This Master's thesis aims to investigate the reference interview using the discourse analytical method discourse psychology. The reference interview has been studied thoroughly, and its importance has been proven repeatedly within the field of Library and Information Science (LIS). However, it has never been studied from a discourse analytical point of view before.The material for our study was gathered at Malmö public library, and consists of 10 tape-recorded and then transcribed reference interviews. Our study shows that there are several discourses within the reference situation. The dominating discourse, the reference interview discourse, is found within all the reference interviews.

The purpose of this study was to follow a research-oriented design process and to develop a design draft for a digital service that supports users to make more environmentally conscious choises in their everyday life. By following an interaction design process from start to final delivery, the study aims at creating a broad understanding of the process. Therefore, many userrelated activities were implemented in the study: eg. personas, scenarios, sketching and user testing. The project resulted in digital wireframes for an iPhone application using embedded GPS to identify and locate environmentally friendly businesses.

At Saab Aerospace in Linköping, components for measurement systems to the fighter aircraft JAS 39 Gripen are developed. In this activity you sometimes want to record the traffic transmitted on the data busses that connects different sys-tems. This traffic on the data busses is using the military standard MIL-STD-1553. This project has aimed to create a system for recording and sending 1553-data. The system is used on an ordinary personal computer, equipped with a recon- figurable I/O card that among others has a programmable logic circuit (FPGA).

The aim was to evaluate and suggest improvements for the prototype TIVOLI (sign-learning via computer-based playful interaction). The game purposed to give children who need signing as augmentative and alternative communication enhanced signing skills. Three children in need of signs played TIVOLI at home during 4-5 weeks. Data contained parental interviews, Talking Mats interviews, assessment of signing competence before and after the evaluation period and game protocols. One game interaction per child was filmed.

In this Bachelor thesis I explore sound and room as elements in design of user interfaces, both theoretical and practical in a specific application domain, to identify some of the advantages and disadvantage associated with these elements. As application domain I studied email clients and their usage at home amongst students at Blekinge Institute of Technology. In the study I found an activity, which seems to be highly distributed in the physical room where the user is located. The activity was notification of email and could take place in an arbitrary location of the home. I then augmented this activity with ideas from my theoretical assumption about room and sound.

The city of Kalmar has a desire that their 3D maps of the city should come to a greater use and get residents more involved in Kalmar city. The purpose of this report is to show one way to work with these 3D maps when it comes to presenting information about Kalmar for its residents and tourists in a specific area.  The report also includes information about advantages and disadvantages with the use of 2D and 3D maps in different environments. Various reports and other sources indicate an interest in 3D and a use for this, but even that 2D is still seen as a natural way to read a map. By collecting information from relevant literature, interviews and user testing, the group has obtained sufficient background information to present the results of a web site, where the visitor can navigate in both 2D and 3D in a specific area of Kalmar. User tests and surveys have been conducted in two rounds and the web site has been revised after their results..

This report presents the redesign of the online-based non-governmental organization Equalisters? (Rättviseförmedlingen in Swedish) website. It aims to achieve an understanding of how you take into account the user and other stakeholders and their interests when developing a website. The focus was on redesigning an existing website and prioritize the different stakeholders? needs.

When constructing a road the risk of emission of substances from the used materials to the surrounding environment has to be evaluated. The aim of this study is to present a proposal for how to evaluate the risk of contamination as a result of emission from the materials in a road construction. The study is based on literature studies, an inventory and a questionnaire that examines how experts in governmental agencies, industries and universities evaluate the risk of contamination. The inventory indicates that guidelines for evaluating the risk of emission from secondary materials in a road construction do not exist. The conclusions from the questionnaire are: that there is no common way to evaluate the risk of contamination as a result of emission from materials in the road construction, there is no uniform interpretation of the terms "minor" and "significant" risk of contamination and that the evaluation is subjective.

Background: As a result of the financial markets ever ongoing product innovation a new derivative was introduced in the USA in 1997. A derivative that derived it's value, not from the price of an underlying asset, but instead from a climate factor. It's been known for a long time that revenue in certain industries are affected by weather conditions. The suppliers of weather derivatives claim that these weather sensitive businesses can user weather derivatives in order to lessen weather risk. Purpose: To do a critical evaluation of how weather derivatives can be used by companies as a risk management tool.

This paper examines the potential benefits of using augmented reality as a tool for visualizing furniture in a buyer?s own environment before buying it. A simple prototype is developed and tested.  The steps for developing the prototype are described in great detail as well as the tools being used. The prototype is tested both on people working in the furniture business as well as people with experience in buying furniture online. In conclusion the results from the user tests are analyzed and the potential benefits are described.

In relation to the development of IT-products it is very important that the software supplier is aware not only of the target group but also the field of application. Usability should characterize the whole IT-design process as, in relation to this context, design includes more than merely those aspects which are visible to and thus can be interpreted by the naked eye. The study examines the specific qualities and properties that substantiate the usability and the demands that a customer rightfully expects from an IT-product. The user and the customer are highlighted in the same context in order to demonstrate that it is through the customer that an IT-product is defined as being useful. Thus, from this perspective, the user and customer can be considered as being the same person.

This report describes the process of developing a user-friendly and responsive archive website. The website is a Hi-fi prototype and was created for the company JG Communications, to serve as an archive for their customers? style guidelines. To create this website I have used HTML5 and CSS3 to make it responsive for various computer screens. I have also used PHP and some JavaScript to make some of the functions and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to make design elements for the prototype.

This diploma work project is a product development project which purpose is to redesign a braking system for a walking frame. The system that was developed diverges the force from the user to braking power, and includes a service brake as well as a parking brake. The most important components of the system are a grip handle on where the user holds on to and a braking handle on which the user operates the brake from. The system also includes a power transmission component, braking package and other mechanical components. All of the components wasn?t developed in this project, several off them has been reused from the existing system.This product has been developed to meet the requirements and standards presented from the principal, Ahlberg Leber.

The city of Kalmar has a desire that their 3D maps of the city should come to a greater use and get residents more involved in Kalmar city. The purpose of this report is to show one way to work with these 3D maps when it comes to presenting information about Kalmar for its residents and tourists in a specific area.  The report also includes information about advantages and disadvantages with the use of 2D and 3D maps in different environments. Various reports and other sources indicate an interest in 3D and a use for this, but even that 2D is still seen as a natural way to read a map. By collecting information from relevant literature, interviews and user testing, the group has obtained sufficient background information to present the results of a web site, where the visitor can navigate in both 2D and 3D in a specific area of Kalmar. User tests and surveys have been conducted in two rounds and the web site has been revised after their results..

This field study examined how elderly and cognitively disabled people used and experienced a social companion robot. The following pages explores the questions: Which are the physical, social and affective qualities during the interaction? The aim was to through observations see how qualities of interaction could activate different forms of behavior. The results show that motion, sound and the eyes together created communicative and emotional changes for users who felt joy and were willing to share the activity with others. The robot stimulated to some extent users to create their own imaginative experiences but often failed to involve user or group for a long time and was also considered too large and heavy to handle..