system from a usability perspective. The last part is the aim to identify how the design, structure and navigation of an HR system can be improved from a usability perspective. The results point out that there is a varying degree of relevance for each design guidelines and directives where the categories error handling, feedback and reconnection indicates a higher degree of relevance. The category tools and shortcuts point to a lower degree of relevance in the context of HRutan. The result show that there was a necessitate for a variable degree of improvement in all categories. The suggestions for improvements are for instance based on a new consistent layout of its information and a clarification of current events and places by division of the categories in tabs. Additional proposals for improvement are the structuring and placement of information based on essentiality, message windows for the various actions as well as the addition of a number of output and regret functions. The proposals for improvement give prominence to the importance of a system that handles the most basic adjustments and inputs but also highlight the weight of the shortcuts for the most frequent task. Shortcuts for functions with multiple choice options to achieve a more targeted custom page and multi-step directions, such as video clips for the execution of tasks, are further proposal of improvements. These improvements result in a new layout of the user interface with a consistent structure and design of the layout, the menus, terminology, symbols and phrases.

Natural user interfaces, including verbal vocal interactions like speech processing, are ubiquitous and commonly used in both industry and academic settings. However, this field is limited by the speech and language components. Non-verbal vocal interaction (NVVI) provides further opportunities for people to use their vocals as an input modality. Despite the many possibilities of NVVI input modalities, such as whistling, humming, and tongue clicking, the field is niche and literature is few and far between. This work attempts to address these gaps, as well as the small sample sizes of performed studies of prior work. The problem definition is defined as to perform a large-scale study exploring a pitch-based NVVI modality that uses a relative pitch interaction technique to offer a continuous mode of one-dimensional interaction. A user study is outlined and performed via an ecosystem comprising of Amazon Mechanical Turk for recruitment and study access, a modularized study website, and a secure server that stores the study results, tasks users with controlling a slider with the NVVI technique by humming and whistling, in addition to using the computer mouse to perform these tasks as a baseline. In total, 72 participants' results are considered for analysis. Results show that the pitch based NVVI technique used in this study does not follow Fitts' Law, is not as performant as the computer mouse, humming is a more performant modality with the NVVI technique than whistling, and that participants experienced a significantly higher task workload using the NVVI technique than the computer mouse. Using the results of this study and from reviewed literature, an NVVI framework is developed and implemented as a contribution of this work. / Master of Science

A quick-connect wheelchair power add-on unit (PAU) has been developed at the Human Factors Engineering Center of Virginia Tech. The objective of the new invention is to provide an inexpensive, highly portable product which can quickly convert a manual wheelchair into a power-operated wheelchair. This dissertation details the three year research and design effort to develop the new wheelchair PAU. Results are presented from a series of evaluations conducted to identify performance and user-interaction characteristics of the PAU. Interpretation of the results provides a prioritized list of identified design deficiencies along with wheelchair expert and design team suggestions for the next generation of design alterations. The three evaluations conducted with the second generation PAU prototype include a series of wheelchair expert interviews, a PAU performance evaluation, and a usability evaluation which utilized wheelchair operators as subjects. Also included in the dissertation is an explanation of the need for a new PAU, a description of the most recent design iteration, a literature review containing information about the history of wheelchairs, the condition of the current PAU market, and an analysis of wheelchair PAU consumers. The new invention was conceived and patented by Dr. John G. Casali of the Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) Department at Virginia Tech. This research was supported jointly by Southwestern Applied Technologies, L. C., of Roanoke, Virginia and Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon, Virginia. / Ph. D.

Many people have visual impairment and make up a population that is increasing each year. Haptic technology is often used to assist members of this population by providing a way of understanding visual information. Although haptic technology is relatively new, it is widely applied across a variety of domains (research and industry). However, a great number of users are dissatisfied with their assistive technology applications. Unfortunately, such dissatisfaction is likely to cause abandonment of the technology devices. In particular, recent research shows that the adoption rate of haptic technology is low. Discontinuing the use of assistive technology devices ultimately results in a waste of time, money, freedom, and reduced function for individuals with disabilities. Of all the factors that lead to abandonment, the most significant is the failure to meet user needs. Whether existing design approaches properly reflect assistive technology user needs should be explored, especially for haptic technology. Existing design approaches have rarely considered the heterogeneous needs of users in the same disability category (i.e., visual disability). Most previous studies on assistive technology have been oriented towards those with total blindness as opposed to those with residual vision (also referred to as low vision). In addition, researchers have paid less attention to older adults with low vision in terms of individual differences in haptic user interface (HUI) needs. There is also some doubt about the applicability of existing design approaches in such design contexts as users with visual disabilities using haptic user interfaces. The aim of this research was to investigate individual differences in users' capabilities in the haptic modality and user needs in HUIs. Particularly, age-related and vision-related individual differences were explored. Another aim was to develop a more accessible design approach applicable to users with visual disabilities and HUIs. The magnitude estimation technique was employed to examine how participants (classified by vision and age) perceive the same objective stimulus, such as haptic perception, differently. Brain plasticity theory was primarily applied to modify the existing design approach, PICTIVE. The effectiveness of modified and original PICTIVE methods was investigated in terms of the frequency of statements, gestures, satisfaction, and time to complete a given design task. HUI user needs were elicited from participants and were analyzed to understand age-related and vision-related individual differences. It was found that the haptic perception of the same objective stimulus was not significantly different between younger and older participants with low vision. The two age groups' overall preferences for a set of HUI user needs were not significantly different. In addition, the haptic perception of the same objective stimulus was not significantly different between sighted participants and those with low vision. The two vision groups' overall preferences on a set of HUI user needs were not significantly different as well. The two design methods resulted in significantly different outcomes. First, participants in the modified PICTIVE method made a significantly higher number of statements. Second, participants in the modified PICTIVE method showed a significantly higher number of gestures. Third, participants in the modified PICTIVE method took significantly more time because they had more design ideas to deliver. Last, both groups were satisfied with a given design method. In short, the research outcomes contribute to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of more "usable" accessibility for users with visual impairment and a more "accessible" participatory design approach to nontraditional user interfaces (i.e., haptic user interfaces) for users with visual impairment. / Ph. D.

As the growth of rapid prototyping techniques shortens the development life cycle of software and electronic products, usability inquiry methods can play a more significant role during the development life cycle, diagnosing usability problems and providing metrics for making comparative decisions. A need has been realized for questionnaires tailored to the evaluation of electronic mobile products, wherein usability is dependent on both hardware and software as well as the emotional appeal and aesthetic integrity of the design. This research followed a systematic approach to develop a new questionnaire tailored to measure the usability of electronic mobile products. The Mobile Phone Usability Questionnaire (MPUQ) developed throughout this series of studies evaluates the usability of mobile phones for the purpose of making decisions among competing variations in the end-user market, alternatives of prototypes during the development process, and evolving versions during an iterative design process. In addition, the questionnaire can serve as a tool for identifying diagnostic information to improve specific usability dimensions and related interface elements. Employing the refined MPUQ, decision making models were developed using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and linear regression analysis. Next, a new group of representative mobile users was employed to develop a hierarchical model representing the usability dimensions incorporated in the questionnaire and to assign priorities to each node in the hierarchy. Employing the AHP and regression models, important usability dimensions and questionnaire items for mobile products were identified. Finally, a case study of comparative usability evaluations was performed to validate the MPUQ and models. A computerized support tool was developed to perform redundancy and relevancy analyses for the selection of appropriate questionnaire items. The weighted geometric mean was used to combine multiple numbers of matrices from pairwise comparison based on decision makers' consistency ratio values for AHP. The AHP and regression models provided important usability dimensions so that mobile device usability practitioners can simply focus on the interface elements related to the decisive usability dimensions in order to improve the usability of mobile products. The AHP model could predict the users' decision based on a descriptive model of purchasing the best product slightly but not significantly better than other evaluation methods. Except for memorability, the MPUQ embraced the dimensions included in the other well-known usability definitions and almost all criteria covered by the existing usability questionnaires. In addition, MPUQ incorporated new criteria, such as pleasurability and specific tasks performance. / Ph. D.