We?re all aware that technology progresses forward with giant leaps on a daily basis. In one-way or another this affects us in our everyday life. It can affect us in the way we?re shopping, communicating, researching, planning future events or how we choose to be entertained. That the web is an increasingly stronger tool for communicating in more or less every type of business is becoming more evident for people.

Organisations tend to focus more and more on product and process development to increase their competitiveness. Several major organisations, among them ABB, have developed models aimed to more effectively control and manage product development processes. ABB is using its standardised model ABB Gate Model for this. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the introduction of ABB Gate Model has affected the outcome of decisions and also the decision-making in the product development process. The study is limited to elucidate the version of ABB Gate Model handling product development projects.

A current issue today is to try to implement creative design as a way to solve wicked problems in scientific contexts such as HCI. Since the problems are wicked, they have no given solution which makes the traditional methods inadequate. In these cases, creative design can be an alternative. Creative design is not used in scientific contexts because it is viewed as something unaccountable.In this essay we argue that creative design not necessarily have to be unaccounted. We discuss various views of creative design and translate theory to a practical context.

The company LightLift Esystems AB manufactures patented motorized lift systems for the illumination of halls with high ceilings. The company wants a new design for singular heavy lights in order to be more competitive.This project consists of the development of the new design under the requirements and specifications imposed by the company. The new design must support lights up to 300kg and keep the overall dimensions as low as possible without modifying the driving unit.This document contains all the designing steps followed to reach the final solution as well as the material selection, manufacturing process and assembly of all the parts that form it.The solution obtained shows to be very competitive with other alternative products, since this new design triples their maximum load capacity while the dimensions are very similar.In this context, the optical appearance was also very important to the company and so it was another main objective of this project. From an aesthetical point of view, the final solution proves to be very compact and versatile since it can either be hidden behind a false ceiling or covered by a plastic case that gives the design a very nice look.Finally, the solution achieved fulfils all the requirements and specification previously imposed. It is reliable, compact, cheap to manufacture, easy to assembly and it has a good optical appearance. .

This study presents an alternate viewpoint to the strive to overcome the gap between research and practitioners within paper prototyping in interaction design. Earlier research identifies three aspects of this gap, which is:Practitioners being unaware of interaction design methods and theoriesPractitioners being aware, but choosing not to apply these methods and theories, due to time, budget and constraints of labourPractitioners and research having different perspective on similar design issuesOur study was done by carrying out qualitative interviews with interaction designers based on two digital design bureaus. One of the bureaus has an expressed link to research: the other has not. Our hypothesis is that the gap would manifest as a difference in work practice between the two bureaus.Our study shows that the two bureaus have similarities in work practice and that this work practice is based on scientific methods and theories, but is adapted to fit the client and/or the project. We conclude that the overcoming of the gap might not be necessary.

Bactiguard is a Swedish company within the field of medichal technology. The company has been very prosperous since it was founded in 2005 and was electedÅrets MedTechföretag 2008 ?MedTech Company of the year 2008. According to a definition by NUTEK, Bactiguard is still considered a minor company ? despite high market value and international expansion.

Sustainable development and sustainability is nowadays expected to be integratedin modern city planning and permeate the entire planning process. At the sametime, sustainable development has an inherent vagueness, leading to a greatdiversity of interpretations of the meaning of this concept. In this thesis strongsustainability and ecological modernization are used as two different interpretationsof sustainable development. Using these two interpretations, an analysis of thecurrent use of the concept of sustainability within the city planning of Malmö isperformed. The analysis shows that the interpretation of sustainable development inthe city of Malmö can be deduced to ecological modernization and thatsustainability is looked upon as one way to improve the attractiveness of the city.Investments to increase ecological and social sustainability must be legitimized asleading to a potential increase in economical sustainability (growth) and the focusof increasing the sustainability in the city has shifted from ecological aspects toeconomical aspects.

The students participating in my development work will work with a process book for handicraft studies. In the beginning of their studies, the students need practical knowledge about the development of the profession itself, but they also need to be challenged and learn how to solve problems on their own which will help them gain a deeper knowledge of the subject.    I focus on open questions to create a process with the students. This process is created when working with Solution-Focused-Education. Through ?assessment for learning? we can help the students to improve their self-assessment and understanding of the learning process.

This study aims at examine what kind of interest the European Union (EU) have in promoting a democracy process in Eastern Europe. The study is a descriptive case study where the case Ukraine is used to draw general conclusions. The questions asked to pursue the aim are: why does the EU want to promote a democracy process in Ukraine, what kind of methods does the EU use  and why is Russia trying to prevent the EU-Ukraine development and instead supporting a Russia-Ukraine development. In this study an analytical model is created and used to analyze EU:s way in promoting democracy in Ukraine. The analyze model consists of six steps used to describe the general promotion of a democracy process and it?s applied in the empirical analysis.

This project includes development of new packaging for dry spices and an investigation of how to automate the production line. The preliminary investigations show needs of an environmental friendly packaging possible to re-close. After screening for suitable materials three concepts were developed, a stand-up pouch, a plastic jar and a metal can. The pouch was excluded in a concept choosing process. In this process it was also decided to further develop the metal can concept.

This report describes how the process has evolved during the creation of a new web page forthe company Scandinavian Travel Agent DMC. The design methods that have been used aredescribed and also how parts of the webpage have been created by using the design methodresults. Our reflections around design and functionality are explained and how usability hasbeen our main focus during the master thesis. We also describe how it has been to work withan external costumer and how the tasks constantly have changed and been added as theprocess has continued.The background to this work is that AB Scandinavian Travel Agent DMC need to improve theircurrent web page. This to give the clients better needed information about destinations, butalso to stand out in the competitive travel business.

As part of an internship at Ericsson, this report was written to enhance the understanding of how it is to develop a system that is well established at the workplace. To improve an already existing system is not always as easy as many developers may think. In this report the pros and cons of developing an already existing system has been researched and analyzed. Do note that the results are only from one development of a specific system and that comparison of other developments has been made from other reports and not from experiencing it firsthand. It was found that the choices made can have an impact on further developing and it is important to write down what has been done.

In recent years, employees at large companies have started to demand that their employer should work more for good causes. The money the company wants to donate to charity is distributed mostly through a vote to decide where the money will be remitted. The purpose of this design case is to develop a design concept for a web-based donation service that involves all employees at a company. Furthermore, the authors of this study intends to explore how the motivation for employees of a company can be affected by participation in this service. In this design case, the service function, quality and concept was tested and evaluated.

The aim of this study is to better understand the Swedish concept of ?förebyggande socialt arbete?, preventive social work. I have conducted eleven qualitative interviews with different key persons and skaters, together with participant observation. During the process of analyzing the material I have used Randall Collins´ concepts of interaction ritual chains together with Jean Laves and Etienne Wengers concept of situated learning. The answers could be split up in three areas, first those who regard prevention work as building good things for the future.

This Master?s thesis is one of two parts of a combined project called Sustainable development around the Lake Victoria, the purpose of which is to investigate the importance of local anchoring and active participation in the work towards sustainable development. The present study aims to investigate whether men and women are empowered by the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) process promoted in their villages by the VI Agroforestry Project Masaka/Rakai. The study is primarily based on interviews with farmers within the project area and brings up a local perspective on the concepts sustainable development, active participation and empowerment. The study shows that to improve the farmers? livelihood and to create a sustainable development in the community, the farmers have to be actively involved in, and in control of, the process.