Denna studie utvecklar en digital tjänst för att förbättra hanteringen av media på webbplatser, särskilt riktad mot mikroföretag. I takt med ökande digitalisering och behovet av en effektiv digital närvaro blir det allt viktigare för dessa företag att använda sin webbplats. Trots en mängd tillgängliga tjänster inriktade på webbplatshantering finns det ingen lösning som på ett enkelt sätt uppfyller mikroföretagarnas behov. Studiens syfte är att utveckla en tjänst som förenklar uppladdning och hantering av bilder, videor och text på webbplatser för mikroföretag. Genom att använda design science research methodology (DSRM), strävar studien efter att utveckla en användarcentrerad tjänst som möter mikroföretagens specifika behov. Den utvecklade tjänsten består av en uppladdningstjänst och ett frontend-API i form av ett bildspel. Tjänsten testades och utvärderas genom användartester med mikroföretagare samt experter inom området digital tjänsteutveckling och backend utveckling. Slutsatsen från studien är en tjänst som kräver minimal teknisk expertis, där användarna kan ladda upp valfri media vilket speglas på respektive webbplats. Tjänsten blev väl bemött av användarna där den effektiviserade deras webbplatshantering genom att spara tid och pengar. Forskningen bidrar till områdena tjänsteutveckling och systemutveckling genom att visa på en framgångsrik process för att utveckla en användarcentrerad digital tjänst som möter mikroföretagens unika behov. / This study develops a digital service to improve the management of media on websites, particularly aimed at micro-enterprises. With increasing digitalization and the need for an effective digital presence, it becomes increasingly important for these companies to use their website effectively. Despite a variety of services available for website management, there is no solution that easily meets the needs of micro-enterprises. The purpose of the study is to develop a service that simplifies the process of uploading and managing of images, videos, and text on websites for micro-enterprises. By following the design science research methodology (DSRM), the study aims to develop a usercentered service that meets the specific needs of micro-enterprises. The developed service consists of an upload service and a frontend-API in the form of a slideshow. The service was tested and evaluated through user tests with micro-enterprises and experts in the fields of digital service development and backend development. The conclusion from the study is a service that requires minimal technical expertise, where users can upload any media which is then reflected on their respective website. The digital service was well received by the users where it streamlined their website management by saving time and money. The research contributes to the fields of service development and systems development by demonstrating a successful process for developing a user-centered digital service that meets the unique needs of micro-enterprises.

<p dir="ltr"><a href="" target="_blank">Almost every case of cervical cancer in the United States is medically preventable with vaccination and proper screening, yet many Americans are insufficiently screened. Over 12 thousand American women suffered from cervical cancer in 2018</a>¹ causing 4 thousand deaths, with over a third in women who had never received a routine screening test².</p><p dir="ltr">New, sensitive testing techniques for cervical cancer screening are facilitating HPV testing without evaluating the cells collected in the sample by eye. This opens the door to new, accessible methods of screening such as rapid testing in clinic and at home, self-sampling, and mail-in testing. As cervical cancer morbidity and mortality is largely a result of healthcare inequities, these methods may have a significant impact on cervical cancer outcomes.</p><p dir="ltr">The goal of this project is to create a proof-of-concept, sample-to-answer rapid test to be used for cervical cancer screening in Indiana outpatient clinics. We began the project by conducting interviews and a survey to explore Indiana clinician perspectives on cervical screening methods such as self-sampling, rapid testing, and home-based screening. Clinicians preferred in-clinic testing with same-visit results, in the hopes that face-to-face explanation of results and scheduling follow-up care in person would improve patient retention for these important follow-up tests. To create such a test, we augmented an isothermal nucleic acid amplification method that copies 13 of the 14 high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) types with an endogenous b-globin sample control and a simple colorimetric lateral flow strip (LFS) readout. When tested with HPV 16 the assay achieved a limit of detection of 1000 HPV copies per reaction, which would detect endocervical samples deemed ‘sufficient’ by clinical guidelines. It also performs in endocervical cells using methods and equipment that could be implemented in an outpatient clinic. The final test accepts swabs or brushes of endocervical cells, lyses them in 5 minutes, copies the target DNA and a sample adequacy control, and delivers the readout within 40 minutes on an LFS readout. Future directions for this assay include soliciting feedback from clinicians and other stakeholders about the prototype developed, adapting the assay to interferents of clinical endocervical samples, and adding probes for other HPV types, such as HPV 18 and eventually the other hrHPV types.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><b>Background</b></p><p dir="ltr">Recent developments in cancer therapeutics have allowed increased use of Oral Anticancer Medications (OAMs), including in the treatment of breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States. Patients with breast cancer may face key barriers in managing their OAMs at home. These challenges can lead to sub-optimal adherence and lower the overall quality of life. Designing interventions that enhance the patient experience with use of OAMs requires a deeper understanding of barriers faced by patients as they navigate their cancer care journey. The objective of this study was to identify the unmet medication management needs of patients with breast cancer who are receiving OAMs and co-design an early prototype intervention with patients to support medication management needs of patients with breast cancer.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Methods</b></p><p dir="ltr">Two phases comprise this study. Phase 1 involved patient-journey mapping to characterize the longitudinal experience of OAMs use among patients diagnosed with breast cancer. In phase 2, we conducted participatory design (PD) workshops to develop a prototype tool to address OAM needs identified in phase 1. All participants were recruited from an outpatient breast cancer clinic in Indianapolis. Eligible participants were: 18 years of age or older, diagnosed with breast cancer, and currently receiving an OAM. All participants completed a brief sociodemographic and health information questionnaire. In phase 1, enrolled persons participated in a journey mapping exercise through semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted either in-person or remotely via Zoom, based on participant preference. For each interview, two researchers and the participant collaborated to create individual patient journey maps to generate a concise visual storyboard focused on medication use experiences related to OAMs. The journey maps helped capture treatment timelines, key markers of medication use, and specific barriers faced by patients. Individual journey maps were consolidated to generate personas representing groups of patients with related characteristics, treatment types, goals, and unmet needs. In phase 2, three rounds of PD workshops were conducted using the focus group format to develop an early prototype intervention. In round one (inspiration stage), participants defined the problem space and prioritized a list of challenges amenable to solutions; in round two (ideation stage), participants generated multiple possible solutions and design ideas; and in round three (convergence stage), two design concepts were selected and evaluated by participants.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Results</b></p><p dir="ltr">In phase 1, 12 interviews (11 females and 1 male) were completed. The median age of participants was 65.5 years (range, 37-75). Participants were divided into two groups based on their prescribed medication types: (1) specialty medication (palbociclib or ribociclib; n=4 patients) and (2) traditional medication (tamoxifen, anastrozole, or exemestane; n=8 patients). We defined ‘Specialty’ medications as those that require specialty pharmacies and ‘traditional’ medications as those obtainable in local community pharmacies. To represent participants across these two broad categories of medications, two personas were created. Participants who had been prescribed specialty medication reported difficulty navigating the insurance process during medication fills, while participants who prescribed traditional medication did not. Notably, the word “prior authorization” was not used by participants to explain the issues they experienced. While all participants reported having side effects from their medications, sub-optimal adherence (n=2) was reported among the traditional medication group only. Other participants taking traditional medications either found their own ways to manage side effects or simply reported: “dealing with side effects as I don’t want cancer.” Participants expressed coping with side effects by enduring them. Participants had few strategies to manage their side effects, often stating that “they didn’t think of reaching out to the doctor,” when asked. Additionally, participants mentioned needing more financial and emotional support during their treatment journey. In phase 2, each PD session was conducted with 4-5 participants and 2 researchers (the design panel). Participants identified key challenges including difficulties navigating resources and information as well as managing medication side effects. The design panel prioritized two design concepts, which were subsequently developed into two prototypes: 1) a physical breast cancer handbook; and 2) an interactive treatment navigation app for use on tablet and smartphone devices. Our team plans to consolidate, further develop, and evaluate these prototypes in subsequent work as a follow up to this pilot study.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Conclusion</b></p><p dir="ltr">This study provides insight into the patient experience with OAMs. The personas created can be applied in designing interventions tailored to breast cancer patients’ needs and goals, while the consolidated journey maps identify potential areas for improvement. Adequate patient education and enhanced tools and processes are necessary to manage medication side effects effectively, ultimately leading to improved medication outcomes and assisting patients in navigating their treatment. The two design concepts require further revision prior to implementation and pilot testing.</p>

Denna studie syftar till att utforska integrationen av metoder för persuasive design i designprocessen för att på ett mer effektivt och pricksäkert sätt uppmuntra önskade användarbeteenden. Med bas i forskningen av Fogg och Cialdini fokuserar studien på att föreslå sätt att inkorporera persuasive design i den befintliga designprocessen hos en verklig kommunikationsbyrå. Genom en fallstudie som involverar dokumentgenomgång och workshops med intressenter strävar studien efter att få insikter i byråns designprocess och identifiera möjligheter för integrering av persuasive design. Den resulterande modellen fungerar som en riktlinje för att gemensamt definiera kritiska användarparametrar med kunder. Centralt för modellen är formuleringen av målbeteenden, vilka vägleder designarbetet mot att motivera och uppmuntra användare att utföra önskade beteenden. Genom att integrera metoder för persuasive design syftar modellen till att förbättra användarcentreringen och effektiviteten i designprocessen, även i situationer där direkta användarinsikter är begränsade. Studien avslutas med att betona vikten av målbeteenden för att styra en mer målinriktad designprocess och därigenom bidra till skapandet av skräddarsydda och relevanta designlösningar som överensstämmer med användarnas behov och preferenser. Sammantaget ger resultaten praktiska rekommendationer för att integrera metoder för persuasive design i designprocessen för att främja utförandet av önskade användarbeteenden. / This study aims to explore the integration of persuasive design methods within the design process to encourage desired user behaviors more effectively and accurately. Grounded in the research of Fogg and Cialdini, the study focuses on proposing ways to incorporate persuasive design into existing design processes, particularly within the context of a real communication agency. Through a case study involving document analysis and workshops with stakeholders, the research seeks to gain insights into the agency's design process and identify opportunities for integrating persuasive design. The resulting model serves as a guideline for collaboratively defining critical user parameters with clients. Central to the model is the formulation of goal behaviors, which guide design efforts towards motivating and encouraging users to perform desired actions. By integrating persuasive design methods, the model aims to enhance user-centredness and the effectiveness of the design process, even in situations where direct user insights are limited. The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of goal behaviors in directing a more targeted design process, thereby contributing to the creation of tailored and relevant design solutions that align with user needs and preferences. Overall, the findings provide practical recommendations for integrating persuasive design methods into the design process to promote the execution of desired user behaviors.

This thesis explores a concept by Sonvox AB called VoiceUp. The concept is that of a mobile application that communicates with a wearable voice measuring device and visualizes voice information in a way that helps singers. Sonvox current main product is VoxLog—a system for long-term voice monitoring, mostly used for research purposes. Sonvox believes that their voice analysis technology could be relevant to a larger audience. The main goal for the thesis is to explore if a wearable voice measuring device could be relevant to singers, and in what ways. To do this, a needs analysis was conducted where song teachers and singers were interviewed. In order to draw statistical conclusions about the occurrence of needs, a survey was conducted where people with an interest for singing were the targeted respondents. Based on the result from the needs analysis, the VoiceUp concept was refined, resulting in an idea of a product that measures and visualizes how much the user sings and speaks with the aim to increase singers motivation to practice singing more regularly. Based on theory related to self-tracking, a design proving the concept was created, resulting in a mockup and a simple prototype. The mockup and the prototype can together be seen as one example of how self-tracking technology could be relevant to singers.

Målgruppen er unge i alderen mellem 20-29 år, der bor i en etværelseslejlighed i Malmö og har flere udfordringer ved affaldssortering. Fuldsorteringen sker ikke altid korrekt og i overensstemmelse med eksisterende lovgivning. Arbejdet tager derfor udgangspunkt i problemformuleringen “Hvordan kan brugercentreret design bidrage til at kunne ændre den yngre generations attitude, når det kommer til at sortere affald i husstanden som et essentielt led i borgeres aktive deltagelse?”. I udforskningen af problemfeltet tages forskellige teorier i brug. Hovedteorien i arbejdet er brugercentreret design efterfulgt af design for holdbar udvikling og affaldssortering ud fra et klimapsykologisk perspektiv. Såvel undersøgende metoder som designmetoder anvendes med henblik på at foretage kvalitative undersøgelser af målgruppens udfordringer. De vigtigste anvendte metoder er designeksperiment, ekspertinterview og Co-design workshop. Afslutningsvis har metoderne resulteret i et designkoncept, hvor alle affaldsbeholderne samles ét sted under køkkenvasken, og med mulighed for at beholderne kan ekspanderes alt efter husstandens behov. Herved får målgruppen et tydeligt overblik over samtlige skraldespande og kan, med det in mente, foretage de korrekte og bedst kvalificerede beslutninger. Det betyder blandt andet, at hvis der mangler plads i en beholder, behøver husstanden ikke tage en ny pose frem, men kan i stedet ekspandere den eksisterende. / The target group is young people between the ages of 20-29 years who live in a one-room apartment in Malmö, Sweden, and have various challenges with waste sorting. The waste sorting is not always done correctly and in accordance with existing legislation. Therefore, the work is based on the research question “How can User-Centered Design contribute to changing the attitude of the younger generation on waste sorting in the household as an essential part of citizens’ active participation in society?”. When exploring the problem field, different theories are used. The main theory in the work is User-Centered Design followed by Design for Sustainable Development and Waste Sorting from a Climate Psychological perspective. Both investigative and design methods are used in order to carry out qualitative studies of the target group’s challenges. The main methods used are Design Experiment, Expert Interview and Co-design Workshop. The methods have resulted in a design concept where all waste containers are placed in the same place under the kitchen sink with the possibility of expanding the containers depending on the household’s needs. In this way, the target group gets a clear overview of all bins and with this in mind they can make the correct and best informed decisions. That means, inter alia, that if one of the bins lacks room the household does not need to take out a new bag, but may instead expand the existing one.

Syftet med denna masteruppsats var att undersöka skillnaden i Game User Experience Satisfaction (GUESS) vid användning av SimProv, både i VR (Oculus Rift) och på skärm. SimProv är en spelliknande klassrumssimulation. Studien avsåg även finna potentiella problem som användaren kunde stöta på under testsessionen. För att kunna undersöka och utvärdera detta behövde SimProv vidareutvecklas. Vidareutvecklingen utfördes genom att använda spelmotorn Unity med PlayMaker, som är ett visual scripting språk, tillsammans med att följa rekommendationer som finns för UI- och User experience-design för VR-spel. Inomgruppsdesign med 30 deltagare användes som testmetod. Hälften av deltagarna fick antingen börja med att spela på skärm eller i VR med Oculus Rift. Efter varje spelsession fick deltagarna fylla i den nya psykometrisk validerade skalan Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS), som består av nio subskalor. Avslutningsvis kunde deltagarna fylla i två fritextfrågor genom ett digitalt formulär, om de potentiella problem de stött på vid respektive spelsession. Då GUESS är en ny skala har få studier av denna typ utförts. De få studier som har utförts pekar åt olika håll i frågan om spel bör utvecklas i VR eller inte. Resultaten från denna studie, som utfördes med tvåsidig hypotesprövning med t-test, visade inga signifikanta skillnader mellan VR och skärm. Endast en subskala, Play Engrossment, visade signifikant skillnad för VR. De textbaserade resultaten som analyserades med tematisk analys visade att majoriteten av deltagarna föredrog VR, men att alternativen i spelet upplevdes som begränsande. / The aim of this Master’s Thesis was to find out the difference in Game User Experience Satisfaction (GUESS) when using SimProv, both in VR (Oculus Rift) and on monitor. SimProv is a game-like classroom simulation. The purpose of this thesis was also to find potential problems that users may encounter during the test sessions. To assess and evaluate this, SimProv had to be furthered developed. This development was done using the game engine Unity and the visual scripting language PlayMaker in combination with following UI and UX design recommendations for VR games. A within subjects design with 30 participants was conducted. The users played either the monitor version or the VR version first, with no particular order. After each play session participants were asked to fill in the GUESS-scale, which is a newly developed and psychometrically validated scale that consists of 9 subscales. At the end of the play sessions participants could choose to answer two questions, through a digital form, about potential problems they may have encountered in both modalities. Since GUESS is a new scale few studies of evaluating VR versus monitor, using GUESS, have been conducted. The few studies that have been conducted showed no consensus in whether games should or should not be developed for VR. The inferential analysis with two-tailed paired samples t-tests in this study showed no significant difference between VR and monitor. The subscale Play Engrossment showed significant differences for VR. The text-based questions, that were analyzed with a thematic analysis, showed that the majority of the participants preferred VR. However, many participants felt that the answer options in the game where restricted.

Examensarbetet handlar om att utforska och utveckla det framtidsvisonära transportsystemet ”GTS Transportsystem” framtaget av GTS Stiftelsen. Detta med hjälp av frågeställningen: Hur ser framtidens GTS Transportsystem ut i ett användarcentrerat perspektiv? Inom en designprocess genomfördes ett omfattande researcharbete för att skapa en förståelse för vilka behov och krav som borde tillgodoses i det framtida transportsystemet. GTS studerades och analyserades för att få en djupare förståelse kring deras visioner, idéer, tekniska lösningar och hur väl genomtänkt de olika delarna var. Intervjuer med målgruppen människor med funktionsnedsättning, synliggjorde olika typer av problem som uppstår i dagens jämförbara transportsystem. Med hjälp av intervjudata och en analys kunde tre fiktiva personas skapas med tillhörande scenarier. En analys av ett framtida GTS scenario ledde till att problem kunde identifieras som sedan låg till grund för vidare arbete med framtagning av olika problemområden. Problemområdet som sedan valdes var stationer och hållplatser (i uppsatsen benämnd Terma). En idégenereringsfas ledde till nya idéer kring flöden, funktioner, gates och arkitektur. Det slutliga resultatet blev ett framtida Terma-koncept med en genomgående utformning för tillgänglighet, trygghet och innovation. I konceptet skapades en gate med fokus på säkerhet, en funktionell och öppen planlösning som förenklar resandet, samt en ny lösning kring kabinernas flöden runt och över byggnaden. Allt detta för att en framtida resa i GTS skall fungera säkert och smidigt. / The research was conducted in order to contribute to the general body of knowledge regarding the prospective transport system GTS Transport System developed by GTS Foundation. This dissertation will explore and further develop the GTS system. This was achieved with the research question: How does the future GTS Transport System look in a user-centered design perspective?   In a design process, a deep and comprehensive research laid the foundation in order to create an understanding of the needs and demands that would need to be fulfilled for the future transport system. The GTS Transport System was carefully studied and analyzed in order to reach a deeper understanding around its visions, ideas and technical solutions. Further it was studied in order to determine how well thought through the different feature where.   Interviews were conducted with a target group of people having a disability; this disclosed certain problems with today’s transport systems. With the support of the data gathered and an analysis, three fictive personas where created with associated scenarios.   An analysis of a future GTS scenario led to the discovery of certain problems and laid the foundation for further establishing areas in need of improvements. The areas that were chosen where stations and stopping places (in the dissertation called Terma).   An idea-generating phase led to new ideas about flow, functions, gates and architecture.   The results of the dissertation led to a concept about how the future transport Terma may be designed. With secure available and innovative gates, a well thought through layout that is available and safe for the people using the transport system. A new concept of flows where created which enabled the vessels to move around and over the building. This results in a smooth and safe travel experience.

While there are powerful keyword search systems that index all kinds of resources including emails and web pages, people have trouble recalling semantic facts such as the name, location, edit dates and keywords that uniquely identifies resources in their personal repositories. Reusing information exasperates this problem. A rarely used approach is to leverage episodic memory of file provenance. Provenance is traditionally defined as "the history of ownership of a valued object". In terms of documents, we consider not only the ownership, but also the operations performed on the document, especially those that related it to other people, events, or resources. This thesis investigates the potential advantages of using provenance data in desktop search, and consists of two manuscripts. First, a numerical analysis using field data from a longitudinal study shows that provenance information can effectively be used to identify files and resources in realistic repositories. We introduce the Leyline, the first provenance-based search system that supports dynamic relations between files and resources such as copy/paste, save as, file rename. The Leyline allows users to search by drawing search queries as graphs in a sketchpad. The Leyline overlays provenance information that may help users identify targets or explore information flow. A limited controlled experiment showed that this approach is feasible in terms of time and effort. Second, we explore the design of the Leyline, compare it to previous provenance-based desktop search systems, including their underlying assumptions and focus, search coverage and flexibility, and features and limitations. / Graduation date: 2012

Cette recherche porte sur des questions relatives à la conception des interfaces humain-ordinateur. Elle s’inscrit dans le courant des recherches sur l’utilisabilité et elle s’intéresse particulièrement aux approches centrées sur l’utilisateur. Nous avons été très souvent témoin des difficultés éprouvées par les utilisateurs dans l’usage de certaines interfaces interactives et nous considérons que ces difficultés découlent d’un problème de design. Le design d’interface doit être basé sur les besoins de l’utilisateur dans le cadre de ses activités, dont les caractéristiques devaient être bien comprises et bien prises en considération pour mener à la conception d’interfaces qui respectent les critères d’utilisabilité. De plus, la communauté des chercheurs ainsi que l’industrie admettent maintenant que pour améliorer le design, il est crucial de développer les interfaces humain-ordinateur au sein d’une équipe multidisciplinaire. Malgré les avancées significatives dans le domaine du design centrées sur l’utilisateur, les visées annoncées sont rarement réalisées. La problématique étudiée nous a conduit à poser la question suivante : En tant que designer d’une équipe multidisciplinaire de conception, comment modifier la dynamique de collaboration et créer les conditions d’une conception véritablement centrée sur l’interaction humain-ordinateur ? Notre démarche de recherche a été guidée par l’hypothèse voulant que l’activité de design puisse être le moyen de faciliter la création d’un langage commun, des échanges constructifs entre les disciplines, et une réflexion commune centrée sur l’utilisateur. La formulation de cette hypothèse nous a mené à réfléchir sur le rôle du designer. Pour mener cette recherche, nous avons adopté une méthodologie mixte. Dans un premier temps, nous avons utilisé une approche de recherche par projet (recherche-projet) et notre fonction était celle de designer-chercheur. La recherche-projet est particulièrement appropriée pour les recherches en design. Elle privilégie les méthodes qualitatives et interprétatives ; elle étudie la situation dans sa complexité et de façon engagée. Nous avons effectué trois études de cas successives. L’objectif de la première étude était d’observer notre propre rôle et nos interactions avec les autres membres de l’équipe de projet pendant le processus de design. Dans la seconde étude, notre attention a été portée sur les interactions et la collaboration de l’équipe. Nous avons utilisé le processus de design comme méthode pour la construction d’un langage commun entre les intervenants, pour enrichir les réflexions et pour favoriser leur collaboration menant à redéfinir les objectifs du projet. Les limites de ces deux cas nous ont conduit à une intervention différente que nous avons mise en œuvre dans la troisième étude de cas. Cette intervention est constituée par la mise en place d’un atelier intensif de conception où les intervenants au projet se sont engagés à développer une attitude interdisciplinaire permettant la copratique réflexive pour atteindre les objectifs d’un projet de construction d’un site web complexe centré sur l’utilisateur. L’analyse et l’interprétation des données collectées de ces trois études de cas nous ont conduit à créer un modèle théorique de conception d’interface humain-ordinateur. Ce modèle qui informe et structure le processus de design impliquant une équipe multidisciplinaire a pour objectif d’améliorer l’approche centrée sur l’utilisateur. Dans le cadre de ce modèle, le designer endosse le rôle de médiateur en assurant l’efficacité de la collaboration de l’équipe. Dans un deuxième temps, afin de valider le modèle et éventuellement le perfectionner, nous avons utilisé une approche ethnographique comportant des entrevues avec trois experts dans le domaine. Les données des entrevues confirment la validité du modèle ainsi que son potentiel de transférabilité à d’autres contextes. L’application de ce modèle de conception permet d’obtenir des résultats plus performants, plus durables, et dans un délai plus court. / In complex design projects, problems typically arise when the design process is undertaken by multi-disciplinary groups of experts as well as non-experts because they do not share a common vision about the user’s needs, do not have identical goals related to the task, and do not have a common language to have productive dialogues as the design process progresses. This research addressed issues related to the human-centered design approach within the context of human-computer interfaces (HCI). It explored ways in which a designer can create conditions whereby various contributors involved in the design process can benefit from the potential that the multi-disciplinary context afford to enrich their personal knowledge and reflection and at the same time work efficiently and collaboratively to design an interface that is user centered. The research used a mixed methodology. In the first instance, a project-grounded research (research through design) was used in three successive case studies with increasing degrees of intervention and control by the researcher. Project-grounded research involves the development of knowledge and theory related to the design activity in an authentic design project. The focus of the first case was for the designer/researcher to observe her role and interaction with others during the design process. In the second case, the focus shifted to the collaborative interactions. The design process was used as a method to foster consensus building and the adoption of a common language to communicate and mutual goals to aim for. Limitations identified in these two cases led to the design of an intervention that was implemented in the third case. This intervention comprised an intensive workshop whereby team members engaged in an interdisciplinary attitude building exercise leading to joint-reflective practice toward achieving the goal which was to create a website. Data generated from these three cases informed the development of a theoretical model that represents steps of “optimal” collaborative design process, focusing on user-centeredness. In this model, the designer is attributed the additional and central role of mediator (designer as mediator) that facilitates the convergence of disparate foci and ways of thinking. In the second instance, the model was presented to three design experts individually for validation purposes. Interview data collected from this process affirmed the validity of the concepts and relations depicted in the model as well as its transferability potential to other complex contexts. The proposed model has the promise of structuring design activities to unfold in a more efficient and timely manner while being sustainable.