This qualitative study treats the construction and maintenance of balance between work and private life and how flexibility in the workplace is perceived. The study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and these have been conducted in five large companies around Gothenburg. The analysis and results are based on the phenomenographic method approach and the final results were four themes: Balance, Flexibility, Combining family and work and lifelong learning with related subcategories. The result shows that the construction and maintenance of balance between work and personal life is something that is tied to the indi-viduals and the current situation in life. Two of the most common strategies to maintain a dis-tinction proved to be planning as well as other activities, in order to move the focus away from the work.

Användningen av Internet har ökat kraftigt de senaste åren och begreppet webbportal har blivit allt vanligare. Syftet med det här arbetet är att undersöka om det är en webbportals design som är det avgörande vid valet av webbportal eller om det är innehållet och tjänsterna. Kanske är det en kombination av design och tjänster som värdesätts högst.I detta arbete utförs en heuristisk utvärdering av ett antal bostadsförvaltningsportaler för att undersöka både eventuella användbarhetsproblem samt hur väl designade portalerna är. I arbetet görs även en enkätundersökning hos ett antal utvalda hyresgäster hos AB Skövdebostäder för att undersöka inställningen till designen av företagets webbplats samt dess innehåll och tjänster.Resultatet visar att webbportalers tjänster är viktigare än designen men att designen inte är helt oviktig. Några generella slutsatser kan dock inte dras av detta arbetes undersökningar eftersom både antalet medverkande portaler och hyresgäster är allt för få..

Due to a growing interest in communication in today?s society the demand for equipment that is used in communication networks increases while the competition between companies that produce this equipment grows. To meet the increasing demand and at the same time having a competitive product development many companies use some effective product design, such as the modular product design. When a modular product design is used it?s good to compare different module configurations for a certain product and to simplify these comparisons some tool can be used.

This Master Thesis is a product development project that has been carried out in cooperation withSvea Teknik AB. The company has developed an apparatus for attachment of a keel to a hull base ofa boat. The purpose for this thesis has been to compare a new concept of keel attachment incomposite material to thetraditionaldesign solution. This new keel attachment minimizes thedamages that may arise on the keel and the hull of the boat in shape of stresses impacts at grounding.Today it is a problem, relating to keel attachment on sailing boats having a fin keel or a bulbous keel.The manufacture focus on developing larger draught and shorter keel blades. The overall purpose isto increase performance of the sailing boat.The task for this thesis was to develop a concept of keel blade in composite material and investigateattachment to a sheet-shaped element.

Construction accounts for about 35 percent of the total Swedish energy consumption and most of the energy is used by the large housing stock from the so-called ?Million program?. In the national action plan the government has put forward in energy efficiency. It is mentioned that existing buildings account for more than 90 percent of what is expected to be the housing stock within the coming 50 years. In order to meet environmental objectives its required that the existing stock be reviewed for energy efficiency. The goverment is now initiating a national framework with a budget of SEK 300 million Swedish crowns per year for five years, starting in 2010 to achieve the goal on energy efficient buildings. Energy efficiency of buildings in both new construction and above all within the existing stock are addressed.

The construction and use of buildings in the EU accounts for half of the EU?s extracted materials and energy consumptions, and a third of greenhouse gas emissions. In the past decade, the construction sector has responded to such concerns by focusing on post production energy efficiency. However, new findings indicate that upstream construction processes influence emissions significantly ? necessitating a shift in focus to include material choices and building processes.

Detta arbete består av designen av ett gränssnitt för webbplatsen whatismykidplaying.com. Designen var tänkt att ge hög användbarhet för målgruppen och testades av användare i ett think-aloud test. De fick testa och utvärdera hur väl gränssnittet fungerar och  deras feedback utvärderades och resultaten låg till grund för förslag på förändringar i gränssnittet, vissa som sedan blev implementerade. Studien har utgått från de olika stegen i en användarcentrerad utvecklingsmodell, analys - design - utvärdering - återkoppling, och en iteration har genomförts.Som utgångspunkt, för att öka användbarheten i webbplatsens gränssnitt, användes diverse regler och riktlinjer för hur användbarhet bäst kan uppnås, när designen gjordes. Hur väl dessa regler och riktlinjer fungerat tillsammans, i detta projekt och design, blev således en del i think-aloud testest utvärdering.

The study addresses the field of design as a profession and examines the views on strategic management in a design project among nine selected graphic designers. The graphic designers who participate in the study are permanently employed at design companies in Stockholm. The study has a qualitative approach and the method is based on face-to-face interviews. We have chosen to examine this subject due to the opinion among professionals that strategic management in the design industry has increased during the last decades. There is a belief that strategic management in some cases are used too extensively as a way for design companies to make more money.

This thesis has evaluated environmental classifications of projects and the lessons learned to explore what the possible ramifications of implementing this in the construction and infrastructure are. Companies today are looking to develop methods to demonstrate their environmental commitments, but there is an uncertainty regarding the contribution of environmental classifications in this aspect.The literature review presents the theory of environmental classification, which provides a general knowledge of its function. The empirical data is based on an analysis of existing classification methods and qualitative interviews. The analysis shows specific environmental classification system for the area of construction and infrastructure. CEEQUAL is currently the only environmental classification applicable to Swedish projects and therefore serves as the basis for the continued analysis.

The Mobile phone has contributed to massive changes in the way that human beings communicate with each other and is a part of society?s globalization. Opinions differ in the area of user interface where some feel that mobile phones exclude users such as senior citizens or users with an intellectual or a physical disability.Universal Design ??design for all?, is a vision that intends to bring about settings, products and services that suits as many people as possible irrespective of an individual?s needs and prospects. The criteria for ?design for all? are among other things flexibility, user friendliness, comprehensibility and a high tolerance for mistakes.The purpose of this essay was to investigate the mobile phones graphic user-interface from the theory of a universal design.

We have the tradition in Sweden to build villas and houses with a wooden framework. It has become natural for us because we have so much forest in our country. Building with wood has advantages, it is easy to process, but also disadvantages, as it is sensitive to moisture.Finland has long made use of the thermal blocks to build villas. It is a type of bricks that are a bit like a sandwich element, with a core of EPS and concrete on both sides of the core material. The concrete is hollow, so that after the walls has been bricked up you pour concrete into the hollow bricks.The issue of this report is to find out if concrete can be an alternative to wood as framework material in villas.

The main objective of this thesis was to develop appropriate strategies and find factors that affect the usability of parameterized designs. This was accomplished by investigate the user-interface and how it is designed to meet the user's information needs. The thesis also embraces the basic theories in terms of investigation, cognitive design principles and human behavior patterns in the interaction with the machine. The approach has led to an explorative investigation in this subject area.The thesis also had the purpose to achieve more efficient ways for development of motor chainsaws at Husqvarna AB's department Global Cutting Equipment. That can be achieved through reduce costs of development per sold unit.

The Sister Kenny Research Center is part of the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute locatedat the Abbott Northwestern hospital in Minneapolis, USA. The Sister Kenny RehabilitationInstitute provides rehabilitative services, treating more than 70,000 patients a year.The Sister Kenny Research Center strives to optimize the service to patients by nurturingnew innovations in rehabilitation care and treatment. Research projects are conducted ininterdisciplinary so-called Clinical Innovation Teams. As the Sister Kenny Research Center isrecently started, it did not prior to this thesis project have a design process or structured way ofworking in design projects.The outcome of this thesis project is a comprehensive innovation strategy package with a set oftools to enhance the innovativeness at the Sister Kenny Research Center. The strategy packageconsists of three interlinked parts:?A design process adapted to the work environment at the Sister Kenny Research Centerensuring projects are conducted in a structured and innovative manner.?An Innovation Handbook describing the design process to the Clinical Innovation Teamsand providing step-by-step guidance to designing.

Detta examensarbete utreder frågeställningen om den såkallade "olyckskorpen" ? alltså yrkesarbetaren som är inblandad i flertalet arbetsplatsolyckor ? verkligen existerar. Frågan är lite av kontroversiell typ och har diskuterats sedan 1940-talet, utan något avsevärt utslag eller dokumenterat alster.Samarbetspartner blev NCC Construction och två av deras stora arbetsplatser i Stockholmsområdet valdes som mätfält; Söderby samt Frösunda.Undersökningen baserades på datainhämtning genom enkätformular till yrkesarbetare och ledning på de utvalda arbetsplatserna, genom erfarenhetsinhämtning från platschefer och lagbasar inom NCCs organisation samt från YTH-studenter på byggprogrammet. Författarnas egen erfarenhet från branschen har också vägts in i bearbetningen.Resultatet gav ingen olyckskorp att sätta fingret på, men en indikation från samtliga håll att egenskaper som kan knytas till olyckskorpen förekommer i branschen. Detta gav upphov till en teoretisk modell att användas för att ringa in olyckskorpar på individuell nivå i en vidare undersökning..

Patientövervakning och rondmöten är centrala aktiviteter i all sjukvård. Teknik som tagits fram för patientövervakning och rondmöten är relativt underutvecklad vad gäller överblick och mötesstöd. En fallstudie genomfördes med två observationer och en fokusgruppintervju på intensivvårdskliniken vid Linköpings universitetssjukhus. Syftet med fallstudien var att ta fram grundläggande informationskrav för att stödja sjukvårdspersonal vid möten och ronder i en intensivvårdssituation. Målet var att utveckla en övergripande design för ett digitalt arbetsbord.