Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (February 22, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-109)

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<p>The aims of the practical work carried out for this thesis were to redesign a clinical decision support system for thoracic surgeons, called AssistMe, and to evaluate the concept behind this system. The main objective of the thesis is to give an account of the considerations that were found to be of key importance for designing a clinical decision support system for thoracic surgery. Another aim was to let future users test the system after it had been redesigned and evaluate the concept behind it. The thesis also investigates users’ experience of the system and their views on whether it would be applicable in their daily work practice. An account is also given of experience of using QOC-notation during the design space analysis in a real design project like this one.</p>

El objetivo principal perseguido en esta tesis consiste en proponer un catálogo de refactorings para mejorar aspectos como usabilidad, eficiencia y eficacia de los procesos de negocio de las aplicaciones web. Mientras otras publicaciones identifican posibilidades de mejorías en los modelos de las aplicaciones web, esta tesis se focaliza en identificar problemas relacionados exclusivamente con la ejecución de los procesos de negocio y sugerir cambios para optimizar la experiencia del usuario mientras este navega por los procesos embebidos en las aplicaciones. / With time, web applications changed and evolved from simple websites to complex applications that allow users to perform a wide variety of tasks and operations online. All this progress is possible due to the fact that, nowadays, web applications support Business Processes. The integration of business processes and the associated increase in complexity of web applications generally lead to underestimate its usability which affects directly the users who have to execute these business processes daily. Focused in improve the execution and the usability of business processes, a catalog of refactorings was created with suggestions of changes classified by the affected web application model. The proposed refactorings aim to improve the user experience while executing these business processes embeded in most of web application and consequently its usability.

The aims of the practical work carried out for this thesis were to redesign a clinical decision support system for thoracic surgeons, called AssistMe, and to evaluate the concept behind this system. The main objective of the thesis is to give an account of the considerations that were found to be of key importance for designing a clinical decision support system for thoracic surgery. Another aim was to let future users test the system after it had been redesigned and evaluate the concept behind it. The thesis also investigates users’ experience of the system and their views on whether it would be applicable in their daily work practice. An account is also given of experience of using QOC-notation during the design space analysis in a real design project like this one.

In this master thesis we investigate Mobile Internet with the help of a user perspective and discuss the problems of Mobile Internet today. As the Internet revolution evolves into the Mobile Internet revolution the need for usable and desirable wireless services is increasing. Designing web based services for mobile devices and mobile users is significantly different than designing web based services for desktop use. Not only are there differences in the underlying technology but also, and perhaps most important, in the way people use the services. Our main purpose in this thesis is to investigate the occurrence of Mobile Internet from a user’s perspective, to present a definition of Mobile Internet and provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. The main objective is to present a theoretical framework regarding Mobile Internet usage and to investigate which user related factors to consider when developing services adapted for mobile use. / Webpage available at http://www.student.bth.se/~tecr.

This study developed a summative scale that could be administered in a short time period to determine the Quality of Use (QOU) of an intervention used by teachers. The scale can be completed in less than an hour using easily attainable information. The QOU scale was applied to an elementary reading program to determine if the program results were dependent upon the quality of the fidelity of teacher use. The study focused on use of the Linguistic Pattern Series (LPS) portion of the Integrated Skills Method (ISM) Reading Program by 20 special education teachers in 13 elementary schools in San Antonio, Texas. Progress is measured by the use of the Decoding Skills Test (DST) (ISM Teaching Systems, Inc., 2004-b). To determine each teacher's QOU, a summative scale was developed composed of five items (Initial Placement, Frequency of Direct Instruction, Materials – LPS, Materials – Literature/Test Prep, and Scheduling) that possessed low-moderate cohesiveness of Alpha=.71. Results of the study showed a correlation between QOU summary scores and residualized DST Raw Score Grade Equivalent (RSGE) gains. The QOU could predict .771^2 = 50 percent of score variance. This is a strong prediction for a non-student external measure in education.

Disputats. Rheinische Friedrick-Wilhelms-Universität, 2000. / Haves kun i elektronisk udg.

Syfte – Att se hur olika processer vid framtagningen av ett gränssnitt kan påverka kvaliteten på ett gränssnitts användarvänlighet. Metod – Fallstudie med intervjuer och kontextuella observationer och en designprocess som använder flera iterationer av prototyper. Slutligen en analys där arbetsprocessen vid gränssnittens utveckling tolkas och gränssnittens kvalitet utvärderas utifrån ett antal definierade faktorer. Resultat – Studien visar att en designprocess med ett fokus på användarvänlighet kräver mycket förarbete och tar längre tid för att få fram ett resultat medan en designprocess där användarvänlighet ej är i fokus ger ett snabbare resultat men som ger problem i efterhand på grund av lägre kvalitet på gränssnittets användarvänlighet Implikationer – Studien visar att även om en process som fokuserar på användarvänlighet kräver extra arbete och resurser i början, i slutändan ger ett betydligt högre resultat som sparar framtida arbete. Studien bekräftar därmed andra teorier om hur användarvänlighet i gränssnitt kan och bör tas fram. Begränsningar – Studien saknade möjlighet till tester i gränssnittets slutliga miljö och baseras därför på teorier framtagna utifrån ISOs definition av Quality in use istället för användartester som skulle kunnat ge en trovärdigare kvalitetsuppskattning. Studien studerar endast två olika processer för framtagning av ett gränssnitt. / Purpose – To see how different processes during the development of a User Interface affect the quality of its user-friendliness. Method – Case study with interviews and contextual observations and a design process where several iterations of prototypes was used. Lastly an analys where the process used during the development is studied and the quality of the User Interface is valued from a number of defined factors. Findings – The study shows that a design process with a focus on user-friendliness requires a lot of work beforehand and takes longer before an actual result kan be achieved while a process where user-friendliness is not a focus gives faster results but creates problems in the future because of a lower quality on the user-friendliness of the User Interface. Implications – The study shows that a while process with a focus on user-friendliness takes more resources and time in the beginning it produces a higher quality of work which saves time and resources in the future. The study therefor other studies of how a user-friendly User Interface can and should be developed. Limitations – The study lacked an opportunity to do testing in the User Interface’s real environment and is instead based on theories based on ISO’s definition of Quality in use instead of user tests which could have given a more credible result. The study also only studies two different processes and their result.