Institutionen för medicinsk teknik vid Linköpings universitet var i behov av att utvärdera användbarheten på den prototyp som de tagit fram för mätning av fysiologiska parametrar i distribuerad vård. Syftet blev därför att genom att använda metoder så som heuristiska och summativa utvärderingar ta reda på vilka behov och krav som de tänkta användarna ställer på användargränssnitt som används inom distribuerad vård. För att kunna genomföra dessa metoder genomfördes studiebesök, användaranalys, fokusgrupper, kontextuell utforskning och en funktionsanalys. Resultatet av de två utvärderingarna visar att användarna ställer höga krav på den här typen av användargränssnitt, framförallt gällande säkerställande av identitet och anpassning till användarnas verklighet..

This master's thesis deals with the public library project called the GÖK-project, whichconcerned three Swedish public libraries: Linnestaden (Göteborg), Örnskoldsvik and Kalmar.The general outlines for the project were: reconsideration of the conception of the literaryquality, improvement of the library services, adjustment to the library user and reconsiderationof the conception of adult education to the public libraries of the 90s. The projectcaused a big national debate with effort put on the conception of the literary quality.The topic of this master's thesis is partly the GÖK-project and its general outlines, partly theaccomplishment of the project, the main point put on the public library in Linnestaden(Göteborg)..

The globalization that has occurred during the last few years has made it more important for companies to have a well-functioning logistics system. Customers demand more options, which lead to an increased flow that creates greater demand regarding packaging and transports. Diverse logistics costs are nowadays a substantial cost for many companies. Therefore, more effort is aimed at optimizing transportation to lower these costs.The purpose of this project is to create a user-friendly calculation of logistics costs that illustrates how the costs vary, depending on how the flow is structured. This is done by examining which aspects that affect the total logistics costs and by mapping which aspects that should be included in a calculation of the logistics costs.Literature studies have been carried out parallel with empirical studies at Scania's production unit, MC, in Oskarshamn.

Folksonomier, system som låter användare klassificera innehåll, blir allt vanligare på webben. Typiskt sker denna klassificering genom att användare fritt beskriver innehållsobjekt med hjälp av nyckelord. Denna uppsats presenterar en underökning av hur nyckelord förhåller sig till varandra hierarkiskt, inom ett folksonomisystem. Undersökningen är baserad på ett webbgränssnitt, där besökare kunde förfina eller förkasta förslag på hierarkier av nyckelord. Dessa förslag genererades utifrån av ett verkligt folksonomisystem. Efter analys av 400 inkomna svar dras slutsatsen att flera aspekter av metodologin måste förfinas för att tydliga resultat ska kunna uppnås. Förslag på sådana förändringar presenteras slutligen..

Human-computer interaction is central for computer assisted development. The aim was to investigate the user experience of a new (U2) compared to an old (U1) computer system, within a cognitive psychology frame of reference. Six subjects, frequently using the system, participated in the study. It was shown that the new (U2) compared to the old system (U1) enhanced and supported more the users? system related procedures/tasks.

The post-modern western city is going through two central changes in the organization of paid labour. One is the switch from production of goods to production of services, and the other is the increasing rift between well-paid labour with permanent jobs, and temporarily employed workers with low wages. Both of these processes are rasified and gendered, and strike harder against women, young persons and people of emigrant background. The flexible capitalism creates an informalization of the economy, breaking with earlier regulations of the labour markets, in which workers also need to find informal strategies in their individual and collective struggles. In this paper, I search for these ?new? experiences of living and working in late capitalist society, by doing open interviews with three women of Latin-American origin, working without official permission (without documents) in the informal economy of Stockholm.

The aim of this essay is to examine fan culture?s role in Swedish public libraries. I have interviewed, via email, six librarians who encounter and use fan culture in their daily work. The theoretical elements of my essay are based on a modified set of theories by Dorte Skot-Hansen that identifies six ideal types of cultural political rationalities. My study reveals that fan culture is used in Swedish libraries as a tool in increasing user participation in library activities.

Companys usually have intern communication platforms where employees can gather information and communicate with eachother. These networks are not public which leads to less resources spent on development. If this network is also used as a work tool may inadequate usability decrease work effeciency. Thats why we, by using known design principles, evaluated an already existing network of this kind along with interviews and think out loud tasks for users. Four users had to do some tasks while they explained how they went through step by step to solve those. This report culminates into a couple of guidelines which can be used to create a user friendly network. The problems that prevented users to feel in control when working resulted in the following guidelines: Create shortcuts of frequently used functions.

LIBRIS is a national library search engine offering information about 6 million books, articles, dissertations and other materials held by Swedish university libraries, research libraries and public libraries. In December 2007 a new version of LIBRIS was launched, developed with focus on usability, simplicity and accessibility. This thesis examines how the new LIBRIS is used, what is working well and what could be improved and also what the users think of LIBRIS. The following report is based partly on a study of usability and partly on a series of tests where librarians, scientists, students and developers have executed a number of tasks while thinking aloud. The users also participated in an interview.

The aim of this study is, from a norm-critical approach, to find, investigate and analyse human representation in the visual culture of one preschool in order to understand if the children enrolled are represented or not. The research questions are: In what ways is there imagery of human representations in images and materials designed for play? What skin-colors and origins are dominant in the data collected?We carried out a qualitative study in the form of visual ethnography. This method allowed us to use a combination of different data collection tools such as photography and ethnographic field notes to collect our data. The photographs we took of images and material used for play, was then analysed through semiotic picture analysis.

This study concerns the complete oeuvre by the British author Helen Zahavi: Dirty Weekend (1991), True Romance (1994), and Donna and the Fatman (1998). Her novels are here read as a trilogy dealing with the dialectics of gender and violence in 20th century discourse, drawing on theories of how the construction of subjects is produced by power, of the relation between power and sexuality.The heroines of Zahavi?s novels try their best to move about in a world where their freedom of movement is limited to their female identity. In Dirty Weekend the protagonist tries to shoot her way out, claiming revenge on every man that is forcing himself upon her. She gains some freedom of movement by refusing subordination, but does not really change the order of power.

In the gaming industry, it has long been popular to combine genres with the aim ofcreating games that bring together the best of several worlds. However, there are stillmany unexplored combinations with good potential.This report addresses the planning and development of a game prototype that combinestwo game genres, turn-based and real-time strategy. In addition to presenting the results,the report also discusses the di culties that were encountered and how they were handled.The prototype contains a working combat system and a basic AI. The prototype ismodular, which means that it is easy for an end user to extend the game with extra content.Most elements that were considered important from the two genres were implemented, butthere is still room for improvement and further development.The result is evaluated by means of quality assurance, a process that is commonly usedin the gaming industry. The response has been generally positive, which indicates thatthe combination has potential and should be explored further..

Usability is a way to study how good a website is which is what our research builds upon. On a mission from Liseberg our purpose is to find out if their website liseberg.se is good from a user?s perspective. Our way of carrying this out where grounded upon a qualitative study through observations and following interviews with a number of participants. By compositing tools of method we have started with the theories descriptions of usability tests and we have also used the theories to be able to reflect around and to understand the results from the tests.

The Division of Language and Communication at Chalmers uses a web-based language tool, named EngOnline, to teach English grammar. The language tool suffers from some shortcomings. These include stability problems and an outdated interface but, above all, there is no documentation. Because of the lack of documentation and EngOnline?s need of maintenance, the Division of Language and Communication has decided to replace the language tool with a new and well documented one.The new language tool was developed using an agile work process; detailed documentation was replaced with more efficient communication.

The company Sound Precision has developed a new Line Array loudspeaker system (VHA-40). When using this system, their customers need computer aid to get the best possible sound-quality and control of sound levels for the whole audience. The aim of this thesis is to develop a truly useful sound quality simulator for the VHA-40. The system will help the sound engineers to position the loudspeakers for optimal sound by simulating loudspeaker configurations and visualizing the resulting sound quality and quantity. To solve this a human-centered design (HCD) approach is taken to implement a system that is truly useful for the users, meaning that they will use it more and hence deliver better sound for the audience.