<p> This research presents a new technique for user interface prototyping, called mixed-fidelity prototyping. Mixed-fidelity prototyping combines low-, medium-, and high-fidelity interface elements within a single prototype in a lightweight manner, supporting independent refinement of individual elements. The approach allows designers to investigate alternate designs, including more innovative designs, and elicit feedback from stakeholders without having to commit too early in the process. As well, the approach encourages collaboration among a diverse group of stakeholders throughout the design process. For example, individuals who specialize in specific fidelities, such as high-fidelity components, are able to become involved earlier on in the process. </p> <p> We developed a conceptual model called the Region Model and implemented a proof-of-concept system called ProtoMixer. We demonstrated the mixed-fidelity approach by using ProtoMixer to design an example application. </p> <p> ProtoMixer has several benefits over other existing prototyping tools. With ProtoMixer, prototypes can be composed of multiple fidelities, and elements are easily refined and transitioned between different fidelities. Individual elements can be tied into data and functionality, and can be executed inside prototypes. As well, traditional informal practices such as sketching and storyboarding are supported. Furthermore, ProtoMixer is designed for collaborative use on a high-resolution, large display workspace. </p>

Cable-actuated manipulators (or 'cable robots') constitute a relatively new classification of robots which use motors, located at fixed remote locations, to manipulate an end-effector by extending or retracting cables. These manipulators possess a number of unique properties which make them proficient with tasks involving high payloads, large workspaces, and dangerous or contaminated environments. However, a number of challenges exist which have limited the mainstream emergence of cable robots. This thesis addresses two of the most important of these issues-- workspace analysis and disturbance compensation. Workspace issues are particularly important, as many large-scale applications require the end-effector to operate in regions of a particular shape, and to exert certain minimum forces throughout those regions. The 'Force-Feasible Workspace' represents the set of end-effector positions, for a given robot design, for which the robot can exert a set of required forces on its environment. This can be considered as the robot's 'usable' workspace, and an analysis of this workspace shape for point-mass cable robots is therefore presented to facilitate optimal cable robot design. Numerical simulation results are also presented to validate the analytical results, and to aid visualization of certain complex workspace shapes. Some cable robot applications may require mounting motors to moving bases (i.e. mobile robots) or other surfaces which are subject to disturbances (i.e. helicopters or crane arms). Such disturbances can propagate to the end-effector and cause undesired motion, so the rejection of motor mount disturbances is also of interest. This thesis presents a strategy for measuring these disturbances and compensating for them. General approaches and implementation issues are explored qualitatively with a simple one-degree-of-freedom prototype (including a strategy for mitigating accelerometer drift), and quantitative simulation results are presented as a proof of concept.

An effective process for translating contextual inquiry data into usable design concepts is described. A literature survey, field observations and laboratory simulations preceded contextual inquiry sessions with seven cashiers working in retail checkstands. Data from this field research was communicated with a graduate student design team during interpretation sessions. Diagrams and pictures from the physical workspace were introduced, work behaviors and breakdowns were discussed and design ideas and insights were recorded during these sessions. The final communication tool is a wall-sized affinity diagram created by members of the design team. The affinity diagram tells the story of peoples experiences working in retail front end work environments by incorporating patterns of cashiers behavior and concerns, while maintaining details of each participants comments. It translates the applied research from basic contextual inquiry data to a sustainable communication tool for contextual researchers, workspace designers and other project stakeholders. The design research method presented yields valuable qualitative results for physical workspace design that can be communicated to people who are not involved in data collection.

This study proposes an application design for Stewart platform. The Stewart platform is selected to function as a mass center adjusting mechanism. The mechanism is attached to the chassis of a coaxial two-wheeled self-balancing car so that the mass center of the car can be shifted backward and forward to change the car speed. Besides, the mechanism can be applied to adjust the contacting forces between wheels and the ground if the mass center is shifted to the left and right of the car. In order to verify the feasibility of the design, the dynamic behavior of the car and the designing requirements for the Stewart platform are examined by using dynamic simulations on both sagittal plane and coronal plane. Therefore, the equation of motion of the car is derived from Lagrange mechanics. The driving torques to the wheels for balancing control, velocity control, and direction control are all determined by PID controllers. An algorithm for determining the displacement, that the mass center should be shifted to prevent losing contact force between wheels and the ground, is also introduced. The results of dynamic simulation show that the proposed application is feasible. Designing requirements for synthesizing the dimensions of the adjusting mechanism are also determined from the simulations. Finally, the dimensions of the desired Stewart platform are determined according to the designing requirements. The workspace of the Stewart platform is then investigated by inversed kinematic analysis method. Since the workspace includes the necessary space for the proposed application, which means the specified dimensions of the Stewart platform is valid.

Este trabalho propõe uma nova estrutura cinemática paralela tridimensional com três graus de mobilidade que pode ser aplicada como robô manipulador. O volume do espaço de trabalho disponível é empregado como índice para avaliar o desempenho cinemático do mecanismo. As cinemáticas de posição e velocidade são desenvolvidas, tendo em vista o levantamento das configurações singulares e do espaço de trabalho. Os resultados obtidos com as cinemáticas direta e inversa são comparados de modo a verificar a correspondência entre eles. São levantadas diversas configurações singulares que correspondem ao alinhamento entre as barras das cadeias ativas do mecanismo e uma família de singularidades para uma das cadeias ativas é apresentada. O volume do espaço de trabalho do mecanismo é calculado pelo método da discretização, de modo a avaliar o volume do espaço de trabalho disponível, bem como a identificação da influência dos parâmetros dimensionais do mecanismo sobre este volume. O volume do espaço de trabalho com os parâmetros ótimos é expressivo, quando comparado com aqueles alcançados por manipuladores robóticos convencionais. / This dissertation proposes a novel three-degree-of-freedom parallel kinematic structure in order to be applied as a three-dimensional robot manipulator. The volume of the available workspace is employed as a performance index to evaluate the kinematic behavior of the mechanism. The position and velocity kinematics are developed for mapping singular configurations and evaluating the workspace. The results obtained by performing the direct and inverse kinematics are compared in order to verify the consistency between them. It is demonstrated that most of singular configurations is represented by the alignment of the links that belong to each active chain. In addition, a family of singularities for one of the active chains is presented. The volume of the workspace is calculated by using the discretization method not only for evaluating the feasible workspace but also for identifying the influence of dimensional parameters with respect to this volume. The achieved workspace by employing the optimal parameters is comparable to that reached by conventional robot manipulators.

Podemos encontrar em métodos ágeis como no Extreme Programming [Beck, 1999, Beck e Andres, 2006], no Scrum [Schwaber, 2008], no Crystal Clear [Cockburn, 2005], e no Lean Software Development [Poppendieck e Poppendieck, 2007] referências relacionadas à manipulação e disponibilização de métricas e outras informações no ambiente de desenvolvimento. Neste trabalho, estas atividades são consideradas como tarefas de acompanhamento ágil. Observamos em métodos ágeis a importância de se realizar ações (práticas) baseadas em alguns princípios como guidelines [Poppendieck e Poppendieck, 2007]. Por isto, realizamos uma análise bibliográca na literatura disponível para compreender princípios ágeis que possam afetar na execução deste tipo de tarefa, além de escrever sobre métricas no contexto de métodos ágeis e engenharia de software. Apesar da bibliograa, não encontramos pesquisas experimentais com o objetivo de levantar e (ou) compreender aspectos relacionados ao sucesso na aplicação deste tipo de tarefa em ambientes de desenvolvimento. Para isto, realizamos neste trabalho uma pesquisa experimental com este objetivo, utilizando uma abordagem de métodos mistos sequenciais de pesquisa [Creswell, 2009]. Escolhemos aplicar esta pesquisa em um conjunto de quinze equipes de desenvolvimento ágil, reunidas em realizações da disciplina Laboratório de Programação Extrema do IME-USP nos anos de 2010 e 2011. Esta pesquisa foi realizada em quatro fases sequenciais. Na primeira fase, realizamos sugestões para as equipes de desenvolvimento vinculadas ao acompanhamento ágil a m de levantar aspectos valiosos em sua aplicação utilizando uma abordagem baseada em pesquisa-ação [Thiollent, 2004]. Baseado nestes resultados, agrupamos alguns destes aspectos como heurísticas para o acompanhamento ágil, modelo similar ao de Hartmann e Dymond [2006]. Na segunda fase, aplicamos um questionário para vericar a validade das heurísticas levantadas. Na terceira fase, realizamos entrevistas semi-estruturadas com alguns integrantes destas equipes para compreender o por quê da validade das heurísticas levantadas, sendo analisadas com técnicas de teoria fundamentada em dados (grounded theory)[Strauss e Corbin, 2008]. Na quarta fase, reaplicamos o questionário da fase 2 em outro ambiente para triangulação da validade das heurísticas. Como resultado nal da pesquisa, estabelecemos um conjunto de heurísticas para o acompanhamento ágil, além de avaliações quantitativas de seus aspectos em dois ambientes, juntamente a diversas considerações qualitativas sobre sua utilização. Realizamos um mapeamento tanto das heurísticas como de seus conceitos relacionados à literatura disponível, identicando aspectos já existentes porém expandidos pela realização da pesquisa, e aspectos ainda não discutidos que podem ser considerados como novos na área. / It is possible to find on the agile methods several references related to managing and displaying relevant information in a software development worplace. These references are available in agile methods such as Extreme Programming [Beck, 1999, Beck e Andres, 2006], Scrum [Schwaber, 2008], Crystal Clear [Cockburn, 2005], Lean Software Development [Poppendieck e Poppendieck, 2007],etc. In our work, we name this kind of activity as agile tracking, relating it to the tracker role defined by Beck [1999]. We noticed the importance of performing actions (practices) based on a set of principles as guidelines [Poppendieck e Poppendieck, 2007], which is deeply associated with agile methods. Taking this matter into account, we performed a literature review in order to discuss a few agile principles that could affect the execution of agile tracking related tasks. We also describe a few works directly related to metrics, both on the agile methods and on the software engineering area in general. Even with related references in the literature, we could not find empirical researches with the goal of raising/understanding aspects related to successfully performing this kind of task on agile environments, which could be helpful on managing informations and informative workspaces. In order to accomplish this goal, we performed a research using a sequential mixed research methods approach [Creswell, 2009]. We chose to apply our research on a set of fifteen agile teams gathered on the IME-USP\'s \"Laboratory of Extreme Programming\" course in 2010 and 2011. This research was performed in four sequential phases. In the first phase, we made several suggestions to the agile teams, regarding agile tracking, using and approach based on action research [Thiollent, 2004]. We used this initial approach in order to gather relevant aspects of their use of agile tracking. Based on these results, we clustered some aspects as \"heuristics for agile tracking\", the same model used by Hartmann e Dymond [2006]. In phase two, we applied a survey to evaluate the validity of the proposed heuristics. In phase three, we gathered data from a few semi-structured interviews performed on team members in order to understand the reasons behind the proposed heuristics, in which we used grounded theory [Strauss e Corbin, 2008] coding techniques for analysis. In phase four, we reapplied phase two survey on a different environment in order to triangulate the heuristics evaluation data gathered on phase 2. As the result of this empirical research, a set of heuristics were established with quantitative evaluation data and several related qualitative concepts. We also relate the set of heuristics and associated concepts with other works in agile methods, highlighting aspects expanded by this research and some others that we could not directly find in the literature, which could be considered as new in the area.

This thesis is a case study which looks at the creation of two theatre productions. Using the literature of Actor-Network Theory as a methodological provocation, it analyses the processes by which networks of actors created these theatre pieces with particular attention to where agency was observed. Through data gathered through observing material interactions, the thesis develops the concept of the (play)text: an object that is an expression of the ideas of the text, but is not the text itself – rather, a bricolage of ‘translations' of a piece of written and rehearsed work bound together by time and combined action. Conceiving of the eventual product – the (play)text in performance – as an example of the ANT concept of an agencement, a network of different people and objects working together to maintain a stable construction, but one which perpetually refines and redefines each of its component parts – this thesis proposes that the (play)text is an example of a dynamic and fractional artistic object, stabilised only briefly in the moments of its performance. Examining the theatre production process in this way contributes to ANT literature by providing specific examples of an artistic object created materially and agentively; it also highlights the limitations of the ways in which theatre has been used as a metaphor within Organisation Studies. Finally, it contributes to work on process change in showing an object which is, though it appears constantly improvisational and changing in its form, stabilised by material interactions.

Abstract The concept design of small handheld electronic and telecommunication devices is a creative and dynamic process. Interaction between the designers plays an important role in the creation of new products. This thesis addresses the communication between product concept designers. The aim of this thesis is to examine new ways of developing computer systems for remote collaboration. Multiple research methods have been used so as to enrich the view of the research subject. Product concept design has been studied in field studies and at co-located concept design workshops where the object of design was uncertain. Co-located workshops were organised to examine the moment to moment interaction between designers to discover how designers collaborate when designing a design object in common. By applying the concepts of activity theory, the concept of instrument is elaborated. Four types of instruments to mediate between a designer and the object of design and collaborating designers are identified. These are the instruments used to externalize an understanding of the design object, the concrete means of interaction, the future artefact and the hypothetical user activity. The latter two make up the design object which designers' strive for, and can also be instruments for scaffolding each other. A conceptual model was developed to describe the design action and the instruments for collaboration. This model was used to gain insight into the creation of computer support for remotely collaborating designers by posing questions for computer systems design. To develop computer systems to support designers in remote collaboration, an understanding of both the requirements set by the field and the technological feasibility is needed. Three application prototypes are presented as proof of the concept and as an experiment with virtual prototyping technology. The concept of design action has been defined on the basis of activity theory. Computer-supported geographically distributed workshops have been organised and analysed using the design action as an analytical tool for the research material. I conclude that, in order to support remote collaboration of concept designers, computer systems should support collaborative construction of the object of design. Instruments, such as the future artefact, its various representations and the conceptual construct of hypothetical user activity are potential instruments for computation.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD(Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

Working together at distance is no easy thing and the usability of the digital workspaces used is of utmost importance. Companies providing these digital workspaces constantly needs to evaluate the usability to find problems and improve their product with design principles for designing interactive systems. The purpose of this study is to contribute with knowledge of the usability of the digital workspace MS Teams. There are several methods for usability evaluation but the most fundamental is to test with real users, a usability test. The method used to evaluate the usability of Microsoft Teams is a usability tests with participants as close to the intended end-users as possible and with post-test interviews after each test. During the usability test the participants were observed whilst using the product and thinking aloud. Thinking aloud is the participant, while using the product, continuously think out loud which gives the researcher an opportunity to understand how the participants view the product and to identify any misconceptions they might have. The main results show that there are several usability problems with Microsoft Teams especially during the log on process and with changing output source. At the same time the results show that sharing files and calling are some of Microsoft Teams strengths in regard to usability and that the perceived usability of Microsoft Teams is high.