Studiens syfte är att undersöka om användarinvolvering underlättar IT-implementeringar. Teknikens snabba framväxt påverkar organisationer i den grad att de måste implementera IT förr eller senare. Samtidigt finns det stora utmaningar med IT-implementeringar, de uppfyller sällan dess fulla potential eller bidrar med den förväntade nyttan. Ett sätt att underlätta IT-implementeringar är att involvera användare i processen, något som kallas för användarinvolvering. Studien riktar in sig på offentliga och privata organisationer i Sverige som har genomfört en eller flera IT-implementeringar de senaste 2 åren där användarinvolvering använts.  Denna studie är utformad genom en kvalitativ ansats. Empirin till studien har samlats in genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter vars roller i sina respektive organisationer bidrar till ett helhetsperspektiv kring studiens område. Fem organisationer medverkade i studien där två av organisationerna verkar inom offentlig sektor och tre inom privat sektor, varav tre respondenter är från samma företag. Organisationerna är verksamma inom finans, hälsovård, industrivaror & tjänster, försäkringar och transport.  Artikeldatabaser och bibliotekskataloger användes för att gå igenom tidigare forskning som sedan låg till grund för den teoretiska referensramen och analysen. De begrepp och teorier som används i studiens teoriavsnitt är problem och onödiga kostnader med IT-implementeringar, system development life cycle, användarinriktad design och organisationsstorlek & organisationsstruktur.  Studien visar att användarinvolvering har stor betydelse på korta IT-implementeringar som varar i 0–3 år. Vid långa IT-implementeringar som sträcker sig 3 år eller längre har användarinvolvering låg betydelse. Studien visar att användarnas involvering på implementeringar skiljer sig från verksamhet till verksamhet och är beroende av både implementeringen- och organisationens storlek. / The purpose of this study was to investigate if user involvement is a crucial factor for the success of IT implementation. The rapid evolvement of technology affects organizations to the extent that they need to implement Information Technology (IT) sooner or later. At the same time, there are big challenges with IT-implementations, they rarely fulfill their potential or contribute with the expected usage. One way to increase IT-implementation rate of success is to involve the user in the process, this is called user involvement. This study focuses on public and private organizations in Sweden who have implemented one or more IT-implementations in the last 2 years, where user involvement has been used.  This study is designed through a qualitative approach. Empiricism of the study has been gathered through seven semi-structured interviews with respondents whose roles in their respective organizations contribute to a holistic approach to this area of study. Five organizations were involved in this study where two of the organizations work within the public sector and the other three in private sector, whereof three respondents work in the same organization. The organizations in this study are active within the work areas of finance, healthcare, industrial goods & services, insurance and transportation.  Article databases and library catalogs were used to review previous research which then provided the basis for the theoretical reference and analysis. The concepts and theories used in the study’s theory section are problems and unnecessary costs with IT-implementations, system development life cycle, participatory design and organization size & organizational structure.  The study shows that user involvement is a key factor on short IT-implementations that lasts 0-3 years. For long IT-implementations lasting 3 years or more user involvement is of less importance. The study shows that user involvement on implementations differs from business to business and depends on both the size of the organization and implementation.

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.

The purpose of this research is to critically inquire into the appropriateness of the current human computer interaction (HCI) practices in Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) system design given the contextual constraints and challenges found in developing country contexts. Despite user participation in system design being a buzzword of HCI the form of this participation varies with the different disciplinary perspectives and paradigms and their different methods for engaging users and identifying users' needs. Moreover, a majority of these dominant HCI perspectives are not only rooted in the developed countries context they also mainly focus on organisational management information systems (MIS) and less on information systems (IS) that place emphasis on the socio-economic context of developing countries. Literature review reveal that limited studies focus on the differences brought about by the western influenced methodologies and principles when applied in different contexts and how they affect the user participation process as well as the outcome. Building on past research, this research argues that HCI for ICTD needs to develop new contextualised participatory methods and strategies that consider the broader and complex contexts of the ICTD users. However, shifting the focus to localised forms of HCI in ICTD system design requires a better appreciation of the challenges and constraints encountered when applying the traditional HCI methods and strategies. Based on this argument the research conceptually explores and reflects on the underlying contextual factors and mechanisms present in participatory ICTD system design and the presumed relationships among them. Drawing on this conceptual framework, the research conducts semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observations with three mobile money system design projects in Kenya that engaged the users during the design process to highlight how current HCI practices respond to the multifaceted nature of ICTD system design which present challenges that include social, technical, cultural and infrastructural issues. Findings from this qualitative study provide significant new insights that support the call for contextualised participatory methods and strategies. The findings suggest that there is tension between the underlying assumptions inherent in western HCI methods and strategies and the local context thus justifying the call for the appropriation of the design process. Drawing on the conceptual framework it was found that bias formed from factors such as power relations, diversity in interests for participation and cross-cultural differences moderate the design process and ultimately the participatory outcome. From the knowledge perspective, this research provides an in-depth understanding of the developing country contextual factors that mediate user participation process in ICTD system design. Furthermore, the research extends the knowledge with regards to participatory interventions in the development of IS in Africa. The research also presents a theoretical framework that makes explicit the contextual assumptions and constraints embedded in participatory ICTD system design interventions and how they shape the design process and the participatory outcome. Finally, the recommendations formulated from this research provide HCI designers and practitioners actionable knowledge in regards to reflecting on their current traditional HCI tools and techniques to ensure better localised design processes.

Actuellement, l’interprétation automatique de symboles peut être appliquée à de nombreux types de documents techniques (partitions musicales, plans électriques, etc). L’automatisation de ce type de tâche peut permettre un gain de temps pour des professionnels (Lu, Tai, Su, & Cai, 2005), mais elle peut aussi générer une perte de conscience de la situation par les opérateurs (Endsley, 1995). De plus, ces traitements impliquent un risque d’erreurs d’interprétation des symboles (Orbay & Kara, 2011). Il est donc crucial qu’un humain intervienne pour corriger ces erreurs. L’objectif de cette thèse était d’améliorer la compréhension des interactions homme-machine prenant place dans ce type de tâche afin de déterminer comment améliorer la performance du système. Plusieurs études ont ainsi été réalisées dans le cadre d’une démarche de conception centrée-utilisateur (ISO 9241-210, 2010) d’un logiciel d’interprétation automatique de plans d’architecture. Ces études se sont appuyées sur un cadre théorique varié, puisant à la fois dans la psychologie cognitive, les interactions homme-machine et l’ergonomie des documents multimédias. Elles ont mis en évidence des résultats débouchant sur des préconisations pour la conception de systèmes de reconnaissance. Ainsi, l’affichage de l’interprétation superposée au document interprété facilite la coréférenciation des informations à contrôler. De plus, permettre à l’utilisateur d’assister en temps réel à l’analyse et d’intervenir au fur et à mesure améliore les performances. Enfin, le signalement par la machine des risques d’erreurs est bénéfique, mais cela peut générer une réduction de la vigilance due à un phénomène de sur-confiance / Automatic symbol recognition can currently be applied to a wide range of technical documents (music scores, electrical diagrams, etc.). Automatizing this kind of task can help some professionals save time (Lu et al., 2005), but it can also generate a loss of situation awareness among operators (Endsley, 1995). Furthermore, as these systems sometimes interpret symbols incorrectly (Lu, Tai, Su, & Cai, 2005; Orbay & Kara, 2011), humans need to be able to intervene in the process to correct any errors as and when they arise. The objective of this thesis was to improve our understanding of the human-machine interactions elicited by this kind of task, in order to determine how best to enhance system performance. We conducted a series of studies during the development of a user-centred design (ISO 9241-210, 2010) of automatic interpretation software for architectural plans. These studies were set within a heterogeneous theoretical framework bringing together cognitive psychology, human-machine interactions and the ergonomics of the multimedia documents. The results they yielded led to several recommendations for designing recognition systems. For instance, superimposing the interpretation on the interpreted document makes it easier to cross-check the information. Furthermore, allowing users to monitor the interpretation process in real time and interrupt it at any point increases performances. Finally, while the highlighting of potential errors can also be beneficial, it can also make users over-confident and thus less watchful

Researchers have approached the problem of designing context-aware systems, computer systems that can react intelligently to the context in which they are used, from both software engineering and human-centred perspectives. While engineered context-aware systems have found successful application in optimising technical settings without requiring mundane and explicit interaction from humans, challenges remain in furthering their application to more complex environments. In particular, when technical decisions and human actions are intertwined in sophisticated work environments (rather than, for example, the simple act of transferring a mobile phone call to receive a signal from the nearest tower), the problem of designing context-aware systems demands further examination and calls for a new approach. A natural extension of the software engineering approach in more challenging environments is to try to implement increasingly sophisticated algorithms for managing context in the hope that this will lead to autonomous application behaviour. In contrast, research from a human-centred perspective, grounded in the social sciences and philosophy, demonstrates that context is not entirely objective and measurable but rather is dynamic and created through human action. It may not be easily detected through technical sensing systems, and therefore simply employing more sophisticated algorithms within the technical sphere may not be effective. While engineering approaches have continued to evolve, the problem of how to design interfaces to context-aware applications still remains. The research reported in this dissertation investigated the problem of designing context-aware systems for the complex environment of a dental surgery. I undertook, though a participatory design approach (a) to better characterise the problem of designing context-aware systems, and (b) to understand how design methods could be employed to bridge the human and software engineering approaches. The gap in existing research on context-aware systems is evident in the way that the methods applied to designing systems don't provide an insight into how people actively create the context in which they work (in a practical rather than theoretical sense) they don‘t closely examine the behaviours of people, the role and arrangement of artefacts, and the dynamic relationships between people and artefacts. I found that an understanding of how these features of work and human behaviour are realised in practice in a given environment is fundamental to being able to design an effective context-aware system for that environment. The challenge is to design at the boundary between the technical and the social. The contribution of this thesis is an approach that explores context-aware design through synthesis. The synthetic approach leads to design opportunities and guidelines based on an understanding of the processes through which people actively co-create the context in which they work. I have applied and built upon a number of existing user-centred design and participatory design methods, in addition to creating some new methods in order to develop an understanding of how designers can examine the human aspects surrounding the co-creation of context and apply these in a way that progressively informs the design process. The methods collectively represent a novel approach to designing context-aware applications and differ from the more traditional technical approaches of developing software frameworks and infrastructures, and formal models of context, tasks, users, and systems. The techniques presented have focused primarily on developing an understanding of how humans find meaning in their actions along with their interaction with other people and technology. Participatory design methods help participants to reveal potential implicit technical resources that can be presented explicitly in technologies in order to assist humans in managing their interactions with and amidst technical systems gracefully. The methods introduced and the design approach proposed complement existing research on context-awareness from both a human-centred and software engineering perspective. This research builds on the notion of providing resources which allow users to manage their own context and also manage shifts in control while interacting with other people and with a variety of technical artefacts. It does this by examining a complex work environment, in particular looking at the kinds of resources people use and expect to use (and the constraints around these), the form(s) it is appropriate for them to take, and the patterns of interaction they will ultimately be used within.

In the light of an ageing society with shrinking economic resources, deinstitutionalization of elderly care is a general trend. As a result, homecare is increasing, and increasingly shared between different health and social care organizations. To provide a holistic overview about the patient care process, i.e. to be patient-centred, shared homecare needs to be integrated. This requires improved support for information sharing and cooperation between different actors, such as care professionals, patients and their relatives. The research objectives of this thesis are therefore to study information and communication needs for patient-centered shared homecare, to explore how integrated information and communication technology (ICT) can support information sharing, and to analyze how current standards for continuity of care and semantic interoperability meet requirements of patient-centered shared homecare. An action research approach, characterized by an iterative cycle, an emphasis on change and close collaboration with practitioners, patients and their relatives, was used. Studying one specific homecare setting closely, intersection points between involved actors and specific needs for information sharing were identified and described as shared information objects. An integration architecture making shared information objects available through integration of existing systems was designed and implemented. Mobile virtual health record (VHR) applications thereby enable a seamless flow of information between involved actors. These applications were tested and validated in the OLD@HOME-project. Moreover, the underlying information model for a shared care plan was mapped against current standards. Some important discrepancies were identified between these results and current standards for continuity of care, stressing the importance of evaluating standardized models against requirements of evolving healthcare contexts. In conclusion, this thesis gives important insights into the needs and requirements of shared homecare, enabling a shift towards patient-centered homecare through mobile access to aggregated information from current feeder systems and documentation at the point of need.

Have you ever been frustrated with that IT system at work that does not behave the way you expect it to? Or had problems with using the features on your new mobile phone? When systems and appliances do not support us in what we are doing, and do not behave the way we expect them to, then usability is neglected. Poor usability may be frustrating and irritating when trying out your mobile phone, but in a critical work situation poor usability may be disastrous. In this thesis, user-centred systems design (UCSD) is advocated as an approach for facilitating the development of usable interactive systems. Systems that suit their intended use and users do not just “emerge”. They are the result of a UCSD process and a user-centred attitude during the development. This means in short that the real users and their needs, goals, context of use, abilities and limitations, drive the development – in contrast to technology-driven development. We define UCSD as: a process focusing on usability throughout the entire development process and further throughout the system life cycle. I argue that this definition along with a set of key principles do help organisations and individual projects in the process of developing usable interactive systems. The key principles include the necessity of having an explicit focus on users and making sure that users are actively involved in the process. The thesis provides knowledge and insights gained from real-life situations about what UCSD is and how it can be put into practice. The most significant results are: the proposal of a clear definition of UCSD and a set of key principles encompassing UCSD; a process for usability design and the usability designer role. Furthermore, design cases from different domains are provided as examples and illustrations.

Software to display and analyse DNA sequences is a crucial tool for bioinformatics research. The data of a DNA sequence has a relatively simple format but the length and sheer volume of data can create difficulties in navigation while maintaining overall context. This is one reason that current bioinformatics applications can be difficult to use. This research examines techniques for navigating through large single DNA sequences and their annotations. Navigation in DNA sequences is considered here in terms of the navigational activities: exploration, wayfinding and identifying objects. A process incorporating user-centred design was used to create prototypes involving panning and zooming of DNA sequences. This approach included a questionnaire to define the target users and their goals, an examination of existing bioinformatics applications to identify navigation designs, a heuristic evaluation of those designs, and a usability study of prototypes. Three designs for panning and five designs for zooming were selected for development. During usability testing, users were asked to perform common navigational activities using each of the designs. The “Connected View” design was found to be the most usable for panning while the “Zoom Slider” design was best for zooming and most useful zooming tool for tasks involving browsing. For some tasks the ability to zoom was unnecessary. The research provides important insights into the expectations that researchers have of bioinformatics applications and suitable methods for designing for that audience. The outcomes of this type of research can be used to help improve bioinformatics applications so that they will be truly usable by researchers.

For decades the care of disabled population in Brazil has been neglected by the government and was provided largely by the charitable institutions. It was as only recently, as in the year 2011 that Brazilian government created the national plan for the rights of the disabled people. The plan articulates policies regarding social inclusion, access to education, accessibility and health care. The last section of the plan includes the provision of wheelchairs free of cost to the Brazilians citizens, who are in need of a wheelchair. It is common knowledge that a wrong wheelchair specification can lead to physical damage for the user and the carer; the abandonment of device, and wastage of time and resources involved in the wheelchair provision. The World Health Organization has propounded several good practices and training material with reference to wheelchair services towards enabling of right wheelchair fit to the user characteristics. Though, there is no evidence that the service provided in Brazil adheres to these guidelines or any other wheelchair service good practice. This research reviews the wheelchair service provision in Belo Horizonte city, Brazil with the aim to understand the functionality of these services in order to provide context-specific interventions and recommendations to improve the design of current services. Herein, three main studies were conducted using a mix of methods: A first exploratory study was conducted to assess the Belo Horizonte assistive technology services and identify a research focus. A second study was conducted to develop an in-depth insight on the understanding of the wheelchair service provided and to collect the necessary information towards creating a context-based and collaborative designed intervention. A third study was conducted to evaluate and improve the proposed interventions. A total of sixty-six interviews were conducted (n=66) with service stakeholders and two hundred and fifty user care observed (n=250) from which ninety-five (n=95) tested the proposed interventions.

Modern medical students are exposed to a variety of anatomical and physiology textbooks and atlases as part of their medical training. Although little has been written on how these students interact with medical illustrations during learning, several scholars allude to the importance of combining visual and textual information in the learning process. Medical illustrators have the ability to proficiently organise visual and textual elements in such a fashion to communicate a certain message. However, medical illustrators should be aware of students’ needs when designing visual material for learning purposes. The gap that this study aimed to address is one often experienced in South Africa, where illustrators know very little about the user, in this case medical students’ use of illustrations as a learning tool. The importance of this study derives from the development of user-centred knowledge to improve the quality of work produced by medical illustrators. The aim of the study was to explore how design elements and principles influence the use, comprehension and preference of medical illustrations as part of the learning experience. Two other aspects selected for this study are the relevance of labelling techniques in medical illustration as well as the quality of the reproduction of images, especially for learning purposes. This study was conducted through exploratory qualitative research in order to develop a deeper understanding of the way medical illustrations are used during learning. Constructivism was selected as the epistemological approach for this study as it focuses on new knowledge constructed by students from previous experiences. Data was collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews and open-ended questions. Six second year and six fifth year medical students of the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria were purposively selected and interviewed. The discussion guide used for interviews consisted of 15 sets of medical illustrations with three or four images per set. Each illustration contained a different application of the same design characteristic, but similar in content or nature of information. The largest part of the interview was an adaptation of the repertory grid method to compare and analyse rich data. Data were transcribed verbatim and organised following the principles of grounded theory. Data sheets were listed, compared and analysed through the application of open and axial coding to determine the relationship between students’ learning styles, and the attributes of the design characteristics selected for this study. This study shows that design elements in medical illustrations influences second- and fifth-year medical students’ comprehension and learning of anatomy when illustrations are used as teaching material. Deeper understanding regarding their learning styles, drawing abilities and preference for drawing styles were gained. Furthermore, second- and fifth-year medical students’ preferences for media, labelling methods, as well as the quality of the reproduction of the illustrations for learning purposes were illustrated. This information is imperative when designing illustrations for learning and teaching purposes. This study accentuates the importance of collaboration with medical illustrators in South Africa and abroad, as well as with physicians and educators. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Visual Arts / unrestricted