Highly stressful situations have a prominent influence on the human psyche and it is crucial to take this into account when designing and evaluating software used predominantly in nerve wrecking situations. Lack of principles for design and evaluation of design of emergency handling software programs allows for graphic interface solutions that leave room for mistakes and slips in an environment where making an error can have catastrophic consequences. The study proposes a table of principles for evaluation and (re)design of user interface of programs used in highly stressful situations. The principles are grouped based on the human capability hindered by stress. Said principles were evaluated with the help of a case study on a tool for decision support (RASTEP) when facing a nuclear emergency. Statements on usability issues with RASTEP were collected through open group interviews and participant observation and pattern matched with proposed principles. Result of the pattern matching showed the disposition of usability issues per hindered capability following the same pattern as the one of the principles. Furthermore, all but one collected statement were identified as belonging to a group of hindered capabilities and were identified as violating at least one of the proposed principles. This points to the table of principles being able to serve as a tool in evaluating usability of graphic user interface of an existing emergency handling software and identifying its usability issues. / Mycket stressiga situationer kan ha en betydande påverkan på det mänskliga psyket, och det är avgörande att ta hänsyn till när man skapar och utvärderar mjukvara som främst används i pressade situationer. Brist på principer för utvärdering av design av nödhanteringsprogram möjliggör gränssnittslösningar som kan ge upphov till misstag i en miljö där felsteg kan ha katastrofala konsekvenser. Studien föreslår en tabell med principer för utvärdering och (re)design av användargränssnitt för program som används i mycket stressande situationer. Principerna är grupperade efter mänskliga förmågor som hindras av stress. Nämnda principer utvärderades genom en fallstudie av ett verktyg för beslutsstöd (RASTEP) vid kärnkraftsolycka. Vittnesmål om användbarhetsproblem med RASTEP insamlades genom öppna gruppintervjuer och deltagande observation (participant observation), och patternmatchades med de föreslagna principerna. Resultatet av patternmatchningen visade att fördelningen av användbarhetsproblem per hindrad förmåga följde samma mönster som fördelningen av principerna. Dessutom identifierades alla insamlade vittnesmål utom ett tillhöra en grupp av hindrade förmågor och identifierades bryta mot åtminstone en av de föreslagna principerna. Detta tyder på att tabellen med principerna kan användas som ett verktyg för att utvärdera användbarheten av gränssnitt hos ett befintligt nödhanteringsprogram och identifiera dess användbarhetsproblem.

The research reported in this thesis is focused on the creation of a CAE system to support Reverse Engineering. It is centred around the computational representation of products (Product Model) and manufacturing capabilities (Manufacturing Model). These models are essential for modem and future software systems aimed to assist the design process, enabling data sharing among the participants who use various computational tools. Reverse Engineering is employed as a particular context and motivation for exploring the application of the models. The research builds on the achievements of the recently finished Model Oriented Simultaneous Engineering System (MOSES) project, undertaken jointly by Leeds University and the Department of Manufacturing Engineering of Loughborough University. MOSES' work on information modelling was analysed and combined together with the original proposals of the author to elaborate a suitable support to Reverse Engineering, applicable to redesign in general. A process for Reverse Engineering is proposed and documented and a data model driven CAE system to support it is specified. The CAE system includes a Product Model, a Manufacturing Model and two software application environments. The Product Model of the system is based on the information requirements of the Reverse Engineering process and is suitable for representing multi-component products, from different perspectives through its life cycle. The applications assist the characteristic activities of Reverse Engineering. In particular, the system is used for exploring the application of Product and Manufacturing Models in supporting Design for Manufacture. The theoretical research is tested by the use of a case study which explores the Reverse Engineering of a component. This work is supported by a prototype software instance of the CAE system. The case study component is an axle which forms part of a product designed and manufactured by a collaborating company.

The purpose of this study has been to examine how mature eight Swedish companies are in regards of IT- and agile maturity. Furthermore, how they can improve upon their IT- and agile maturity. The research objects of this study has been eight different organizations who all hired the same IT-consultancy. Information has been gathered through semi-structured interviews with respondents from each organization. The interviews were built upon a theoretical framework consisting of Ragowsky et al. (2012) IT-maturity model and Sidky et al. (2007) Agile Measurement Index (SAMI). We have attempted to combine the models into a matrix model that takes both types of maturity into account. The results have shown a greater level of IT-maturity than expected. Agile maturity on the other hand have been a contributing factor to failures in some of the projects. Although we have found that being mature in only one of the factors has been unusual. In conclusion, the organizations in our sample have shown high IT-maturity so the next challenge for Swedish organizations seems to be to acquire greater agile maturity.

When designing urban water systems (i.e. water distribution and sewer systems) it is imperative that uncertainty is taken into consideration. However, this is a challenging problem due to the inherent uncertainty associated with both system loading requirements and the potential for physical components failure. It is therefore desirable to improve the reliability of each system in order to account for these uncertainties. Although it is possible to directly evaluate the reliability of a water distribution systems (WDS) (using reliability measures), the calculation processes involved are computationally intensive and therefore unsuitable for some state-of-the-art, iterative design approaches (such as optimisation). Consequently, interest has recently grown in the use of reliability indicators, which are simpler and faster to evaluate than conventional direct reliability methods. In this thesis, a novel measure (the RUF) is developed to quantify reliability in urban water systems with a view to enhance their robustness under a range of future scenarios (Policy Reform, Market Forces, Fortress World and New-Sustainability Paradigm). The considered four future scenarios were synthesized in the EPSRC supported multidisciplinary 4 year project: Urban Futures. Each investigated urban future scenario is characterised by a distinct household water demand and local demand distribution (emerging due to different urban forms evolving in future scenarios). In order to assess the impact of urban futures, RUF has been incorporated into Urban Water System (UWS) dynamic simulations for both WDSs and Foul Sewer Systems (FSSs) using open source codes of EPANET and SWMM. Additionally, in order to overcome extensive computational effort, resulting from the use of traditional reliability measures, a new holistic reliability indicator, the hydraulic power entropy (IHPE) has been developed and compared to existing reliability indicators. Additionally, the relationship between the new reliability indicator and the above mentioned RUF reliability measure is investigated. Results suggest that the magnitude of the IHPE in network solutions provides a holistic indication of the hydraulic performance and reliability for a WDS. However, the performance of optimal solutions under some Urban Futures indicates that additional design interventions are required in order to achieve desired future operation. This thesis also proposes a new holistic foul sewer system (FSS) reliability indicator (the IFSR). The IFSR represents sewer performance as a function of excess pipe capacity (in terms of available increase and also decrease in inflow). The indicator has been tested for two case studies (i.e. different sewer network layouts). Results suggest that the magnitude of IFSR has positive correlations with a number of identified key performance indicators (i.e. relating to capacity, velocity, blockages). Finally, an Integrated Design Approach (IDA) has been developed in order to assess the implications of applying design interventions on both a WDS and downstream FSS. The approach holistically considers present and future operation of each interconnected system. The approach was subsequently demonstrated using two proposed design interventions. Results suggest that, for the considered design interventions, there is trade-off between the simultaneous improvement of both WDS and FSS operation and reliability.

Distance education is being used increasingly for both pre and in-service teacher education in both developed and developing countries (Robinson & Latchem, 2003; Kwapong, 2007; Perraton, 2010). In Rwanda, the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) introduced its first distance education programme in 2001 with the aim of upgrading the qualifications of under-qualified high school teachers, including those who teach English, using printed materials as the main teaching/learning resource. This study has aimed to investigate the role of the 2010 version of these materials in addressing the professional needs of high school English teachers. It was centrally informed by theories of the sociologist of education, Basil Bernstein (1996, 1999), about curriculum and of the sociocultural psychologist, Lev Vygotsky (1978), on mediation, by Shulman’s (1986, 1987) work on pedagogic content knowledge and by literature on English language teaching, on language teacher education and on distance education materials design. The investigation involved textual analysis of a selection of KIE’s distance education materials for English teaching and focused on the content selected for these materials and on the mediation of this content on the page. After this analysis, one section of these was re-designed by the researcher. Nine teacher-learners enrolled in the programme for English teaching were interviewed to determine their responses to both the KIE materials and to the redesigned section. The findings suggest that Kigali Institute of Education’s distance education materials for English do not adequately address the academic and professional needs of high school English teachers for four main reasons. Firstly, the content selected for the materials does not respond sufficiently to the interests and needs of foreign language teachers of English. Secondly, it is not externally aligned to the curriculum at the level that these teachers are supposed to teach. Thirdly, the mediation of this content does not adequately support the development of subject and pedagogic content knowledge and skills of teacher-learners and encourages surface rather than deep learning (Biggs, 1987). Lastly, with the exception of sections on some literary genres, the materials list useful ideas and language teaching approaches and methods but consistently fail to explain to the teacher-learners how to teach different aspects of language. These findings suggest that these materials do not adequately assist teacher-learners to develop pedagogic content knowledge (Shulman, 1987) for the teaching of English. The limitations identified may result from a lack of knowledge, skills and experience in distance education materials and graphic design among the KIE materials designing team and from inadequate resource provision (including time) by the institution and suggest that there is a need for changes to the KIE distance education materials designing process.

International and local guidelines for designing distance education materials advise designers to use feedback from students in the redesign of their materials. This study is a response to the researcher’s failed attempt to elicit critical feedback from some of her students. It therefore sets out to devise a framework for a critical pedagogic analysis of distance learning materials designed for South African teacher education programmes. It draws on theorisations of pedagogy, principally from the work of the sociologist of education Basil Bernstein and the applied linguist Suresh Canagarajah, theorisations of mediation, originating in the work of Lev Vygotsky, and theorisations of subjectivity. It also draws on international and local conceptualisations of a knowledge base for teacher education. In the analysis of the selection and organisation of knowledge on the page, the study draws on Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics and the field of social semiotics to uncover the positions constructed for readers as students and as teachers in each multimodal design. A pedagogic analysis of distance education materials for pre-service or in-service teachers responds to a series of questions: What elements of a knowledge base for teacher education do designers foreground and background? What is the orientation of the materials to the relationship between knowledge and practice? How is knowledge mediated through in-text activities, pedagogic episodes and scaffolded readings? What roles do linguistic and visual design choices play in the mediation of knowledge? A critical pedagogic analysis interrogates the subject positions that the multimodal designs constitute for ideal readers as students and as teachers. In the study, all of these questions frame a detailed analysis of three sets of materials designed for South African teacher education programmes and, finally, a critical reflection on materials for which the researcher was the principal designer. The study concludes that a critical pedagogic analysis affords designers and evaluators the critical distance needed for evaluating the mediation of knowledge(s) and the constitution of readers’ subjectivities in teacher education materials. As an alternative (or in some circumstances, as an addition) to reader feedback it has the potential to inform redesigning for the original local context(s) of use or reversioning for use in broader regional or global contexts.

CATME (Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness) is a web-based platform that is intended to improve team experiences for students and faculty in higher education. The goal of this study is to redesign the user interface for CATME employing User-centered Design (UCD) framework. The design process consists of four phases: discover, define, develop, and validate. This study examines the current website to discover potential usability problems by conducting different methodology. Then it moves into robust user research to define the user’s pain points need to be addressed to improve user experience. In order to tackle the usability issues, design solutions are created and evaluated with real users. The result of the study is redesigned UI (user interface) for CATME’s three key pages, the homepage, activity wizard, and data dashboard.

Esta dissertação de mestrado trata da análise de três programas de identidade visual, criados por designers de destaque no campo profissional, formados pela escola racionalista. Os casos escolhidos foram desenvolvidos para grandes empresas brasileiras nas décadas de 1960 e 1970, e redesenhados na década de 1990. O estudo se concentrou na comparação entre estes programas considerando as mudanças culturais, sociais e econômicas que conduziram sua criação e seu redesenho em busca da resposta à questão: os princípios da escola funcionalista e racionalista, tendência que predominou dos anos 1960 até meados dos anos 1970, ainda são praticados no âmbito das identidades visuais? / This masters thesis analyses three visual identity programs, created by distinct professionals, formed by the rationalist school. The chosen cases were developed for large Brazilian companies in the 1960s and 1970s, and redesigned in the 1990s. The study focused on the comparison between these programs considering the cultural, social and economic changes which led to its creation and redesign aiming to answer the question: are the principles of the rationalist and functionalist school, a trend that dominated the 1960s until the mid-1970s, still practiced within the visual identities?

Background: During an age of fiscal constraint and increasing pressure to provide timely access to effective, efficient and evidence based care, there is an increased need for research to develop empirically based prevention and intervention strategies for complex psychological difficulties which often present during childhood and adolescence. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are under significant pressure to deliver timely access to services, with demand frequently outstripping capacity to deliver. These challenges have highlighted the need for services to ensure that planning supports continued improvement in quality and delivers the best possible outcomes for service users. Systematic Review: A systematic review of the literature on the efficacy of group based interventions for adolescents with features or a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) was conducted. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria and underwent detailed quality analysis. All included studies reported a significant improvement in psychopathology and symptoms of distress as well as an improvement in quality of life for both group based interventions and treatment as usual. Overall, the results hold promise for current work with adolescents with BPD and highlight the importance for future research in this developing area. However, more rigorous research is required to identify the active ingredients of treatments for BPD in adolescents with a view to developing standardised treatment protocols. Empirical Study: A Delphi study was conducted to explore perceptions on the relevance, practicalities, importance and feasibility of implementing nationally agreed CAMHS referral criteria from the perspective of clinicians working in CAMHS in the North of Scotland. In addition, the study aimed to explore and gain consensus on possible factors which support clinicians working in specialist services. A three round electronic Delphi survey, an iterative structured process used to gather information and gain group consensus, was completed by twenty-eight clinicians working in CAMHS. Eight open ended questions in Round 1, were analysed using content analyses resulting in ninety-eight statements to be rated by the same group of clinicians in Round 2 and fifteen statements in Round 3. Of the ninety-eight statements, eighty-four reached consensus. Results indicate that the guidelines are viewed by many clinicians as both acceptable and important, however, implementation of the guidelines can present services with significant challenges and have highlighted the importance of services having the correct infrastructure before it is possible to implement the referral criteria in a consistent and meaningful way.

This work aims to explore the possibilities in re-design by using secondhand party-dresses as the main material to construct new garments with a focus on street wear silhouettes. Deconstruction is commonly used when working with secondhand and will also be used in this work, as well as draping. The goal is to find new expressions when working with re-design and to only focus on one type of garment (the dress) and use streetwear as a tool to build silhouettes that rely on the typical garments used in street wear. The idea is to explore what these two styles and shapes (evening wear versus street wear) can bring forward to the re-design field. This work will find a new style and silhouettes from these two worlds (unfashionable dresses and streetwear)with the help of experiments by deconstructing and draping the dresses and treating them as ”raw-material ”to make clothes. As it is now, re-design is heavily looked upon as patchwork, often in smaller pieces and the clothes used as materials are often bundled into one category- something that is a disadvantage to the future of re-design. This work shows the results of focusing on one garment as a base to re-design. It lets the designer come closer to understand how to work with the garment in the progress of making new clothing. Also to highlight the transformation a rarely used (because of its exclusive use to special occasions) an evening dress (often uncomfortable, inappropriate for everyday wear) can go to become a more used and functional garment by making use of street wear aesthetics (looser fit, everyday-appropriated wear).The work shows both wearable examples and more exaggerated shapes, to show that this method can be adapted to be used both commercially and for showpieces. Approximately 55 were purchased to have a catalog to chose from. After gathering pictures of street wear from different medias, the garments were picked out (such as hoodies, t-shirts) and also pin pointing details (buttons, zippers etc) and this set the frame for what variables were used when starting to create the new garments. Each garment was made out of 1-4 dresses. The point was not to make street garments, but to find what will become of these dresses after going through the process of street-wear silhouettes and details to become more updated and wearable clothes. In the end, it turned out to be a fruitful clash of silhouettes and materials suited for both men and female collections. The variations in shape and colors set a tone of its own. Instead of letting that secondhand dress hang in a vintage store waiting for some compassion or an 80’s themed party just to be thrown back into a second-hand store the next day, and even for the future special occasion dresses, worn once then never again, this method can be applied to transform and bring them back to usage. This method can expand the life of these dresses, limits only to the wear of the fabric which could be well over 100 years more of use.