Usability inspection methods of user interaction designs have gained importance as an alternative to traditional laboratory-based testing methods because of their cost-effectiveness. However, methods like the heuristic evaluation are ad-hoc, lacking a theoretical foundation. Other, more formal approaches like the cognitive walkthrough are tedious to perform and operate at a high-level, making it difficult to sub-classify problems. This research involves the development and formative evaluation of the Usability Problem Inspection tool — a cost-effective, structured, flexible usability inspection tool that uses the User Action Framework as an underlying knowledge base. This tool offers focused inspections guided by a particular task or a combination of tasks. It is also possible to limit the scope of inspection by applying filters or abstracting lower level details. / Master of Science

Medius is a software company which provides IT-solutions that streamlines and automates business processes. The purpose with this thesis was to investigate the possibility to integrate usability evaluation in the development process of Medius software MediusFlow. How such integration would be done, and which usability evaluation methods could be used. To be able to provide a suggestion, a prestudy was conducted, this in order to get a good overview of Medius as a company as well as the development process of MediusFlow. With the prestudy as a basis, the main study was conducted, and four different usability evaluation methods were chosen. In this study, the four chosen methods were Cognitive Walkthrough, Coaching Method, Consistency Inspection and Question-Asking protocol. These usability evaluation methods were carried out, evaluated and analyzed.  Based on the studies and the literature, a suggestion regarding integration of usability evaluations was made.  The result from this case study was presented as a process chart, where the different phases in Medius software development process are matched together with suiting usability evaluation methods. The relevant phases and their suggested methods: Preparation phase - Cognitive Walkthrough and Coaching Method in combination with Thinking-Aloud and Interviews Hardening phase - Coaching Method in combination with Thinking-Aloud and Interviews, as well as Consistency Inspection Maintenance - Field observation This result is a part of the overall work towards a more user-centered design of the software.

Orientador: Alberto Albuquerque Gomes / Resumo: A presente tese, desenvolvida na Linha de Pesquisa Formação dos Profissionais da Educação, Políticas Educativas e Escola Pública do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Universidade Estadual Paulista – UNESP – FCT - Presidente Prudente, teve como problema de investigação “quais as influências do Curso de Pedagogia oferecido via Plano Nacional de Formação de Professores da Educação Básica – PARFOR na formação profissional das professoras em exercício na rede municipal pública de ensino oferecido pela Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM)”. O PARFOR trata-se de um Programa implementado em regime de colaboração, com a finalidade em atender o preconizado na LDBEN/96, de formar, em nível superior, professores da rede pública de ensino em exercício e ainda não graduados. A pesquisa teve por objetivo geral analisar o Curso em Pedagogia Primeira Licenciatura (PARFOR/PED) como um Programa Federal e como um Curso de Formação inicial de Professores oferecido pela Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), aos professores em exercício na escola pública da Educação Básica. Os objetivos específicos que guiaram nossa investigação consistiram em: contextualizar o PARFOR na formação de professores da Educação Básica na trajetória da educação brasileira; compreender como se configurou o PARFOR/PED/UEM, na sua execução em âmbito local, sendo um Programa Federal de Formação de Professores, implementado em regime de colaboração; analisar o PARFOR/PED/UEM, enquanto Programa Federal de formação i... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present thesis developed in the Researching Line Formation of Education Professionals, Educational Politics and Public School of Post-Graduation Program in Education from Universidade Estadual Paulista – UNESP – FCT - Presidente Prudente had as investigation problem “which are the influences of Pedagogy Course offered by National Plan of Basic Education Teachers Formation – PARFOR in the professional formation of teachers in exercise on municipal education public network offered by Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM)”. The PARFOR treats about a Program implemented in a collaboration regime, with the goal of answer the LDBEN/96, of form, in higher level, teacher from public education network in exercise and still not graduates. The research had as general goal analyze the Course in Pedagogy First Graduation (PARFOR/PED) as a Federal Program and as a Teacher’s Initial Formation Course offered by Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), for the teachers in exercise at public schools of Basic Education. The specific goals that drove our investigation consisted in understand the paper of State in elaboration and execution of public politics at education, as well as its influence in alterations in courses of teacher’s formation during the history of public school in Brazil; understand as the PARFOR/PED/UEM set up in its execution in local ambit, being a Teacher’s Formation Federal Program, implementing in collaboration regime; identify as the PARFOR, while Teacher’s Formation... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

In this thesis, an IT company asked for a tool for improving some aspects of daily work for employees working with customer support. A web-site was constructed for this purpose, and development was steered by applying usability evaluation methods in an iterative manner. These methods were combined with the approach of following the guidelines of user-centered design. The aim was to see if an increase of user-satisfaction towards the user-interface could be measured between iterations.Another significant question that was central to the study was the comparison between the industry-leading Nielsen’s heuristics and Gerhardt-Powals principles. Only one previous study was found making this comparison which made it interesting to see if the same result would be reached in this study.

Economia / Doctoral in Economics / A constatação da existência de um desequilíbrio importante entre as vertentes política e económica do processo de integração europeia, com a primeira num clima de debilidade e a segunda quase no limite máximo, constitui o ponto de partida para a presente dissertação. Associando-se tal situação aos principais défices actuais da União Europeia (UE) de competitividade, crescimento e emprego, de peso político, de participação e legitimidade democrática, e de capacidade de decisão e acção e ao actual modelo de organização política, institucional e económica da União, argumenta-se a favor de uma profunda mudança no mesmo. Nesse contexto, são observados vários modelos sugeridos no passado recente, com base numa análise custo-benefício assente nas respostas dos mesmos aos binómios unidade/diversidade e flexibilidade/compromisso . Associando a essa análise alguns elementos históricos e o êxito do modelo federal em sociedades com larga diversidade, argumenta-se a favor da evolução da UE para uma Federação de Estados-Nação fortemente descentralizada, baseada numa Constituição e com organização institucional federal, cujas características básicas são descritas. Nota-se adicionalmente que a mudança para este modelo deverá ser acompanhada por alterações importantes ao nível económico. Confrontando a literatura do federalismo fiscal com a actual situação ao nível da definição e implementação das políticas orçamentais nacionais e ao nível da composição e aplicação do orçamento comunitário, conclui-se que a UE se encontra ainda bastante longe de uma situação de federalismo orçamental. Neste âmbito, procede-se a um conjunto de sugestões de mudança a dois níveis temporais distintos. No médio e longo prazo, aponta-se para a necessidade de alargamento da dimensão e de alterações no modo de financiamento do orçamento comunitário, incluindo-se a sugestão de criação de um novo recurso próprio assente na tributação do rendimento individual, como forma de possibilitar uma resposta eficiente aos novos desafios da União e de permitir algum exercício da função de estabilização macroeconómica ao nível central. No curto prazo, aponta-se para a necessidade de alteração ao enquadramento institucional relativo à coordenação das políticas macroeconómicas, de construção de um mecanismo limitado de absorção de choques assimétricos, e de uma reforma mais credível do Pacto de Estabilidade e Crescimento, incluindo a possibilidade de diferenciação temporária das regras de disciplina orçamental, em função da dimensão e do nível de desenvolvimento dos Estados-Membros, e de tratamento mais favorável dos incentivos à Investigação e Desenvolvimento, sugestões assentes na apresentação e resolução numérica de um modelo de união monetária a dois países. / The existence of an important disequilibrium between the two faces economic and political of the process of European integration is the departing point of this thesis. By associating such disequilibrium with the major present deficits in the EU of competitiveness, growth and employment; of political weight; of participation and democratic legitimacy; of capacity for decision and action and the present model of political, institutional and economic organisation, we argue for a profound change in such model. In this context, we analyse several models that have been suggested for the case of the EU in the last years. A cost-benefit analysis is thus carried and based on the capacity of these models to deal with two essential binomials unity/diversity and flexibility/compromise. By adding several elements from the European history and the success shown by federal models in societies with large diversity, we argue for an evolution of the EU towards a highly decentralised Federation of Nation-States . This Federation should be based on a true Constitution whose characteristics we describe, together with those of a federal organisation. We also note that the evolution towards this model should be accompanied with important changes at the economic level. By comparing the theory of fiscal federalism with the current situation in terms of the definition and implementation of national fiscal policies and of the composition and use of the European budget, we conclude that the EU is still far away from the case of fiscal federalism and that several changes should happen at two distinct temporal levels. In the medium to long term, we call for an important enlargement of the EU budget together with substantial changes in its financing, including the creation of a new own resource based on individual income taxation. This measure would raise the capacity of the EU to deal with its new challenges and allow the EU to have a significant role in terms of macroeconomic stabilisation. In the short run, we argue for a relevant change in the institutional framework for the coordination of macroeconomic policies, the creation of a limited shock-absorber mechanism and a more credible reform of the Stability and Growth Pact. This reform would allow for a temporary differentiation of fiscal discipline rules, by taking into account the economic dimension and level of development of the Member-Countries, and for a more favourable treatment of public expenses related to Research and Development, with these suggestions sustained by the numerical solution of a model of monetary union with two countries.

Cette thèse constitue une analyse historique évolutionniste de la fonction de prêteur en dernier ressort à travers les mutations du cadre institutionnel et opérationnel des Banques Centrales. L’enjeu de ce travail de recherche est de se pencher sur les origines de l’apparition de cette théorie d'un point de vue historique comme outil d’analyse des problématiques de gestion des crises modernes. Il convient de démontrer que le dévoiement de la doctrine du PDR entraîne une incompatibilité avec le cadre institutionnel de la politique monétaire de la Banque Centrale. Ainsi, les interventions « non conventionnelles » des Banques Centrales confirment qu’il est nécessaire de sortir du cadre institutionnel censé assurer une gestion efficiente de la politique monétaire. Par conséquent, ce cadre institutionnel qui garantit notamment l’indépendance de la Banque Centrale parait inadéquat à la nouvelle pratique du prêteur en dernier ressort. L’étude historique de cette fonction permet de mettre en perspective l’évolution du rôle de prêteur en dernier ressort en tant qu’outil de prédation monétaire pour les gouvernements. En définitive, les évolutions divergentes du cadre institutionnel et opérationnel de la Banque Centrale constituent l’un des principaux signes d’une déliquescence du système bancaire centralisé (Central Banking). L’exercice de la fonction de prêteur en dernier ressort par la BCE au sein de la zone euro représente un cadre d’analyse pertinent afin d’étudier les difficultés de cette fonction dans la gouvernance d'une zone économique hétérogène et politiquement inaboutie. / This paper offers an historical analysis of the evolution of lenders of last resort (LOLR) through the institutional and operational mutations of Central Banks framework. The aim of this research is to examine the origins of the appearance of this theory from a historical perspective. It should demonstrate that the perversion of the doctrine of LOLR causes incompatibility with the institutional framework of the Central Bank’s monetary policy. Thus, the "unconventional" interventions of central banks confirm the need to exit the institutional framework meant to ensure the efficient management of monetary policy. Therefore, this institutional framework which guarantees the independence of the Central Bank seems inadequate in the context of the new practice of the lender of last resort. Ultimately, diverging trends of the institutional and operational framework of the Central Bank is a major sign of demise of Central Banking. Last resort lending by the ECB in the euro zone provides a useful analytical framework to study the difficulties of the function of LOLR in the governance of a heterogeneous and politically unfulfilled economic zone.

En dépit d'une intégration économique et financière très avancée, une forte hétérogénéité des performances macroéconomiques caractérise toujours l'Union Economique et Monétaire (UEM). Dans cette thèse, on propose plusieurs explications permettant de comprendre cette situation. A partir des outils théoriques et empiriques de la nouvelle macroéconomie internationale, on cherche à évaluer le coût de ces hétérogénéités, à en comprendre les causes et l'on s'interroge sur la capacité des politiques conjoncturelles à les réduire. Afin de mener ce projet, la thèse s'appuie sur des modèles qui prennent en compte diverses sources de diffusion asymétrique des chocs. Dans le premier chapitre, on s'intéresse au rôle des imperfections sur les marchés des biens et services et sur les marchés financiers. Elles sont prises en compte en supposant l'existence de biais en faveur des biens nationaux dans les structures de consommation et de production et en supposant que les marchés financiers sont incomplets. On montre (i) que les gains liés à une réduction des asymétries sont très importants et équivalents à une augmentation de 60% de la consommation permanente au sein de l'UEM et (ii) qu'une meilleure intégration commerciale est susceptible d'accroître les asymétries de diffusion dans certains cas. Dans le second chapitre, on s'interroge sur la capacité des politiques budgétaires nationales à réduire les asymétries de diffusion. D'un point de vue théorique, on montre qu'elles le pourraient. D'un point de vue empirique, les contraintes institutionnelles dont elles font l'objet au sein de l'UEM ne leur permettent pas de jouer ce rôle. Une réforme du Pacte de Stabilité et de Croissance serait, à ce titre, susceptible de générer des gains de bien-être. Enfin, le dernier chapitre s'intéresse à la diffusion asymétrique de chocs symétriques dans un modèle à trois pays, dont deux forment une union monétaire. Les asymétries de diffusion proviennent d'asymétries dans les degrés de rigidités nominales ou dans le degré d'ouverture au commerce extrazone. Comme dans le premier chapitre, la conclusion théorique selon laquelle une meilleure intégration commerciale et/ou une meilleure intégration des processus productifs suffisent à réduire les asymétries de diffusion des chocs est invalidée dans plusieurs cas.

En 1969, dans une Communauté économique européenne (CEE) aux fondements déjà bien établis, et sous l’égide d’un néogaullisme assumé par la présidence de Georges Pompidou, l’Allemagne devient le modèle d’une France en quête de politique industrielle qui lui permettrait d’affirmer son rang sur l’échiquier international. Depuis le milieu des années 1960, le système monétaire international est fragilisé par l’endettement considérable des États-Unis. La France veut être à l’initiative d’une relance de l’Union économique et monétaire (UEM). Cette décision politique doit lui permettre d’adapter son économie et son industrie à l’instabilité grandissante du Système monétaire international. Comme le rappelait Jacques Rueff, « L’Europe se fera par la monnaie ou ne se fera pas ». L’action de l’économie française durant cette période qui court de la relance de l’Union économique et monétaire (décembre 1969) à la rédaction du Traité de Maastricht (février 1992), jalonnée par la mise en place du Système monétaire européen (SME : janvier 1979) et de l’Acte unique (janvier 1986), repose sur une volonté politique primordiale au service des relations avec la RFA, puis de l’Allemagne réunifiée. Les relations monétaires franco-allemandes ont pour but de promouvoir une Europe forte, maîtresse de son destin, et, d’une certaine façon, de revenir à une stabilité des changes. Le mythe de la stabilité de « l’étalon-or » a des acceptations différentes des deux côtés du Rhin. Si des études historiques récentes ont été consacrées partiellement aux conséquences de l’évolution des politiques monétaires européennes (et surtout françaises) sur l’intégration économique et monétaire dans la CEE, elles demeurent souvent centrées sur le septennat de VGE ou le début du premier mandat de François Mitterrand. La genèse de l’UEM est un processus dynamique long qui court de décembre 1969 à février 1992. En fait, les relations monétaires franco-allemandes englobent deux niveaux de décisions et d’applications. En premier lieu, sont à mentionner, les plus hautes instances politiques (présidence, chancellerie et ministères, mais aussi Commission européenne). En second lieu, interviennent les banques centrales dont le rôle quant à la mise en place et l’application des politiques monétaires est primordial. Cette dichotomie illustre l’avènement progressif du primat de l’économie sur la politique, perçu et analysé différemment en France et en Allemagne. Les attentes et les objectifs politiques et économiques divergent. Nous montrons dans cette étude que le processus d’UEM apparaît souvent comme un engrenage économique, où la politique cède le pas à l’économie. Les relations monétaires apparaissent asymétriques. Le pouvoir politique français a comme véritable interlocuteur le pouvoir économique allemand, représenté par la Bundesbank. Le « couple » franco-allemand est un mythe politique, français, que brise la libéralisation économique mondiale. L’UEM est, pour l’Allemagne, un moyen d’établir une Allemagne européenne au sein d’une Europe fédérale. En France, elle apparaît pour les gouvernements néo-gaullistes et libéraux comme un moyen de compenser une grandeur blessée, alors que les gouvernements socialistes donnent l’impression de l’utiliser pour compenser une idéologie en déroute. L’UEM parvient à la stabilité monétaire, mais en refusant l’Union politique européenne, proposée par l’Allemagne, la France laisse s’éloigner le rêve d’une Europe puissance et établit les bases une Europe allemande. / In 1969, in a well-established European Economic Community (EEC) under the neo-Gaullist presidency of Georges Pompidou, Germany stood as a model for France, looking for an effective industrial policy and a recovery of its rank on the international scene. Since the mid 1960s the international monetary system had been weakened by the growing US debt. France wanted to be the leader of the economic and monetary union (EMU). This political decision was a means to improve its economy confronted with the instability of the international monetary system. As pointed out by Jacques Rueff, « L’Europe se fera par la monnaie ou ne se fera pas. » During this period, from the relaunch of the EMU (December 1969) to the Maastricht Treaty (February 1992), French economic action was based on a strong political will defined to reinforce the relationships with the Federal German Republic, and then the reunified Germany. The Franco-German monetary relationships aimed to promote a strong and independent Europe and to restore an exchange rate stability. The “golden standard” stability myth was viewed and understood differently in France and Germany. If recent historical studies have been partially devoted to the consequences of European monetary policies (essentially in France) on economic and monetary integration in the EEC, they focused on the 1974-1981 or 1981-1986 periods. The creation of the EMU was a dynamic process running from December 1969 to February 1992. Franco-German monetary relationships included two levels of decision-making. First, on the political level, there was the presidency, the chancellery, the European Commission and the ministers. Second, its counterpart, economic power. The latter requires analysis of the role played by central banks in the definition and application of monetary policies. This dichotomy illustrates the progressive transition between the political level and the economic level during the 1980s. The decline of politics and the primacy of economics were analyzed differently in France and Germany. Political and economic objectives and expectations were contrasted and divergent. This study demonstrates that the EMU dynamic was an economic process where politics gave way to economics. Monetary relations were asymmetric. The real interlocutor of French political authorities was German economic power, represented by the Bundesbank. The Franco-German tandem was a political myth broken by world economy liberalization. For Germany, the EMU was a device to define a European Germany in a federal Europe. In France, it represented an illusory means to restore French primacy for conservative and liberal governments and a way of compensating a failing ideology for socialist governments. The EMU provided monetary stability, but the dream of a powerful and independent Europe vanished with the Maastricht treaty. Even as it rejected the idea of European political union defended by the German diplomacy, France paradoxically laid the foundations of a German Europe.

La différenciation entre les États membres de l’Union européenne s’est progressivement transformée en un leitmotiv du débat sur l’avenir de l’intégration. Ce débat a resurgi avec l’activation de la clause du retrait par le Royaume-Uni, qui pose dans un cadre renouvelé la question de la compatibilité du processus de création d’une « union sans cesse plus étroite » avec la possibilité pour les États membres d’emprunter différentes voies d’intégration. L’objectif de la présente étude est d’apporter un éclairage sur cette question, en se focalisant sur l’amplification des manifestations de la différenciation en droit positif. La première partie de l’étude vise à cerner la tension entre l’uniformité du statut d’État membre de l’Union et la participation asymétrique des États aux actions engagées pour la réalisation des objectifs assignés à l’Union. La différenciation s’avère ainsi un facteur de relativisation de l’homogénéité du statut d’État membre, sans néanmoins mettre en cause son unicité en tant que catégorie juridique. La seconde partie s’intéresse aux effets de la différenciation sur la structure de l’Union. La prise en compte de la différence d’implication des États n’est pas sans incidence sur le système institutionnel et juridique de l’Union, sans que cela traduise un désordre affectant l’intégrité de l’Union. Il devient alors évident que, dans la creatio continua que constitue la construction européenne, la différenciation pose une question de degré, plutôt que de principe. / Differentiation between the Member States of the European Union has gradually turned into a leitmotif of the debate regarding the future of the European integration. This debate re-emerged in the context of the activation of the withdrawal clause by the United Kingdom, by raising once more the question of the compatibility of the "ever closer union" concept with the possibility for the Member States to follow different paths of integration. The aim of this study is to clarify this question by focusing on the amplification of the various forms of differentiation in positive law. The first part of the study aims to identify the contrast between the uniformity of the EU membership and the asymmetrical participation of the Member States in actions undertaken to achieve the objectives assigned to the Union. Differentiation proves thus to be a relativizing factor of the homogeneity of the Member State's status, without, however, questioning its uniqueness as a legal category. The second part of the study focuses on the effects of differentiation on the structure of the Union. The different extent of participation of each Member State in EU policies has an impact on the Union's institutional and legal framework, even though this impact does not create a disorder affecting the integrity of the Union as such. It is thus apparent that within the creatio continua of the European construction, differentiation poses more a question of degree rather than principle.