<p>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.</p><p>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 <i>process</i> and a user-centred <i>attitude</i> 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.</p><p>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.</p>

<p>Computer users often suffer from poorly designed support systems that hinder them from performing their work efficiently and with satisfaction. The evidence is found in observations of users at work, interviews, evaluations of systems, and numerous reports of systems with poor usability that fail from start. </p><p>Those who use the systems are proficient in their work, and those who develop systems are proficient in software engineering. These two groups have often little knowledge and understanding of each other’s worlds and their vocabularies are quite different. In systems development projects, users are often confronted with representations of their work that they hardly recognize. Systems designers compose these representations in an attempt to reduce the complexity of the work practices in a way that is appropriate for systems development. It is very difficult for users to appreciate the consequences fully on their future work situation from such representations, since they are removed from the social setting and often describe work in a fragmentized way. The unfamiliar view of their work may make the users less inclined to participate in the forthcoming design process. </p><p>This thesis presents research performed to increase the usability of systems in working life and to explore conditions that facilitate the design of systems that really support the users work. The research comprises field studies in different work contexts, e.g. health care, dentistry, public service, and transportation. Information on the essentials of work has been gathered and analyzed to learn how such findings can be translated into systems design. Another goal has been to explore how to make the most of users’ experiences and skills to assure systems that better fit their work. Along with a growing awareness of the importance of user involvement in design, a participatory design process including the analysis and design of work has evolved.</p>

Initiativet till projektet togs av tandvårdspersonal på Specialisttandvården i Halmstad då de upplevde problem vid arbete med oral protetik. Problemet, som projektet även bygger på, innebär att komponenter tappas och på grund av gravitationen samt patientens position riskeras att inhaleras eller sväljas. Detta innebär ett stress- och orosmoment, vilket bidrar till en försämrad psykosocial arbetsmiljö för tandvårdspersonalen.   2008 infördes det statliga tandvårdsstödet i Sverige vilket innebär en reducerad kostnad för protetikingrepp som lett till att fler har råd med oral protetik. Därför blir problemet mer och mer utbrett, vilket gjort kravet på en lösning mer eftertraktad.   I projektet har dynamisk produktutveckling tillämpats med stort fokus på involvering av framtida användare. Artikelsökning, observation och enkätundersökning i genomförd produktdefinitionsfas lade grunden till projektet. Olika konceptgenererings- och utvärderingsmetoder tillämpades och födde den slutgiltiga prototypen. Under hela projektets gång har en kontinuerlig dialog och testning hos uppdragsgivarna utförts.   Detta produktutvecklingsprojekt resulterade i ett instrument som underlättar för tandvårdspersonal samt ökar säkerheten för patienten vid oral protetik. Lösningen är en specialutformad pincett som träs på skruvmejseln och fixerar komponenter. / The project was initiated by dental personnel at the Specialist dentistry in Halmstad, Sweden, because they experienced problems when working with oral prosthetics. There is a risk that components are dropped and due to gravity and the patient's position, being inhaled or swallowed. This means stress and concerns, contributing to the deterioration of the psychosocial work environment for dental personnel.   The Swedish dental State support was introduced in 2008, which gives the patient a reduced cost for dental prosthetic procedures. This allows more people to afford oral prosthetics. Therefore, the problem becomes more and more prevalent and the demand for a solution is requiered.    The project has implemented dynamic product development with a major focus on the involvement of future users. The project was based on literature reviews, observation and survey, which was performed in the product definition phase. Different concept generation methods and evaluation methods were applied and resulted in a final prototype. A continuous dialogue and testing with the clients where performed throughout the project.   This product development project resulted in an instrument that facilitates for dental personnel and increase safety for the patient during oral prosthetics. The solution is a specially designed forceps which slips onto the screwdriver and secures components.

Due to the digitalization era and challenges faced by the healthcare sector, Medical Information Systems are now being extensively used at hospitals. The implementation of the systems is a complex task which entails a need for careful considerations from a managerial view, since the main purpose with implementing the systems is for managerial control. One of the things management should consider is the professional aspect. The nursing profession is a highly specific one, and this could implicate special considerations. The aim of this master’s thesis is to take on a sociotechnical approach towards the implementation of Medical Information Systems and investigate how the nursing profession is affecting the implementation process, and what it may implicate for hospital management. To answer the research question a qualitative approach has been chosen. The empirical data has been gathered through semi-structured interviews with nurses from the case organization. The result implies that the nursing profession have a substantial impact on the implementation process. Instead of embracing the instructions and support offered by management, the nurses develop their own way of working within the system.

Studien avsåg att undersöka vilken påverkan användare har på ett systems innovation i ett systemutvecklingsprojekt. Då användarinvolvering till stor del sker dagligen genom (bl.a.) användartester var det intressant att undersöka hur användares feedback och idéer påverkar innovationen i ett systemutvecklingsprojekt. Det som kan ses som ett problem är att användare inte alltid är redo för en förändring som innovation medför. Företag står då inför utmaningen att få användaren att tro på den förändring som görs i ett system. För att undersöka hur användare påverkar innovationen i ett systemutvecklingsprojekt har intervjuer genomförts med personer som har kunskap och erfarenheter av användarinvolvering. Modellen Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) kommer att användas för att belysa de element som påverkar användares attityder vid förändringar. Det material som har samlats in har sedan analyserats och diskuterats för att kunna besvara problemformuleringen. Användare påverkar ett systems innovation genom att uttrycka negativitet eller skepticism mot förändringar. Anledningen kan vara att användare inte är redo för den förändring som ett företag vill genomföra. Detta kan leda till att innovationen hämmas i ett systemutvecklingsprojekt. En viktig aspekt att ta med är företagets domänexpertis. Anser företaget att förändringen bör genomföras för att vara innovativa gäller det att kommunicera med användarna och få dem förstå varför förändringen sker. En enskild användare kan påverka ett systems innovation om företaget tillåter det, medan ett flertal användare kan påverka i större utsträckning om de upplever samma problem med en innovativ förändring. / The study was intended to investigate the impact users have on system innovation in a system development project. As user involvement is done daily through (among others) user tests, it was interesting to investigate how user’s feedback and ideas affect innovation in a system development project. Companies today face great challenges of getting the user to believe in the change that is made in a system. What can be seen as a problem is that users aren’t always ready for the change that innovation entails. To investigate how users affect innovation in a system development projects, interviews have been conducted with people who have knowledge and experience of user involvement. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model will be used to highlight the elements that affect users’ attitudes towards changes. The material that has been collected has been analyzed and discussed in order to answer the problem. Users affect system innovation by expressing negativity or skepticism against changes. The reason may be that users aren’t ready for the change that a company wants to implement. This can lead to the impediment of innovation in a system development project. An important aspect to include is the company’s domain expertise. If the company believes that the change should be implemented to be innovative, it’s important to communicate with the users and make them understand why the change occurs. An individual user can influence a system’s innovation if the company allows it, while a number of users can affect to a greater extent if they experience the same problem with an innovative change.

Caracterizado por grande complexidade, o projeto de edifícios de assistência à saúde precisa garantir funcionalidade e eficiência operacional à edificação, através de espaços que facilitem a realização das atividades de atenção à saúde. Isto é ainda mais proeminente em países como o Brasil, onde os serviços de atenção à saúde são deficitários, principalmente na esfera pública. Para tanto, é necessário um amplo conhecimento acerca dos usuários e dos fluxos e atividades que compõem os serviços prestados, que geralmente os arquitetos não possuem. Neste contexto, e dada a complexidade dos edifícios de assistência à saúde, o envolvimento efetivo dos usuários no processo de projeto - co-design - pode contribuir para o redesenho das atividades de atenção à saúde e assim possibilitar que os arquitetos alinhem o projeto do espaço físico com o projeto dos serviços, aumentando a oferta e a qualidade do atendimento à população. No entanto, o co-design exige grandes esforços do arquiteto, relativos à coordenação e à linguagem utilizada, entre outros desafios. O problema desta pesquisa reside, portanto, na falta de amparo e dificuldades de envolver efetivamente os usuários no processo de projeto destes edifícios, como perspectiva para trazer os conhecimentos relativos à utilização da edificação ao projeto, e assim aumentar a adequação entre edifício e uso. A pesquisa aqui proposta busca, neste sentido, uma proposição inovadora de solução através da abordagem da Design Science Research (DSR) que tem como fundamento a proposta de soluções para problemas enfrentados no mundo real. A pesquisa incluiu as etapas de entendimento do tema, com revisão bibliográfica, estudo exploratório e estudos de caso em dois projetos de edifícios de saúde com co-design; proposta de uma solução e avaliação da solução. Como solução, apresenta-se um modelo conceitual de processo de projeto com co-design para auxiliar os arquitetos na promoção desta prática em edifícios de assistência à saúde. Descreve-se ainda o processo de seleção dos representantes dos usuários para as oficinas de co-design, com as questões que devem ser consideradas pela coordenação, a preparação dos usuários, a estrutura para orientar as oficinas e as revisões de fases, indicando as entradas, os métodos e instrumentos e as saídas das oficinas, e os subprodutos para análise, os critérios de passagem e o conteúdo dos relatórios de revisão, no caso das revisões de fase. O modelo foi avaliado por quatro profissionais, que são arquitetos com experiência em projetos de edifícios de saúde e pesquisadores da área. Com base nos resultados das avaliações, o modelo foi aprimorado para sua versão final. / Characterized by high complexity, the design of a healthcare building must ensure functionality and operational efficiency to the building through spaces that support healthcare activities. This is even more prominent in countries as Brazil, where healthcare services are deficient, especially in the public sphere. Therefore, a broad knowledge on users and service flows and activities, which architects seldom have, is required. Given the complexity of healthcare buildings, the effective involvement of users in the design process - co-design - can contribute to the redesign of healthcare activities and enable architects to align the design of physical space with that of services, which increases the supply and quality of services to the population. However, co-design requires great efforts, related to coordination and design language, among other challenges, from architects. This thesis addresses the lack of support and difficulties regarding the effective engagement of users in the design process of the healthcare buildings, as a perspective to provide knowledge on the use of the building to the design and increase the adequacy of building and use. It proposes an innovative solution through the Design Science Research (DSR), based on the proposal of solutions to problems faced in the real world. The research included the stages of understanding of the theme, through a literature review, survey and case studies in two healthcare buildings designed with co-design, development of a solution and its evaluation. A conceptual model of the design process with co-design is presented to assist architects in promoting this practice in healthcare buildings. The selection process of users´ representatives is described for the co-design workshops and indicates the issues to be considered by the coordination. The study also addresses the preparation of users, a framework to guide the workshops and phase reviews, stating the inputs, methods and tools and the outputs for the workshops, the deliverables for analysis, criteria for judgment and content of revision reports, in the case of phase revisions. The model was evaluated by four professionals, who are architects and researchers skilled in healthcare building design. According to the evaluation results, the model has been enhanced to its final version.

Over the years, researchers have argued that user friendly and result oriented systems were not necessarily products of participatory user involvement; however there is a degree of user involvement required in the development process of any Information System. The aim of this research is to discover the level of user involvement in in-house software development process in All Nigerian Bank (ANB). We use two research methods - survey and process observation. A survey was conducted for 107 end users and 10 developers (programmers) of 5 selected in-house developed software solutions; we complement our survey with an active observation of a typical software development process. Relative to the five in-house software solutions studied in our reseach; our study reveals that user involvement in the development process on the whole for these five solutions has been 8% participative, 18% representative, 33% consultative and 41% informative. 67% of end user respondents agreed that these specific in-house developed solutions are user friendly while 62% said solutions meet business needs. This result is a clustered representation of the 5 cases as a way of exploring the “normal in-house development process” in ANB We conclude that the level of user involvement relative to business needs and user friendliness is a reflection of a number of factors which include ANB’s business strategy, organizational culture and politics; other factors include weak Nigerian labour laws, low ethical standards and high unemployment rate. / Contact Mobile PhoneNo : +2348067982450

Usability studies are conducted as a part of the usability engineering process, ensuring the usability of a developing product. Such usability studies can be conducted in a usability laboratory, or at the anticipated context of use. At the School of Computing &amp; Informatics Technology (CIT) at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, plans for usability facilities are being evolved.This study maps what facilities are beneficial for CIT at Makerere University to adapt in order to fulfil the potential stakeholders’ needs, as well as enabling the stakeholders to conduct wanted usability studies. Furthermore, the study presents various usability engineering methods, to be compared with the needs of the stakeholders.26 potential stakeholders of the usability facilities answered two different surveys. The result shows that the stakeholders’ conceptions about usability studies in some cases are misconceptions, why educational activities about usability and usability studies should be planned alongside the development of the facilities. Further the study shows that the facilities must support usability studies conducted in field as well as studies conducted in a controlled laboratory environment. Moreover, the facilities need to provide facilities for testing mobile services, web applications, user interfaces, and provide for stress and load testing.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is a broad discipline that studies different concerns regarding interactive systems’ development. One of the major interest points within the discipline is the reasoning behind building specific functionality into computers and the long-term effects that usage of systems will have on humans. Within Human Computer Interaction there are theories and frameworks how to involve a user in the process of developing new systems. In this paper focus is applied to the development process within developing applications for Enterprice Digital Assistants (EDA) and to what extent the end-users are involved in the process. Fazer Bageri AB has been choosen to represent a business corporation that uses handheld computers in their everyday tasks. The method used to gather information for this study has been by performing interviews and observations with key stakeholders at Fazer Bageri AB and MobiOne AB. Fazer Bageri AB is the purchaser, customer and user of the handheld computer applications that MobiOne AB developed. The result shows that the end-users were only involved in the end of the developing process. We found that one of the main reasons for this is that there are not any resources for supporting involvement of the end-users. Within user-centric design there are many aspects to consider, but one of the most prominently is to establish a mutual understanding by all persons involved in the project, from developers to end-users about the importance of involving users throughout the development. We also found that there is no routine established for securing that the information about different updates in the handheld computers reaches the end-users. The development process demonstrates that Fazer Bageri AB uses a traditional system development philosophy rather than a user-centric system development philosophy. / Inom ämnet människa datorinteraktion handlar många metoder om hur man involverar användaren i framtagandet av nya system. I denna undersökning ville författarna ta reda på hur verksamhetsprocessen vid framtagande av systemapplikationer för handdatorer kan gå till och om användarna involveras i processen. Verksamhetsprocessen jämfördes sedan mot teorier inom området. Valet föll på att undersöka verksamhetsprocessen hos Fazer Bageri AB då vetskap fanns om att de har 350 chaufförer som använder handdatorer i sitt dagliga arbete. När man utvecklar för så många användare är det viktigt att ta med användaren tidigt i processen. Metoderna som använts i undersökningen har varit strukturerade intervjuer och observationer. Respondenterna har varit nyckelpersoner inom Fazer Bageri AB och MobiOne AB. Fazer Bageri AB är beställare, kund och användare av de mobila applikationerna för handdatorer som MobiOne AB tillhandahåller och är experter på. Resultatet visar att användarna i denna undersökning var involverade endast i slutet av processen, en orsak till detta tycks vara att det saknas resurser för att ersätta ytterligare involvering av användare. Med att ersätta menas i detta fall ekonomisk kompensation till chaufförerna för den extra arbetstid det skulle innebära att involveras i processen. En viktig aspekt inom användarcentrerad design är att säkerställa att samtliga involverade har samma uppfattning om det som skall göras eller vad som åstadkommits. Viktigt är därför att informationsflödet inom företagen fungerar för att samtliga skall ha möjlighet att ta del av arbetet. Informationsflödet mellan handdatoransvarig och slutanvändare hos Fazer Bageri AB kan verka tveksamt då det innefattar flera olika informationsled. Verksamhetsprocessens olika faser som kartlagts skiljer sig delvis ifrån de teorier inom människa datorinteraktion som tagits del av inför denna undersökning. Detta beror till stor del på att Fazer Bageri AB har en traditionell systemutvecklingsfilosofi snarare än en användarcentrerad designfilosofi.

Caracterizado por grande complexidade, o projeto de edifícios de assistência à saúde precisa garantir funcionalidade e eficiência operacional à edificação, através de espaços que facilitem a realização das atividades de atenção à saúde. Isto é ainda mais proeminente em países como o Brasil, onde os serviços de atenção à saúde são deficitários, principalmente na esfera pública. Para tanto, é necessário um amplo conhecimento acerca dos usuários e dos fluxos e atividades que compõem os serviços prestados, que geralmente os arquitetos não possuem. Neste contexto, e dada a complexidade dos edifícios de assistência à saúde, o envolvimento efetivo dos usuários no processo de projeto - co-design - pode contribuir para o redesenho das atividades de atenção à saúde e assim possibilitar que os arquitetos alinhem o projeto do espaço físico com o projeto dos serviços, aumentando a oferta e a qualidade do atendimento à população. No entanto, o co-design exige grandes esforços do arquiteto, relativos à coordenação e à linguagem utilizada, entre outros desafios. O problema desta pesquisa reside, portanto, na falta de amparo e dificuldades de envolver efetivamente os usuários no processo de projeto destes edifícios, como perspectiva para trazer os conhecimentos relativos à utilização da edificação ao projeto, e assim aumentar a adequação entre edifício e uso. A pesquisa aqui proposta busca, neste sentido, uma proposição inovadora de solução através da abordagem da Design Science Research (DSR) que tem como fundamento a proposta de soluções para problemas enfrentados no mundo real. A pesquisa incluiu as etapas de entendimento do tema, com revisão bibliográfica, estudo exploratório e estudos de caso em dois projetos de edifícios de saúde com co-design; proposta de uma solução e avaliação da solução. Como solução, apresenta-se um modelo conceitual de processo de projeto com co-design para auxiliar os arquitetos na promoção desta prática em edifícios de assistência à saúde. Descreve-se ainda o processo de seleção dos representantes dos usuários para as oficinas de co-design, com as questões que devem ser consideradas pela coordenação, a preparação dos usuários, a estrutura para orientar as oficinas e as revisões de fases, indicando as entradas, os métodos e instrumentos e as saídas das oficinas, e os subprodutos para análise, os critérios de passagem e o conteúdo dos relatórios de revisão, no caso das revisões de fase. O modelo foi avaliado por quatro profissionais, que são arquitetos com experiência em projetos de edifícios de saúde e pesquisadores da área. Com base nos resultados das avaliações, o modelo foi aprimorado para sua versão final. / Characterized by high complexity, the design of a healthcare building must ensure functionality and operational efficiency to the building through spaces that support healthcare activities. This is even more prominent in countries as Brazil, where healthcare services are deficient, especially in the public sphere. Therefore, a broad knowledge on users and service flows and activities, which architects seldom have, is required. Given the complexity of healthcare buildings, the effective involvement of users in the design process - co-design - can contribute to the redesign of healthcare activities and enable architects to align the design of physical space with that of services, which increases the supply and quality of services to the population. However, co-design requires great efforts, related to coordination and design language, among other challenges, from architects. This thesis addresses the lack of support and difficulties regarding the effective engagement of users in the design process of the healthcare buildings, as a perspective to provide knowledge on the use of the building to the design and increase the adequacy of building and use. It proposes an innovative solution through the Design Science Research (DSR), based on the proposal of solutions to problems faced in the real world. The research included the stages of understanding of the theme, through a literature review, survey and case studies in two healthcare buildings designed with co-design, development of a solution and its evaluation. A conceptual model of the design process with co-design is presented to assist architects in promoting this practice in healthcare buildings. The selection process of users´ representatives is described for the co-design workshops and indicates the issues to be considered by the coordination. The study also addresses the preparation of users, a framework to guide the workshops and phase reviews, stating the inputs, methods and tools and the outputs for the workshops, the deliverables for analysis, criteria for judgment and content of revision reports, in the case of phase revisions. The model was evaluated by four professionals, who are architects and researchers skilled in healthcare building design. According to the evaluation results, the model has been enhanced to its final version.