This aim of this thesis is to measure the effect of the user interface in real searches on the Internet through a small experiment. Theories on web and search usability and psychological factors concerning usability were first explored. Then three interfaces were constructed, one "good" that followed usability guidelines and had multiple search functions, one "bad" that completely disobeyed those guidelines and had only a simple and small search field, and one "intermediate" interface that was a mix of the two. The search field was set to different sizes, with the shortest in the "bad" interface, a medium field in the "intermediate" interface and several long fields in the "good" interface. All three interfaces were then attached to the same web search engine, Altavista.

This study is a thorough comparison between what people think about the website www.sl.se, which is a Swedish web-based travel planner for Stockholm metropolitan public transport (such as subways, busses and suburban trains), and how these views compares to the design of the actual website itself. The travel planner offers a wide range of functions and services for their targeted audience to find the fastest route between their current location and their destination. These functions are for example real time information on hold ups and malfunctions on different travel routes, and an interactive map of specific destinations so that the user can get a clear view of the area and nearby traffic stops. But how much does the average user care for these functions, and how often are they used on an average visit? What are the users? motivations when they visit the site? Earlier research suggested that there are services and functions on this website that are useful and well crafted, but that some people may not be aware of.

This thesis is about language planning in Faeroese libraries as seen from the countrys specific situation, with Faeroese as a mothers tongue, but with great dominance of the Danish language within media. The purpose of my thesis is to examine language planning activities within the library, and the consequences this planning has for the system. Different theories about language planning provides a framework for my model of the library as a linguistic eco-system with actors performing status planning, represented by the government with its influence in cultural politics, the librarian with his or her library tasks and the user with his or her needs. The thesis has a qualitative attempt, and the empirical material consists of different documents about the country and materials from interviews made with seven qualified librarians, employed within general libraries in the Faeroe Islands. The analysis shows that the librarian in different ways promotes the Faeroese language within library activities, and because of the attention paid to the user in the public library he/she influences the librarians planning.

Idag kopplas ofta etik inom användarmedverkan till behovet av användare i utvecklingsstadiet av IT-produkter. Det är svårt att hitta etiska riktlinjer för bemötande av användare genom en projektprocess. I denna studie hanterades detta genom att identifiera etiska temaområden relaterade till bemötande och samarbete med användare genom en litteraturstudie. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur praktiker hanterar utmaningar som de upplever vid användarinvolvering i ett IT-projekts olika stadier. Den syftar även till att ge praktiker stöd vid upptäckt och hantering av etiska utmaningar.

The aim of this master thesis is to study what relationship mentally disabled adults have with the public library and what factors affect their meeting with the library. The work of the library is also studied so that the experiences of the mentally disabled can be put in relation to the work performed for the group. The method used was interviews with four mentally disabled adults and one librarian responsible for the social function and availability at the library. As a theoretical framework Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen?s model over the profiles of the library and Michael Buckland?s barriers, which must be overcome to achieve full access to information, were used.

About 35 years ago the WHO advocated that countries with injecting drug users should introduce the so-called needle exchange programs (NEP) to curb the spread of infection by blood-borne diseases. In Sweden the first NEP started 1985 in Lund, but the program was extremely controversial in a country with such a restrictive drug policy like Sweden.The study you are about to read shall process this controversy, when a NEP opened in Stockholm, by analyzing the articles published in the newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet. By using discourse analysis as a processing tool we?ll try to see the difference between the two chosen newspapers. We will identify and analyze the different participant?s, such as doctors, politicians, user associations and media, arguments in the needle exchange issue.

This bachelor thesis project has been executed at Outotec Sweden AB in Skellefteå. Outotecs main business focus is selling mineral and metal processing technologies. A rest product from the metal process is particle-polluted gas and cyclone designs are today the most commonly used abatement device for particle control. A cyclone provides a simple design with high efficiency particle percolation by using air streams.The purpose of this work is to reduce the time it takes create new cyclone designs in Outotecs projects. An extensive construction work is needed for every new cyclone order due to new designs.

Background and problem: Financial reports are created for the users as decision support. Stakeholders are often subjects to information asymmetry. Banks represent one of the primary stakeholders and financiers of a company, and place great emphasis on financial reports in their credit assessment process. The question is, however, how useful the financial information actually is. According to previous research, banks consider accounting information as troublesome in some respects, mostly due to accounting choices and judgments.

The power system modelled in this thesis work has been developed for simulationwhen e.g. the production in some part of the power system is changed. The powersystem has been modelled according to the swing mass of the system, the frequencydependency of the load and the turbine governor. The model determines the systemfrequency, the period of regulation and the power exchange between the differentsubsystems in the Nordic synchronized system.In this model the system frequency is assumed to be the same in all different parts ofthe power system and the voltage conditions in the power system are neglected. Forthat reason power swings does not occur between different subsystems in the powersystem, which usually occur as a result of the swinging connection between thetransmissions line.

This thesis aimed to study the interaction between an educational technology system and its users and give suggestions for design improvements. The technology system is called EDIT (Educational Development through Information Technology) and has been developed and applied at Linköping University?s Faculty of Health Science. EDIT supports Problem Based Learning and enables scenarios to be presented through the World Wide Web. The study was divided into two parts.

Internet and digital technology has changed the way we live our lives. As individuals we've found new ways to communicate, educate and experience. But what's the effect on B2B marketing? Previous research presents transactional benefits such as lower costs and easier access to information, but there is limited research done on more complex and long term relationships as well as on modern digital tools. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether a deeper long term B2B relationship can be created and nurtured using digital tools for communication, and if so, how these tools and processes can be described and understood.

The increased interest in relationship marketing and the potential of the Internet as a platform for relationship building activities have given rise to new ways for companies to interact with their customers, such as services based on a freemium pricing model. Based on the premise that relationships are processes consisting of interactive moments of value-creating activities, value is considered subjective, relative and dependent on the context in which the activity takes place. Value is therefore variable given its context and cannot be pre-defined without nuances being lost. Despite the Internet's given role in societal development, our understanding of what contributes to customers' intentions to build relationships with online services is yet to mature.As the music industry is well established on the Internet, alongside the change in how music is consumed, it is thus appropriate to examine activities in accordance with a freemium based service that distributes music online, since it still lacks in academic understanding.This study aims to provide insights about virtual relations and how online services that provide cultural content should relate to there users as well as contributing to the ongoing academic discussion regarding value and how it is manifested by highlighting contextual impact on relational activities. For a rapprochement of relations to online services in cultural industries, this study assumed a practice perspective.

The predominant forestry harvesting method is based on the harvester-forwarder method, theharvester folds, branches and cuts trees, and sorts the logs into piles, while a forwarder transportsthe logs to a landing area.This master thesis work is about realization of a dynamic forwarder simulation model, and itspurpose is to provide an integrated forwarder simulation model in MATLAB/SimMechanicswhere the forwarder is based on a concept using pendulum arms to connect wheels and chassis.Active suspension control is developed and implemented into the simulation model, and finallycompared in simulation with passive suspension.In a first step, an integrated forwarder simulation model is developed, containing a simplifiedforwarder model, a tire-to-ground interaction model and a test track model. The simplifiedforwarder model is based a rigid multi-body system with a spring-damper suspension of thependulum arms. The tire-to-ground interaction model calculates the reaction forces, friction fromthe ground and applies the propulsion force. The test track model is a simplified version of thereal test track in Skogforsk. The propulsion wheel torque control is used to regulate theforwarder speed.

Social media has made it possible to have a conversation in real time through audio, images and text, with anyone worldwide. The easy availability of social media has created a new society. Companies and organizations have the opportunity to interact with their audiences and their target in a way not previously possible. Welcome to the Web 2.0 world!Social media is a collective name for the communication channels that allow users to communicate directly with each other in real time through text, image or sound. Examples of social media are blogs, SMS, Skype, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, Linkedin and Myspace.The purpose of this essay is to explore social media's role and opportunities in terms of being able to influence companies and organizations marketing communication. We have used a qualitative approach and our thesis is based on a qualitative text analysis study where we have analyzed 13 articles (the articles are from scholarly journals, magazines and trade/professional) from 2007 to 2009.

To be competitive in the corporate climate of today it is important to have effective logistic activities. A common resource within the internal logistics is forklift trucks, which are used to lift and transport material. It becomes more and more important to decide whether to buy, lease or rent the forklifts to obtain an optimal economic situation. Many companies have issues with internal pricing. It is difficult to price products and services correctly. It is common to price the overall instead of what it really costs.The purpose of the thesis is to present a model for the acquisition of forklifts for internal logistic operations, regarding financing and internal pricing, to obtain economic effectiveness and an optimal forklift fleet size. The study focused on a specific research question, and for this purpose interviews with experts were held, observations were made and a literature study was done.