The game industry is growing by every year but for some reason the research surrounding it hasn't caught up with its rapid expansion. This study aims at expanding the knowledge surrounding one of those areas, player motivations. An empirical model has been used to identify which interaction has the highest impact on player motivation in story-driven roleplaying-games. By conducting semi-structured interviews with eight different game developers using the GameFlow model to explore the use of interactions to sustain the motivation of the player a new criteria has been identified. This additional criteria was: Alive, and it was shown to have a high impact on motivation in story-driven roleplaying-games.

De problem som följer den traditionella systemutvecklingen är att det är många informationssystem som inte blir implementerade eller använda på grund av att användarna inte accepterat det nya informationssystemet, likaså är ofta projekten överbudgeterade och tidsöverskridande. En av orsakerna till detta är att användarna inte deltar aktivt under utvecklingsprocessen, vilket gör att systemutvecklarna inte får all den information de behöver för att utveckla ett informationssystem som motsvarar förväntningarna.I detta examensarbete undersöks om tillvägagångssättet participatory design (PD), som innebär att användaren aktivt deltar i hela utvecklingsprocessen, går att integrera med den traditionella systemutvecklingsansatsen, där utvecklingen sker med användarna som stöd till systemutvecklarna.Integrationen har gjorts genom att dels byta ut tekniker i systemutvecklingsmetoden SSADM och dels genom att kombinera SSADMs tekniker med PD-tekniker. Detta resultat har används tillsammans med intervjuer för att avgöra om PD-tekniker kan användas i alla traditionella systemutvecklingsmetoder. Resultatet av integrationen visar att det är möjligt att integrera PD-tekniker med den traditionella systemutvecklingsansatsen..

Heavy duty vehicles often have problems with traction during the winter periods. For vehicles that can lift tag axles it is possible to increase the normal force on the driven axle by lifting one or more tag axles, this will then increase the propulsive force of friction. This however increases wear on both road and vehicle. A possibility to reduce the wear while achieving nearly equivalent traction compared to lifted tag axles is to allow the vehicle to regulate the normal force by lowering the pressure in the air suspension associated with the tag axles or by the lifting of these axles. The vehicle would then by itself be able to set just the right amount of normal force on the drive wheels to avoid unnecessarily high normal forces while maintaining sufficient traction.The purpose of the report is to find out which parameters affect heavy duty vehicles when driving on slippery slopes and how traction can be improved.

Participation as Pedagogy ? Imagined Race and the Exhibit of Swedish Peoples-Types.This essay will analyse and give a deeper picture of the ?The Exhibit of Swedish People-Types? by focusing on the pedagogical ideals that formed the exhibit as an participatory media. The exhibit was led by the famous race-biologist Herman Lundborg and toured Sweden in 1919 displaying the racial constitution of the Swedish population using material gathered by the public itself. The exhibit has been described as an important tool in popularising eugenics in Swedish society during the early 20th century with the ambition of gaining funds to create the first race-biological institute and to influence policy-making. Nevertheless there has not been a single study which has focused solely on the exhibit and how the pedagogical ideals that permeated it affected the relation between the public and the media itself nor the political implications of this relation.

This thesis compares political participation by the public through the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman (PO) and the German Petitions Committee of the Bundestag (PC). Through studies of literature and statistics I examine how citizens can participate through the institutions, how frequently they do and the likelihood of sparking a debate while participating.Using media theories as well as theories of participatory and representative democracy I study how citizens can use these institutions for purposes of control and proposition.Both institutions deal with complaints but the PC also deals with propositions for legislation, making the institution more versatile. The PO deals with more cases than the PC and has more far-reaching competences and areas of inspection, although neither institution has binding decisions. Thus the direct advantage for citizens using the institutions is the chance of reaching out to media and the public through freedom of information laws and the German online petition forum.The PC to a larger extent fits the representative model while the PO in some respects is more a legal than a political institution, being managed by lawyers instead of MPs. Neither institution meets the ideals of participatory politics although the German official petition is closer to it..

The aim of this thesis is to get a better understanding of how the management control system works at V&S Distillers. V&S Distillers went through an organizational change in the beginning of 2005. The marketing function went from being a country-driven to a category-driven organization. Among other things this resulted in increased cooperation between employees in different geographical locations. We aim to analyze how a geographical distance affects relations and the use of management control.

The last few years a lot of media air time has been devoted to training, sports, health and weightloss on a more personal level then before. The new media arena is beeing used at its´ maximumto broadcast wievs on how we should eat, look, exercise and live. This thesis is trying to makebetter understanding on what people in general think is important when it comes to physicaltraining and motivation with the aid of digital media and IT systems. The thesis describes aworkshop that was conducted within the frames of Participatory Design and the outcome of thatworkshop. The workshop was conducted with a group of lead users (in this case instructors at avery large fitness center in Umeå, Sweden) and the main question was ?How can IT be used toachive a positive effect on physical exercise if motivation is the focus??.

This thesis of 15 hp has been implemented at Halmstad University, in collaboration with Saab Dynamics in Linköping. Saab Dynamics is a company operating in the defence industry where competition is tough. This necessitates new ways to increase efficiency in the company, which is the basis for this thesis. Saab Dynamics wants to introduce simulation driven design. Since Saab Dynamics engineers have little experience of simulation, required a user methodology with clear guidelines.

This thesis is about new technology in academic libraries in the form of Patron Driven Acquisition. As libraries take part in the digital era, a new model of patron driven acquisition has emerged. This model gives users more influence over the libraries electronic book collection. The collection development model changes libraries traditional role in the collection development process, from collecting for the future to the present.The purpose of this thesis is to gain knowledge of what acquisition librarians think about the effects of PDA on the collection, the acquisitions role and the cost structure. The theoretical framework relies on Christensen?s theory about disruptive technology and was used to interpret outcomes of new technology in libraries and its staff.Five librarians from four different Swedish university libraries were interviewed using a qualitative semi-structured method to carry out the investigative part of this thesis.

In 2007 a project began in the Uppsala region, which aimed to help municipalities implement BBIC (Barns behov i centrum). BBIC is a system that helps social workers increase children?s participation in investigations relating to social work. This study follows up on BBIC?s implementation process in Enköping, a municipality in the Uppsala region.

This essay examines the narrative aspect of interactive fiction. The study uses Janet H. Murrays analysis of the digital environment and the properties of it as procedural, participatory, spatial and encyclopedic. From this, her three characteristic pleasures in digital narratives - immersion, agency and transformation - are examined from the perspective of interactive fiction. The study also examines Nick Montforts analysis of interactive fiction as a potential narrative and a simulated world or environment.

This thesis of 15 hp has been implemented at Halmstad University, in collaboration with Saab Dynamics in Linköping. Saab Dynamics is a company operating in the defence industry where competition is tough. This necessitates new ways to increase efficiency in the company, which is the basis for this thesis. Saab Dynamics wants to introduce simulation driven design. Since Saab Dynamics engineers have little experience of simulation, required a user methodology with clear guidelines.

What role should science play in democracy? Political scientists often assume that it is possible to demarcate between ?instrumental? and ?moral? knowledge, and argue that citizens and/or politicians should use their moral knowledge to agree upon political goals and then apply the instrumental knowledge of scientists to achieve them. This straightforward view is challenged by writers in science studies, who identify three major problems in the use of science in democracy: uncertainty, risk and hidden values. They suggest that these problems could be solved through citizen participation.In this essay I perform an analysis of the internal logic of their suggestion. Is it likely that citizen participation enhances the democratic decision making process so as to reduce the problems? The internal analysis shows that it is rational to advocate citizen participation by reasons of legitimacy.

Civil society is facing many challenges in modern society and there is a lot of debate about where it is heading - is volunteer work declining or just taking a new form Whichever hypothesis will prove correct in the future, organizations that are dependent on volunteers will need to adapt to the new circumstances. This study aims to examine what forces drive voluntary work at Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden) and Hungerprojektet (The Hunger Project Sweden). Through interviews with employees and volunteers at the two organizations, this study finds that volunteers at Rädda Barnen are primarily driven by values and understanding, and that the volunteers at Hungerprojektet are primarily driven by career and to some extent by values, enhancement and social factors. Understanding these driving forces allow the organizations to adapt to the new circumstances by matching the volunteers interests with the organizations' needs..

This thesis examines the conditions for participation in the decision making process of a possible mine establishment in Storuman municipality in the north of Sweden. This is done through a case study where the main actors are the mining company Nickel Mountain AB, the municipality Storuman and the Sami village Vapsten. As a theoretical framework Cecilia Eriksson?s division of democratic theories is used as a starting point. Methods as described in deliberative democratic theory, such as discussion by effected community members, are seen as a method within the participatory democratic tradition, not a theory of its own.