Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Creative interface'

This research contributes to the evolving field of New Media Studies through an empirical examination of social media design in real-time practice at the computer interface. In recent years questions of technology and design have started to figure more prominently in research into Social Network Sites (SNSs) but critical analysis of design in practice, at the interface remains under-researched. The interface is becoming an increasingly important analytical concept in the digital age as it is the space where machine readable code is translated into the cultural codes which are accessible to the everyday users of digital media technology. Furthermore, there have been recent calls for an expansion of the traditional media practice paradigm encouraging practice approaches to media which take seriously the mediating role of technologies in emergent forms of digital media practice. This thesis carries out empirical research into social media/ted practice; it critically examines sites and real-time interactions at the interface, to understand the interrelationships between the specific design of platforms and evolving forms of social media/ted practice. The thesis draws on Media Studies, New Media Studies, Sociology and Social Studies of Technology to explicate an original interdisciplinary analytical framework for studying people’s interactions with social media technologies at the interface. This framework is referred to as the triple articulation of social media/ted practice. The triple articulation of social media/ted practice acknowledges the interplay between the materiality of social media technologies, the cultural coding of social media technologies and active practice with social media technologies. The term social media/ted practice has been coined specifically to emphasise the mediating role of technology in social media use. Using SNSs as a case study the thesis combines critical site analysis with interviews at the interface which illuminate the interpretive and constructive elements of the micro-interactions between people and SNSs that underpin related forms of social media/ted practice. Whilst this thesis is focused on SNSs, the analytical framework has wider applicability in New Media Studies and media-orientated Sociology. The central argument of this thesis is that design matters for social media/ted practice. Site-specific ‘micro’ architectures, affordances and algorithmic processes continue to shape social media/ted practice at the interface. The user-interface works to render aspects of the technology visible, accessible, meaningful and useful. This thesis calls attention to the user-interface as a key site for: (1), mediating social practice (2), understanding emerging social trends (3), site governance and (4), developing critical digital media literacies.

The websites provided by academic libraries are challenged by the rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT). These developments have created diverse options and channels for information sources that can be accessed easily by users through the Internet. Because of these alternate sources, many users no longer physically visit the library. Instead, they depend on the library’s website to obtain information online, or they use Internet searches to obtain the information they require. This research addresses the following question: How do the users of academic libraries search for information and interact with the libraries’ web interfaces? The research draws on models from the disciplines of information-seeking behaviour (ISB) and human-computer interaction (HCI). A unified model based on the models in ISB and HCI is created and investigated. In addition, a qualitative study has been conducted to investigate users’ information needs, information-seeking behaviours, and difficulties and experiences with the websites of academic libraries. Interpretive case studies were conducted at two universities, one in the UK and one in Kuwait. Qualitative data were collected in interviews, focus groups, and observations of diverse groups of library users. Furthermore, a content analysis approach was applied to analyse the data. The findings revealed seven steps taken in searching for information and interacting with academic libraries’ web interfaces, but exposed variance in the order in which users executed these steps. The findings also revealed several issues regarding the use of library websites to search for information. In particular, these concerned the complexity of finding information, the content organisation of the library websites and the use of incomprehensible terms on the library websites. As a result, the library users relied heavily on Google to find information. The thesis concludes with suggested guidelines for how academic library interfaces can best support the way users search for information, as well as their interactions, experiences and needs. Keywords: information-seeking behaviour, human-computer interaction, users’ needs, user experience, academic library website, usability, content analysis, postgraduate students, academics, library staff, Kuwait, UK.

The possibility of co-creation exists for all media, but game design has developed a culture that is unusually open to co-creation. This dissertation investigates significant cases of co-creation in mainstream games in order to explore how games can be co-created as alternative or critical media by their players. The core argument in the dissertation is that players co-create the design of a game only if certain conditions are met, namely: (1) player creation of a text or communication infrastructure that modifies the properties of the game and from which play emerges; (2) that this is done for a considerable group of players who share a particular practice of play; (3) that this is done not only by playing the game but by changing how others play it in a distinct creative activity, and (4), with the potential to subvert or contest the original design of the game. This situation where player creators have influence over the design of the game (but little power to enforce their interests) is problematic from the perspective of alternative or critical media, as alternative, local, production is seen as one reason for why a medium can have an alternative message. The industrial production of games as cultural commodities does limit the potential of co-creative game design for subversion because it reduces the level of participation in the creation process, thus keeping player creators relatively disempowered. Player creators do have influence on the design of the game, while at the same time having very little power to enforce their interests and design visions. The influence of player creators comes from the consumer power of millions of players who use co-created assets and who want to them to continue exiting, and this creates a mutually dependent relationship (and even partnership), between co-creators and commercial owners. The dissertation concludes that co-creative game design, despite limitations related to the industrial production of games as cultural commodities, is already happening, and shows a potential for turning games into alternative media.

Les synthétiseurs audio sont des systèmes électroniques capable de générer des sons artificiels sous un ensemble de paramètres dépendants de leur architecture. Quand bien même de multiples évolutions ont transformé les synthétiseurs de simples curiosités sonores dans les années 60 et précédentes à des instruments maîtres dans les productions musicales modernes, deux grands défis restent à relever: le développement d'un système de synthèse répondant à des paramètres cohérent avec leur perception par un humain et la conception d'une méthode de synthèse universelle, capable de modéliser n'importe quelle source et de la dépasser. Cette thèse étudie l'utilisation et la valorisation des réseaux antagonistes génératifs (Generative Adversarial Networks, abrégé en GAN) pour construire un système répondant aux deux problèmes exposés précédemment. L'objectif principal est ainsi de proposer un synthétiseur neuronal capable de générer des sons de batteries réalistes et contrôlable par un ensemble de paramètres de timbres prédéfinis, ainsi que de proposer un contrôle de la vélocité de la synthèse. La première étape dans le projet a été de proposer une approche basée sur les dernières avancées techniques au moment de sa conception pour générer des sons de batteries réalistes. A cette méthode de synthèse neuronale, nous avons aussi ajouter des capacités de contrôle du timbre en explorant une voie différente des solutions existantes: l'utilisation de descripteurs différentiables. Pour donner des garanties expérimentales à notre travail, nous avons réalisé des expériences d'évaluation à la fois via des métriques objectives basées sur les statistiques mais aussi des évaluations subjectives et psychoĥysiques sur la qualité perçue et la perception des erreurs de contrôle. Pour proposer un synthétiseur utilisable pour des performances musicales, nous avons aussi ajouter un contrôle de la vélocité. Toujours dans l'idée de poursuivre la réalisation d'un synthétiseur universel et à contrôle universel, nous avons créer ex-nihilo un jeu de données composé de sons de batteries dans le but avoué de créer une base exhaustive des sons accessibles dans l'immense majorité des conditions rencontrées dans le contexte de la production musicale. De ce jeu de données, nous présentons des résultats expérimentaux liés au contrôle de la dynamique, un des aspects phares de la performance musicale mais laissé de côté par la littérature. Pour justifier des capacités offertes par la méthode de synthèse par GANs, nous montrons qu'il est possible de marier les méthodes de synthèse classiques avec la synthèse neuronale en exploitant les limites et particularités des GANs pour obtenir des sons hybrides nouveaux et musicalement intéressants
Audio synthesizers are electronic systems capable of generating artificial sounds under parameters depending on their architecture. Even though multiple evolutions have transformed synthesizers from simple sonic curiosities in the 1960s and earlier to the main instruments in modern musical productions, two major challenges remain; the development of a system of sound synthesis with a parameter set coherent with its perception by a human and the design of a universal synthesis method, able to model any source and provide new original sounds. This thesis studies using and enhancing Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) to build a system answering the previously-mentioned problems. The main objective is to propose a neural synthesizer capable of generating realistic drum sounds controllable by predefined timbre parameters and hit velocity. The first step in the project was to propose an approach based on the latest technological advances at the time of its conception to generate realistic drum sounds. We added timbre control capabilities to this method by exploring a different way from existing solutions, i.e., differentiable descriptors. To give experimental guarantees to our work, we performed evaluation experiments via objective metrics based on statistics and subjective and psychopĥysical evaluations on perceived quality and perception of control errors. These experiments continued to add velocity control to the timbral control. Still, with the idea of pursuing the realization of a versatile synthesizer with universal control, we have created a dataset ex-nihilo composed of drum sounds to create an exhaustive database of sounds accessible in the vast majority of conditions encountered in the context of music production. From this dataset, we present experimental results related to the control of dynamics, one of the critical aspects of musical performance but left aside by the literature. To justify the capabilities offered by the GANs synthesis method, we show that it is possible to marry classical synthesis methods with neural synthesis by exploiting the limits and particularities of GANs to obtain new and musically interesting hybrid sounds

Esta dissertação propõe-se a analisar possíveis interfaces entre a Arquitetura e a Escultura, abordando suas produções realizadas a partir da segunda metade do século XX, período que se caracterizou pelo rompimento de inúmeros paradigmas teóricos e conceituais. Considerando essas manifestações a partir de suas naturezas tridimensionais, busca-se, segundo um enfoque transdisciplinar, apurar significados e novos parâmetros de análise compartilhados por ambas expressões, num processo recíproco de influências conceituais e práticas. A pesquisa divide-se em duas partes. Na primeira delas - Conceitos Tridimensionais - são estudados os fatos históricos e os conceitos filosóficos que influenciaram as concepções teóricas das produções da arquitetura e da escultura desse período. Nesta parte também são estudadas algumas transformações específicas dos universos dessas manifestações, consideradas determinantes para a constituição das obras posteriormente destacadas. Na segunda parte - Processos Tridimensionais - é realizada a leitura de algumas obras arquitetônicas e escultóricas fundamentadas sobre novas organizações produtivas estabelecidas no período estudado. Partindo do repertório transdisciplinar apresentado na primeira parte sobre os conceitos criativos de ambas as manifestações, são definidos parâmetros de análise que abrangem temas fundamentais das interfaces mencionadas. Os conceitos de Paisagem, Tempo, Estrutura, Matéria e Forma são estendidos em definições que conduzem a leitura de cada uma das obras selecionadas. Com isso, são estabelecidos novos conceitos cognitivos dessas construções, demonstrando como se influenciam mutuamente, compartilhando ou não suas intenções. Também é revelado o potencial advindo da proximidade entre Arquitetura e Escultura, oferecendo referenciais teóricos e práticos para que possam ser explorados em futuras produções. Sintetizando os procedimentos específicos destes atos tridimensionais e os conceitos filosóficos de leitura, busca-se demonstrar, a partir da densidade das obras escolhidas, atos singulares da existência humana.
This dissertation aims to analyze possible interfaces between Architecture and Sculpture, approaching their productions made from the second half of the twentieth century, a period that was characterized by disruption of numerous theoretical and conceptual paradigms. Considering these manifestations from their three-dimensional nature, according to a transdisciplinary approach, it seeks to establish new meanings and analysis parameters shared by both expressions, in a reciprocal process of conceptual and practical influences. The research is divided into two parts. The first part - Three-Dimensional Concepts - refers to the historical facts and philosophical concepts that have influenced the theoretical concepts of architectural and sculptural production of this period. In this part are also studied some transformations of the specific universes of these manifestations, which are considered crucial to the creation of the works later analyzed. In the second part - Three-Dimensional Processes - it is presented a reading of some architectural and sculptural works based on new productive organizations established in the studied period. From the transdisciplinary repertoire presented in the first part about the creative concepts of both manifestations analysis, parameters are defined to embrace fundamental themes of the mentioned interfaces. The concepts of Landscape, Time, Structure, Matter and Form are extended in definitions that lead to the reading of each of the selected works. Thus, new cognitive concepts of these constructions are established demonstrating how they influence each other, sharing their intentions or not. The potential arising from the proximity of these two expressions is also shown, offering theoretical and practical references so that they can be explored in future productions. Summarizing the specific procedures of these three-dimensional acts and the philosophical reading concepts, it is aimed to show, from the profundity of the chosen works, single acts of human existence.

In this thesis we will examine a telecom industry case, where combining synchronous and asynchronous interfaces causes problems. A solution to the problem is being presented in form of an interface controller framework that is based on patterns of common functionality of interface controllers. The solution is implemented using four different implementation methods (Java, Erlang, XDE, Executable UML), and compared in lines of code, performance and throughput.
I rapporten undersöks ett fall i telekominudstrin, där kombinerandet av synkrona och asynkrona interface orsakar problem. En lösning på problemet är presenterat i form av ett framework för interface controllers som är baserat på mönster som beskriver den gemensamma funktionaliten i interface controllers. Lösningen är implementerad med hjälp av fyra olika implementeringsmetoder (Java, Erlang, XDE och Executable UML), där rader kod och prestanda jämförs.
pt00cbj@student.bth.se pt00psa@student.bth.se

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73).
Modern chart-making, illustration, and mathematical tools poorly support the use of conceptual components in quantitative graphs such as Economics diagrams. The substantial time those tools require to achieve the desired results leads many people to sketch their graphs with pencil and paper instead of using a computer. In this thesis, I address the challenge of designing a software user interface that not only includes all features necessary to create a wide range of quantitative conceptual diagrams, but also is dramatically more efficient to use than existing programs. My design takes several important interaction techniques that previous applications used separately and comprehensively integrates them in order to create new, flexible capabilities. I have implemented this design as a desktop application called Graph Sketcher, and I present results of studies which show that my interface halves the time required to complete several common graph creation tasks. I also show that the 700 students, teachers, professionals, and hobbyists worldwide who choose to use Graph Sketcher in their everyday work nd the interface intuitive, enjoyable, and empowering for generating many different types of graphs.
by Robin S. Stewart.
S.M.

Application programing interfaces promote reuse by facilitating interaction between software components and/or software libraries. API code templates are parameterized API scenarios that can be quickly instantiated by copy-and-pasting or through support from integrated development environments. They provide the skeletal structure of an API coding scenario and let developers simply "fill in the blanks" with the details of their coding task. Unfortunately, creating relevant API code templates requires time and experience with the API. To address these problems we present a technique that mines API usage patterns and transforms them into API code templates. Our intuition is that API usage patterns are a solid basis for code templates because they are grounded by actual API usage. We evaluate our approach performing retroactive study on the Mammoth, ArgoUML, and Eclipse projects to see if API code templates created from earlier versions could have been helpful to developers in later versions. Our results show that, on average, each API code template our technique mined could have helped developers with creating six, nine, and twelve new methods in Mammoth, ArgoUML, and Eclipse, respectively. In our evaluation, we mined many API code templates from the three test projects that provide evidence that our technique could have helped developers learn and use an API faster in many opportunities.
Les interfaces de programmation (API) encouragent la réutilisation de code en facilitant l'interaction entre les composantes du logiciel et ses librairies. Les "templates" d'API sont des scénarios d'utilisation de l'API paramétrées pour êtres rapidement instanciés par copier-coller ou par le soutien intégré des environnements de développement. Ils fournissent le squelette d'un scénario d'utilisation de l'API et laissent au développeurs la simple tâche de "remplir les espace". Malheureusement, afin de créer des "templates" pertinents, du temps et de l'expérience avec l'API sont nécessaires. Pour résoudre ces problèmes, nous présentons une technique par laquelle les "templates" d'API sont découverts en analysant des scénarios d'utilisation existants. Notre intuition est que de tels scénarios sont une base valide pour la découverte de "templates" car ils sont une représentation existante de l'API en action. Nous évaluons notre méthode en effectuant une étude rétroactive sur les projets Mammoth, ArgoUML, et Eclipse pour voir si les modèles créés à partir de versions antérieures auraient été utiles aux développeurs dans les versions ultérieures. Nos résultats illustrent que, en moyenne, chaque "template" d'API créé par notre technique aurait permis aux développeurs de créer six, neuf et douze nouvelles méthodes dans les projets Mammoth, ArgoUML, et Eclipse, respectivement. De plus, dans notre évaluation, de nombreux modèles de code API ont été créé à partir des ces trois projets, ainsi prouvant que notre technique pourrait avoir aidée les développeurs à apprendre et utiliser une API plus rapidement dans de nombreuses occasions.

In general an ontology is created by following a top-down, or so called genus-species approach, where the species are differentiated from the genus and from each other by means of differentiae [8]. The superconcept is the genus, every subconcept is a species, and the differentiae correspond to roles. To complete it a user organizes data into a proper structure, accompanied with the instances in that domain in order to complete the construction of an ontology. It is a concept learning procedure in a school, for example. Students first learn the general knowledge and apply it to their exercise and homework for practice. After they are more familiar with the knowledge, they can use what they have learned to solve the problems in their daily life. The deductive learning approach is based on the fundamental knowledge that a student has acquired already. By contrast, a more intuitive way of learning is the bottom-up approach, which is based on atomism. That is also a frequently used way for humans to acquire knowledge. From sensing the world by vision, hearing, and touching, people learn information about actual objects, i.e., instances, in the world. After an instance has been collected, a relationship between it and existing knowledge will be created and an ontology will be formed automatically. The primary goal of this thesis is to make a better instance input interface for the ontology development tool Protégé to simplify the procedure of ontology construction. The second goal is to show the feasibility of a bottom-up approach for the building of an ontology. Without setting up the organization of classes and properties (slots) first, a user simply inputs all the information from an instance and the program will form an ontology automatically. It means after an instance has been entered, the system will find a proper location inside of the ontology to store it.

Science is becoming increasingly multi-disciplinary and complicated. To solve complex scientific problems, we often need to integrate software and customize workflows to suit a particular problem. To make progress on key scientific issues, extended scientific collaborations are growingly dependent on complex workflows for data analysis and simulation. Service Oriented Architecture has gained popularity in recent years within scientific research community. It has been broadly accepted as a means of structuring interactions among distributed software services. Service Oriented Architecture is a new paradigm for accessing, integrating and coordinating loosely coupled software systems in a standardized way. It aims to reduce the cost of building and maintaining complex software systems while increasing their re-usability. However, most of the large industrial and scientific applications available today were written well before the introduction of Grid computing and Service Oriented Architectures. Hence, they are neither service oriented nor Grid-aware. There is a growing need to integrate them into Grid-aware applications based on Service Oriented Architecture. How to integrate these legacy applications into the Grid with the least possible effort and the best performance has become a crucial point. The majority of the applications developed and used by scientific communities are command-line applications. They are written in FORTRAN, C, and a host of scripting languages. In addition to being fast and efficient, these applications represent state-of- the-art science; however, they are bound by many limitations which make it difficult to compose complex workflows from them and run them on a distributed set of resources. By converting these command-line legacy applications into Application Services, it becomes easy to compose complex workflows from them and run them on the distributed resources. There are some research programs aiming at integrating the legacy codes into Grid infrastructure. Some frameworks have been developed to compose and run scientific workflows on a Grid. A number of systems are available to allow scientists to Grid- enabling their existing applications without having to write extra code or modify their applications. But most of them do not provide a toolkit for wrapping an application as a Grid-aware Web service. Few of the systems have addressed the issue of security. This thesis presents an approach to reducing the required effort needed in developing Application Services for end users. Also during the execution of complex scientific workflows, Application Services often become unavailable primarily due to the unreliable nature of the resources that host them. When an Application Service becomes unavailable, all workflows that are accessing it have to stop, and this means wasting a great deal of time and resources. This thesis offers a new solution to this problem, via providing a mechanism by which Application Service can be created on-demand from workflows in case it is unavailable.

This research focuses on important aspects for the theoretical design of a user interface. Meeting the needs of the user is often a challenge for the developer since it is necessary to get a point of view from the user. Besides the technological development process it is important to create a user interface in theory to avoid spending time and costs for improvements and further development after the release of the software or the device. The purpose of the study is to create an understanding for important criteria for designing a user interface. These criteria are required to meet the needs of an effective human-machine communication. This study is performed with the help of a qualitative approach. The collected information in the theoretical part will be supported from the data of the empirical part. This research wants to present an investigation about attitudes which are important for the user of a user interface. The study will point out important aspects from the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Human-Computer interaction can be seen as a part of informatics and mainly treats issues regarding to the communication between humans and the computer. Furthermore, Usability Engineering is a part of this study. Within this field, points of how to ensure the usability of software or a device are mentioned. As last area, Graphic Interface Design is in focus. Graphic Interface Design affects the creation of a user interface as well as the consideration of already given theories about Human-Computer Interaction. Within this area, aspects for the design of a user interface and their attitudes are discussed. The result of this research will be presented in text form by answering the research question ‘What design principles are important to use when designing a good user interface’. Within the study it will be shown that the user itself is one of the most important factors when designing a user interface. Given standards and theories allow getting a perspective from the user. But also hardware aspects must be considered when designing a user interface for a specific device. It also will be shown that nevertheless the technological development processes within the information technology, fundamental design principles of Human-Computer interaction are still important.
Program: Kandidatutbildning i informatik

Within the field of heavy machinery, the driver environment and its user interface (UI) has not always been a high priority during product development. This is about to change since the user experience, especially of the driver, becomes more of a selling point. Kiruna Utility Vehicles (Kiruna UV), who manufactures slag haulers for the steel industry, has developed a new driver cabin to meet these future demands. The development has been conducted in collaboration with students at Luleå University of Technology. This master thesis aims to create a basis for the digital user interface of the Kiruna UV SH60 slag hauler. The needs of the users are very important in order to ensure a good user experience. This is why a human-centred design process was chosen for this project. Extensive research has been conducted with the drivers, mechanics, managers and manufacturer of the SH60 slag hauler. Research was conducted through field studies, where interviews, observations and eye tracking were used as the main tools.The slag hauler driver operates the vehicle in two positions, where the need for information differs. When the slag hauler is driven the driver is facing forward and in this position the slag hauler is similar to any other heavy machinery. The UI needs to display for example speed, gear and RPM. When loading or emptying slag pots, the driver turns around to manoeuvre the tipping system. In this position, information about the lockings, support legs and tipping system is the most important.Through brainstorming sessions and ideation workshops with the manufacturer and participants without connection to the slag hauler, ideas on how different types of information can be shown were generated. Ideas regarding layout of the UI were also produced. These ideas were then mapped onto four different concepts that were developed through several iterations. These were then evaluated through a survey study, a usability test and feedback sessions with slag hauler drivers, mechanics and the manufacturer.A final concept was created that accommodates all the information that is needed in order to operate and maintain the slag hauler in a safe and efficient way. That is for example speed, RPM, information about the tipping system and data from the engine, transmission and hydraulic system. The final concept contains the parts of the four previous concepts that proved to work the best in the concept evaluation. The user interface has a modern look that fits into the new driver cabin design. We have shown that the user experience of the driver and service personnel can be improved through the user interface, by adapting it to user needs. We have also shown what benefits can be achieved by using a human-centred design approach within the field of heavy machinery.
I tunga fordon har förarmiljön och dess användargränssnitt ofta varit lågt prioriterad under produktutvecklingen. Detta håller på att förändras då användarupplevelsen, i synnerhet för föraren, blir ett allt viktigare försäljningsargument. Kiruna Utility Vehicles (Kiruna UV), som tillverkar slaggtruckar för stålindustrin, har tagit fram en ny förarhytt för att möta dessa nya krav. Utvecklingen av förarhytten har skett i samarbete med studenter vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet. Detta examensarbete på masternivå har haft som syfte att skapa ett digitalt användargränssnitt för Kiruna UV:s slaggtruck modell SH60.Användarnas behov är viktiga för att kunna säkerställa en bra användarupplevelse. Därför valdes en människocentrerad designprocess för detta projekt. Omfattande användarstudier har genomförts tillsammans med förare, mekaniker, beslutsfattare och tillverkaren av slaggtrucken. Efterforskningarna har utförts i form av en fältstudier där intervjuer, observationer och eye-tracking användes som huvudsakliga verktyg.Slaggtrucksföraren manövrerar slaggtrucken i två olika positioner, där informationsbehovet skiljer sig åt. Vid körning av slaggtrucken är föraren vänd framåt och i detta läge är den ganska lik andra tunga maskiner. Användargränssnittet måste förmedla information om varvtal, hastighet, växel och bränslenivå.Vid lastning eller tömning av slaggdeglar vänder sig föraren om för att manövrera tippsystemet. I detta läge måste gränssnittet förmedla information om lyftarmarnas position, låsningar och stödben.Genom brainstorming och idéskapande workshops med intressenter och deltagare utan erfarenhet av slaggtruckar, skapades idéer om hur information kan presenteras. Även idéer för gränssnittets layout togs fram. Idéerna kopplades sedan till fyra olika koncept som utvecklades i flera iterationer. Dessa utvärderades genom en enkätundersökning, ett användartest samt återkopplingsmöten med slaggtrucksförare, mekaniker och tillverkare. Ett slutligt koncept skapades, som innehåller den information som behövs för att manövrera och underhålla slaggtrucken på ett säkert och effektivt sätt. Exempel på detta är varvtal, hastighet och information om tippsystemet. Konceptet innehåller de delar av de fyra koncepten som visade sig fungera bäst under konceptutvärderingen. Användargränssnittet har ett modernt utseende som passar in i den nya förarhytten. Vi har visat att användarupplevelsen för förare och servicepersonal kan förbättras genom att anpassa gränssnittet efter deras behov. Vi har också visat vilka fördelar som finns med att använda en människocentrerad designprocess för produktutveckling av tunga maskiner.

In recent years the user interfaces of the TV platform have been powered by HTML, but since the platform is starting to support new techniques it might be time to change the focus. HTML is a good choice for interface development because of its high level and platform independence; however, when performance is critical and the requirements are high HTML can impose serious restrictions. WebGL is a technology released in 2011 that brings a low-level graphics API to the web. The API allows for development of advanced 3D graphics and visual effects that were impossible or impractical in the HTML world. The problem is that the hassle of using pure WebGL is in most cases too big to overcome. In this thesis a proof-of-concept was developed to investigate the issues and limitations of WebGL. A conclusion was made that even though the performance was not as good as expected it might still be viable for use in some settings.

Aquest treball es una recerca doctoral en el camp de les interfases gràfiques d’usuari estereoscòpiques. Avaluem l’estat actual de la tecnologia 3D i l’estat de l’art en les tendències de l’àrea, traduint-les a conceptes aplicables a software. L’objectiu principal és estudiar com la profunditat 3D pot millorar la interfase d’una aplicació, donant-li estètica i utilitat. Independentment del medi, el nostre enfoc és proveir eines i tècniques eficients que s’apliquin al procés de disseny d’interfases par a afegir-les-hi profunditat. És per això que hem treballat en un entorno web, d’escriptori, con gestos y estudis de percepció d’usabilitat, amb la intenció de documentar tant les reaccions dels usuaris com les aplicacions innovadores en software. Aquesta tesis documenta un esforç de 4 anys en l’àrea de les interfases gràfiques d’usuari estereoscòpiques. S’inicia revisant les bases de la teoria estereoscòpica i l’estat de la tecnologia. Posteriorment ens fixem en les fases d’interès del procés de creació d’una interfase gràfica, des del prototip fins la mesura de la profunditat percebuda. Construïm eines i biblioteques adaptades a les tecnologies actuals i que permeten als desenvolupadores i entusiastes crear aplicacions que utilitzin 3D, incloent les aplicacions de Realitat Virtual.
Este trabajo es una investigación doctoral en el campo de interfaces graficas de usuario estereoscópicas. Se evalúa el estado actual de la tecnología 3D y el estado del arte en las tendencias del área, traduciéndolas a conceptos aplicables a software. El objetivo principal es estudiar como la profundidad 3D puede mejorar la interfaz de una aplicación, otorgándole una estética y utilidad. Independientemente del medio, nuestro enfoque es proveer herramientas y técnicas eficientes que se apliquen a proceso de diseño de interfaces para añadirles profundidad. Es por ello que trabajamos en un entorno web, de escritorio, con gestos y estudios de percepción de usabilidad, con la intención de documentar tanto las reacciones de los usuarios como las aplicaciones novedosas en software. La presente tesis documenta un esfuerzo de 4 años en el área de interfaces graficas de usuario estereoscópicas. Empezamos repasando las bases de la teoría estereoscópica y el estado de la tecnología. Luego nos fijamos en varias fases del proceso de creación de una interfaz gráfica, desde el prototipado hasta la medición de la profundidad percibida. Construimos herramientas y bibliotecas que van de la mano con las tecnologías actuales y que permiten a los desarrolladores y entusiastas crear aplicaciones que utilicen 3D, incluyendo las aplicaciones de Realidad Virtual.
interfaces. It evaluates the current state of 3D technology and the state of the art trends in the area and translates them to software applications. The main objective is to study how 3D depth can enhance a GUI application, by having an aesthetic and utilitarian function. Independent of medium, our main focus is to provide efficient tools and techniques that apply to the interface design process to add depth to it. In this vein we work with web, desktop, gestural technologies and perception UX studies with the intention of documenting both user reactions and innovative software implementations. The present thesis documents our 4 year effort in the field of stereoscopic graphical user interface. We walk through the foundations of the stereo theory and the state of the technology. We then approach several phases of a GUI creating pipeline: from sketching prototypes to measuring the perceived depth effect. We built frameworks and plugins that go hand to hand with the current technology stack and allow other developers and enthusiasts to create both stereoscopic 3D GUIs and VR applications.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-130).
The Hook-ups project introduces a new set of tools, materials, and activities intended to support children in creating physical computer input devices for computer programs they write. This project introduces a new approach to learning-through-design by providing opportunities for children to engage in both physical and computational design concurrently. This thesis describes the design of Hook-ups tools and materials, including the development of Scratch Patches - a new puzzle-piece-like set of technological building blocks used to build computer input devices. Also presented are classifications of the types of Hook-ups developed by youth, an analysis of what and how youth learned through Hook-ups design activities, and a roadmap for future work in the area of interaction design for children.
by Amon Daran Millner.
S.M.

This design/research study is located at the disciplinary interstices of Indigenous education and information science. It is motivated by the weaknesses of the dominant library knowledge organization systems (KOS) in representing and organizing documents with Indigenous content. The study first examines the nature of the problem and then explores ways in which Indigenous conceptual, theoretical and methodological approaches can generate new directions for KOS design. It thereby addresses the central research question, “How can Indigenous approaches to knowledge inform principles of design of library knowledge organization systems to serve Indigenous purposes?” An Indigenous theoretical lens, @ Cultural Interface, is assembled for the study composed of Martin Nakata’s (2007b) Cultural Interface, and Dwayne Donald’s (2009b) Indigenous Métissage. It is integrated with domain analysis in information science (Hjørland & Albrechtsen, 1995) to produce a methodology, domain analysis @ Cultural Interface, used to study the domain of Indigenous knowledge within post-secondary education. Information was gathered through expert interviews with nine Indigenous designers of Indigenous KOS from four countries; a user study with nine First Nations, Aboriginal, and Métis graduate students; and theoretical analyses. The study produced a theoretical framework for Indigenous knowledge organization based on four main findings: (1) knowledge organization is integral to educational infrastructure and is consequential for Indigenous learners and all learners; (2) a definition of the domain of Indigenous knowledge in post-secondary education, its boundaries and the boundary marker of Indigeneity; (3) an articulation of Indigenous knowledge organization as a field of study including a (partial) history, typology of design practice, objectives, and evaluation framework; and (4) a design workspace for conceptual enquiry. These findings are synthesized in a theoretical framework, Indigenous knowledge organization @ Cultural Interface, which can be applied in the design, study, and critique of knowledge organization for Indigenous purposes. It is noted that this study and its theoretical framework have been constructed incrementally based on selected theorists, particular participants, experiences, and literatures and offer only one of many possible interpretations.

It is 2am. A professor wakes up with a new direction for her research; she must immediately learn about bioethics. In a dorm a student is finally ready to begin a paper on Cuba. Where do they turn? The library web site presents them with a bewildering array of resources and no librarian on hand to serve as intermediary. How can librarians facilitate research in their absence? What interfaces can be designed to educate users in their search? What metadata is needed to enable accurate retrieval? What is the librarian’s role in the increasingly indirectly-mediated information-seeking environment? Can the reference interview be effectively translated into a search interface? This paper describes a step towards resolving these issues by creating an on-line tool to assist users in selecting the database(s) most germane to their research needs.

An increasing use of smartphones and other mobile devices puts pressure on user interfaces to work as well on small touch-screens as on desktop computers, and information visualisation interfaces are no exception. Even though there has been a demand for research on mobile information visualisation for many years, relatively little has been accomplished in this area, and the research that has been conducted is often narrow and oriented toward to a certain design. Therefore, this paper aims to give more general recommendations regarding the design of information visualisation interfaces for mobile devices. A qualitative user study was conducted to find weaknesses and strengths in existing information visualisation interfaces when interacted with on a smartphone. For this study, five prototypes were made by which different visualisations and interaction methods were tested by the participants of the study. The participants were given tasks based on the Visual Information Seeking Mantra, which focuses on four types of interaction with information visualisations (overview, zoom, filter and details-on-demand). The results indicate that the interaction with a visualisation is more important than visualisation itself to achieve a useful and efficient information visualisation interface. Other aspects to consider is to have an adequate zoom function, to not have interactive objects that are too small and to avoid over-cluttering. The latter aspect can be solved by either taking advantage of gestures or using more layers in the interface. However, what visualisations and interaction methods that work best is heavily dependent on the data and purpose of the visualisation
En ökande användning av smartphones och andra mobila enheter sätter press på användargränssnitt att fungera lika bra på små pekskärmar som på stationära datorer, och gränssnitt för informationsvisualisering är inget undantag. Trots att det har funnits en efterfrågan på forskning om mobil informationsvisualisering under många år har relativt lite uppnåtts inom detta område, samt att den forskning som har utförts ofta är smal och inriktad mot en viss design. Därför är syftet för denna forskningsartikel att ge mer allmänna rekommendationer om utformningen av gränssnitt för informationsvisualisering på mobila enheter. En kvalitativ användarstudie genomfördes för att hitta svagheter och styrkor i befintliga gränssnitt vid interaktion med en smartphone. För denna studie gjordes fem prototyper genom vilka olika visualiseringar och interaktionsmetoder testades av deltagarna i studien. Deltagarna fick uppgifter baserade på et mantra kallat ”the Visual Information Seeking Mantra”, som fokuserar på fyra typer av interaktion med informationsvisualiseringar. Resultaten indikerar att interaktionen med en visualisering är viktigare än själva visualiseringen för att uppnå ett användbart och effektivt informationsvisualiseringsgränssnitt. Andra aspekter att tänka på är att ha en effektiv zoomfunktion, att inte ha interaktiva objekt som är för små och att undvika att ha för många objekt på ett litet område. Den senare aspekten kan lösas genom att antingen dra fördel av gester eller använda fler lager i gränssnittet. Vilka visualiseringar och interaktionsmetoder som fungerar bäst är dock starkt beroende av data och syftet med visualiseringen.

Thesis (DDes) - Faculty of Design, Swinburne University of Technology, 2007.
[Submitted in total fulfillment of the requirements of the degree] Doctorate in Design, Swinburne University of Technology - 2007. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-74).

This thesis addresses the value of employing noise in the formulation of interfaces that engage in self-reflection. The articulation of the interfaces' formalist devices (message and noise) can generate paradoxical patterns that when enacted by the observer promote experiences of alterity in the formation of the work of art. This project is transdisciplinary and parasitic (following Michel Serres) in the sense that it is located in the relation of the artistic practice and the other sources; it resembles a foreigner (following Julia Kristeva) whose presence disrupts and invites its host to greet its own foreigner, and moves like a snake (following Aby Warburg) with maximum mobility and minimum target to disclose contradictions and formulate hypotheses. The first chapter, 'Focusing Attention', covers a wide range of disciplines in order to find points of convergence with the artistic practice and proposes a theorisation of the interface - an object or situation where a subject or system meet and interact, which is defined by its elements (message, noise and interference). Attention is proposed as a selective and active process that allows for an embodied subject to engage with ontological contradictions, without representing them, and to evolve in reciprocity with the world. Chapter two, 'Scripting Journeys', addresses the work of Bruce Nauman in light of the previous considerations (interface and attention) while proposing a methodological practice that focuses on a notion of travelling to a place in-between. Nauman's practice is proposed as topographic explorations primarily concerned with the 'mechanics of attention', which are formulated in the production of interfaces (as scripts for new journeys to places in-between) to be engaged by an observer. Chapter three, 'On the Go', addresses the production of new works of art as a formulation of the methodology identified in Nauman's practice. The chapter covers the production process and its underlying concerns when travelling to places proposed as in-between. The proposed notion of the interface is addressed in a direct relation with the new works of art to further understand the value of employing noise in the formation of experiences of alterity. This chapter should be considered in relation to the works of art previously exhibited, which are documented in the thesis and proposed as formulations of knowledge and not as representations of knowledge. This project will conclude by proposing three contributions to knowledge, which should be understood as hypotheses: first, the proposition of the notion of interface and its formalist devices (message, noise and interference), secondly, the re-interpretation of Bruce Nauman's practice, and thirdly, a new body of work articulating the interface's formalist devices across different mediums, which can be attended to by other artists when considering any concept of the interface.

As Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação assumem, hoje em dia, um papel de extrema importância nos desenvolvimentos estratégicos e operacionais de empresas tornando a gestão de informação mais simples e eficaz. Neste contexto surge o CRM (Customer Relationship Management), que define toda uma classe de ferramentas que automatizam as funções de contacto com o cliente, proporcionando às empresas uma melhor compreensão do comportamento dos seus clientes e a criação de ofertas de produtos e serviços personalizados. Um exemplo prático desta aplicação é o SugarCRM que embora seja uma plataforma altamente extensível, apresenta algumas limitações, no que diz respeito à optimização e automatização de tarefas repetitivas sejam elas de desenvolvimento ou administração. Assim, esta dissertação, procura desenvolver para SugarCRM uma alternativa, na forma de um CLI (Command-Line Interface) com o objetivo de aumentar a velocidade de desenvolvimento, ajudar na prevenção e deteção de erros e facilitar a execução de tarefas específicas; ABSTRACT: The Information and Communication Technologies assume, nowadays, a very important role with regard to operational and strategic developments of companies. In this context we find the CRM (Customer Relationship Management), a concept created to define a whole class of tools that automate the functions of customer contact, providing companies a beter understanding of the behavior of their customers and allowing the creation of products and personalized services offerings. A practical example application of this concept is SugarCRM, which although it is a highly extensible platorm, it has some limitations, concerning the optimization and automation of repetitive tasks related with development or administration processes. This dissertation aims to develop, an alternative, to be used by both system administrators and developers, in the form of a CLI (Command- Line Interface) for SugarCRM, that not only increases the development speed and helps preventing and detecting errors but also facilitates the execution of specific tasks.

ServiceSketch is a collaborative tabletop tool for service design. It was developed to address some of the challenges designers face when developing service systems, including the dynamic, intangible nature of service and the complexity of coordinating multiple stakeholders over time and space. The concept for the tool draws from literature on service design, tangible user interfaces, and co-creation. It was also informed by user research sessions with graduate design students. The interface of ServiceSketch consists of a large multi-touch surface display that reacts to finger touches and a provided set of physical objects. Both the hardware and software development of ServiceSketch are described in this document. ServiceSketch was evaluated with groups of graduate design students who were asked to perform small group service design activities using the tool. These sessions showed that ServiceSketch was successful in supporting common service design processes and even inspired many participants to suggest possible future developments for the tool. ServiceSketch also seemed to encourage a playful, collaborative approach to service design. The results of the project hint at the possibilities for a new breed of service design tool, one that focuses on facilitating conversations about service through an engaging, interactive medium.

Försvarets materielverk- test och evaluering (FMV T&E) are using an Excel application to store test data for radar equipment. This storing solution has some flaws as for accessibility, the way that the data is handled, and the way that the data is displayed. FMV T&E would like a new solution of displaying, storing, and accessing the data using a web browser. This thesis will therefore describe how a database and its user interface can be designed and implemented. This thesis also describes how this can be done in the best way regarding usability. The new solution can be accessed from anywhere due to the fact that it is going to be placed on a server which then can be accessed from a web browser. This new solution will exclude the flaws that the Excel application currently holds.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 61-64).
The negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV) defect center in diamond is a promising solid-state qubit due to its exceptional spin and optical properties. In this thesis, we develop high-yield, efficient spin-photon interfaces in diamond. In particular, we demonstrate a process that produces dielectic reflectors and photonic crystal nanobeam cavities directly on the surface of bulk diamond. Our results pave the way towards a scalable network of entangled quantum registers based on spin qubits in diamond.
by Noel H. Wan.
S.M.

During the fall of 2008 a prototype of an educational multiplayer role-playing game called World of Wisdom (WoW) was developed as part of the specialization project TDT4570. WoW focuses on using knowledge for progressing through the game. The goal of this thesis was to design and develop a user-interface for teachers, that could be used to generate new content for WoW. In this thesis we described the design and implementation of such a user-interface called the WoW World Editor. The World Editor supports generating new maps, creatures, objects and questions for World of Wisdom. By making it easier to create the worlds, the course staff can focus on creating the knowledge for the game. For the students to be able to interact with the course staff while playing the game, we suggest a seperate client for the course staff. This client will then have additional functions that can be used to aid the students with problem, and to get valuable feedback from the players.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the world has seen a changing trend in computing power thanks to advancements in technology. One peculiar platform in the field of usability is the tablet. Due to its recent introduction, it has had a relatively short life span with few established methodologies. The tablet is gaining market share at a tremendous speed and thus there has been a big demand of the appropriate evaluation methods. This comprehensive study intention is to; through a literature survey and transformation of collected material identify what usability requisites there are when developing a user interface for a tablet application. Existing user interface guidelines from various companies involving the development of tablet software are examined and paired up with usability principles in the creation of the usability checklist. The usability checklist practical effectiveness is tested on various tablet applications and the results are compared to the results of a usability user test  valuation. The majority of the usability problems found by the user test evaluation are codiscovered, in addition, there were a greater number of undiscovered usability problems that was identified with the checklist evaluation.

Unsurprisingly the National Health Service (NHS) has harnessed the prolific growth in Internet access to alleviate the increasing burden incurred due to rising healthcare costs. Healthcare interventions focus on the promotion of good behaviours; prevention of bad behaviours; provision of support for shared decision making; increasing knowledge and improving monitoring. Healthcare researchers typically rely on professional software developers in the creation of Internet interventions. Although varying in nomenclature Internet interventions typically consist of the same underlying components, such as navigation, logic and response capture. The LifeGuide Authoring Tool provides a potential solution to reduce this reliance of researchers on software developers in the creation of interventions. However the logic creation command line interface provided by LifeGuide is identified as a potential barrier for adoption, by nonprogrammers, due to their lack of experience with the strict programming style syntax it requires. Through the adoption of user-centred design techniques; early and continuous user involvement; rapid prototyping and interface design principles, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) was developed, with the potential to lower this barrier for researchers with no previous programming experience. A jigsaw metaphor was adopted in the design of the interface, utilising templates and pre-populated fields, with the aim of reducing errors and lowering the cognitive load experienced by users. A task-based evaluation compared the existing LifeGuide interface, with the new GUI, in the creation of commonly used logic. Higher results were reported over the five main usability measures: effectiveness; engagement; efficiency; ease of learning and error tolerability in favour of the GUI, in the creation of intervention logic. Continuing requests to the author to develop healthcare Internet Interventions supports the research, that there is still a heavy reliance of researchers on software developers. A further application for this approach was identified in the development of a tool to support healthcare researchers in the creation of mobile phone messaging interventions.

South Africans borrow more and save less than other nations (Discovery Bank, 2018). One reason is a lack of financial knowledge. If a mobile application could guide individuals to modify their financial habits slightly by spending less and saving more, they could dramatically improve their financial future. When designing visualisation systems such as a mobile application interface, users' qualitative design feedback and quantitative usability evaluation are both important and complementary. The benefit of usability feedback in software development is undisputed. The importance of qualitative design feedback from users however, seems to be controversial in Science. Gathering users' qualitative design feedback, ahead of usability evaluation, can have a substantial impact on downstream development costs. The researcher used design as a tool for thinking (imagining new possibilities) and communicating (sharing ideas). The purpose was to clarify ways in which a mobile application interface could support users in making better financial decisions and creating better financial futures for themselves and consequently for society. A user centred design (UCD) approach was followed, emphasising design before development, with a strong focus on user involvement in all three phases, namely requirements gathering, design and evaluation. A primary client archetype for mid-career professionals was developed, split into two personas, Alan and Zoe, based on personality and self-rated motivational attributes which were used in an unconventional way to inspire two parallel, diverse designs. In early design stages, before an idea is well formed, producing multiple contrasting designs in parallel and qualitative design feedback from users is beneficial to establishing utility (solving the right problem), tapping into users' domain knowledge, improving the quality of the design and reducing fixation on one idea. Once the concept has been socialised and evolved sufficiently with users' input, converging on one final design and testing usability (solving the problem in the right way) become more important. This research offers two refinements of the UCD process guidelines for the benefit of researchers and practitioners.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-108).
Information based tasks rely on software applications that allow users to interact with information in some pre-defined manner deemed appropriate by the application developer or information/content provider. Whereas such an approach facilitates one way of working with the information, it does not (and cannot) take into account the unique needs of the user, e.g., the particular content of interest given the specific task being performed and expertise of the user, information visualization and interaction preferences of the user, etc. As a result, users must perform additional overhead information management activities in working with the software tools in order to accomplish their particular tasks. In this thesis, we advocate breaking the "rigidity" of such applications by allowing users to create and customize their own task-oriented interfaces (information spaces) that aggregate and present task-specific information and tools on the same screen. In developing a system that allows users to tailor an information space in a manner that suits their particular task and preferences, we recognize a set of desirable properties it must have, and the need for it to provide the user customization control over three primary aspects of information in their information space: content, presentation and manipulation. Haystack, a generalized information management system, encompasses many of the desirable properties at the system level and also provides many of the building blocks that are required to give users greater customization control. We thus approach our ultimate goal of enabling users to build and configure a personalized task-oriented interface by providing them with tools situated in Haystack that allow manipulating various primitives that control
(cont.) the three aspects of information spaces. A discussion of the design and implementation of each of the tools is provided. The above solution allows users to develop information spaces that better match their unique conception of the task and eliminate much of the overhead resulting from "rigid" information management tools, resulting in productivity gains in recurring or long-running tasks.
by Karun Bakshi.
S.M.

Stefan Naumann Master of Architecture Mynewhome.com.au Exploring New Ways of Delivering Architecture;- Creating a Design Interface for Sustainable and Affordable Houses The aim of this research project was to explore new ways of delivering architecture and the engagement of architects in everyday, affordable, sustainable housing in Australia. This dissertation speculates on the possibility of a design system integrated with a design interface, where customers can self-configure or customise their home online with the help of embedded programs and an architect consultancy service. This can be seen as an alternative option for the homebuyer to the volume built, standard house. The design system displayed in this masters research was developed in three testing modes: speculative designs, site specific designs and user experiments. The system consists of modules and components that would have the embedded knowledge of the architect. They are intended to allow non professionals to self-arrange their homes. This was then integrated into a user interface. A construction system which allows prefabrication was then applied, but the main focus of the research was on the delivery of design and client engagement and not on the technicalities, or the realisation of a prefab system. The aim was to combine as much of the quality and advantages of a one off architecturally designed house, in particular, the consideration of user and site needs with the affordability and predictability of a completely pre-designed volume builder house. Digital design, production and marketing have the potential to make this challenge a success. This new digital way of delivering architecture could lead to houses that are more adaptable to different users and site needs than volume builder housing. The knowledge of the architect could be applied to ordinary housing, without the huge financial cost of the one off, architect designed house. The web based interface would allow customer interaction as tested in user experiments. The internet widens the possibility of the clients' involvement in the design process. These new online procurement processes are more instant and accessible and could result in an enlightened purchaser. There is the possibility to educate people, so informed decisions could be made. It could lead to houses with better orientation, engagement with new building materials, prefabrication technologies and the promotion of smaller houses resulting in more sustainable homes that are still reasonable in price. This is a very complex issue in which different experts would have to work together. However, there is a real possibility for a design interface to open up a dialogue between the architect and the general public.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 140).
As mobile devices become more powerful, researchers look to develop innovative applications that use new and effective means of input. Furthermore, developers must exploit the device's many capabilities (GPS, camera, touch screen, etc) in order to make equally powerful applications. This thesis presents the development of a multimodal system that allows users to create and share informative geographical landmarks using Android-powered smart-phones. The content associated with each landmark is dynamically integrated into the system's vocabulary, which allows users to easily use speech to access landmarks by the information related to them. The initial results of releasing the application on the Android Market have been encouraging, but also suggest that improvements need to be made to the system.
by Samuel S. Dyar.
M.Eng.

Development today has moved more towards battery technology, partly due to the increased demand of electric vehicles (EVs). The quest for a sustainable society is at an all-time high, with electrification of almost all devices only being the beginning. Due to the use of the fragile Lithium-Ion battery, a system that controls and monitors the battery must be implemented to ensure that it operates normally. A system like this is often referred to as a Battery Management System (BMS), in this case for Lithium-Ion batteries. The objective in this thesis is to construct a modular BMS playground for NEVS in Trollhättan to continue development on. The interface for the system will consist of Controller Area Network (CAN), a fast and robust communication protocol used in almost all personal vehicles today, and Isolated Serial Peripheral Interface (isoSPI), an isolated adaptation of one of the most common communication protocols used in sensors and microcontrollers so far. The BMS will be constructed of four individual subsystems using Arduino, each with a different purpose. These four subsystems are later merged into one BMS system to offer communication between CAN and isoSPI, thus supporting a future integration of this BMS to the Vehicle Control Unit of an EV. Moreover, since the BMS is going to be developed for a vehicle, modes for engaging the vehicle to drive and stop will be made. In order to provide some safety measures, automatic disconnection of the battery in case of an error will be added. The BMS with the previously mentioned features, also capable of doing voltage measurements with a safe connection/disconnection of the battery was then made. Features such as current and temperature monitoring were omitted due to time constraints and will in the future instead be done by NEVS along additional features. This thesis was conducted by Karlstad University and NEVS in Trollhättan, Sweden.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Computer Science, 2006.
"Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 28, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-06, Section: B, page: 3229. Adviser: Dennis Gannon.

The technology of creating web-based applications has been expanding and making better user interfaces that can support many different focus groups, such as building a website that is flexible and easy-to-use for children and/or the elderly. Another expansion has been in the field of storages of data and connectivity. These technologies, however, have a steep learning curve for new developers. With the rise of these new techniques, a unique contemporary set of skills have been introduced, the Front-End, which is a layer that involves the presentation aspect of an application. React.js is a popular JavaScript framework for front-end development. It has become the most framework for user  interface design. In today’s market there are several other frameworks that one can utilize for front-end solutions such as Angular v2 and Vue.js. The results of this thesis is the improvement on creating a developer friendly custom creation of unique elements. By following proper processes when using the API, one can learn and create their own custom API to their own liking. The API created is a basic GUI addition to React, which enables a Log-In interface that can be easily manipulated by following the thesis, and/or by tracing the steps in the code. This is useful for those that want to have a template GUI API.

La presente investigación, con el título "Videojuegos. Obras abiertas a experiencias inmersivas, correlaciones creativas y experimentaciones comunicativas", analiza teóricamente el mundo de los videojuegos, abordando aquellos aspectos que facilitan su comprensión como "obra abierta" al diseño, al arte y a la comunicación, para creadores y gran variedad de consumidores/jugadores. Esta investigación concibe los videojuegos como un modelo que posbilita la interprestación del término "obra abierta", de Umberto Eco en tanto que sus potencialidades interactivas son un constante llamamiento a la participación activa del jugador, a través de lecturas, acciones, (re)creaciones e interpretaciones de sus contenidos. en tal sentido, esta investigación se divide en cuatro niveles o capítulos, para un mayor análisis de contenidos. El primero, parte del concepto propuesto por Eco y establece un análisis en torno a los aspectos más característicos de los videojuegos; una visión panorámica de su industria y de los diversos tipos de jugadores como principales consumidores. El segundo trata, fundamentalmente, de aquellos factores vinculados con el diseño y analiza los componenetes expresivos de sus significantes; los juegos, la interactividad, las interfaces, los mundos, los personajes, las historias o las narraciones y la forma de percibirlos, sin olvidad por ello, el impacto en los procesos de creación y su posterior desarrollo. El tercero, se basa en la incidencia de lo artístico; en las múltiples y sólidas conexiones que se establecen entre las diferentes disciplinas artísticas como la arquitectura, el cine, la música, el teatro, la fotografía y la pintura, ya sea por influencia, intercambio o complemento. el último y cuarto nivel, se circunscribe en torno a la comunicación; a modo de pequeña reflexión, se analizan los videojuegos y su lugar en la cultura contemporánea.
Carita Pires De Carvalho, AN. (2012). VIDEOJUEGOS. OBRAS ABIERTAS A EXPERIENCIAS INMERSIVAS, CORRELACIONES CREATIVAS Y EXPERIMENTACIONES COMUNICATIVAS [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/15408
Palancia

Generating motions for humanoid robots is to this day a very challenging problem. These robots often features a high number of degrees of freedom, 20 or more, even for small-sized ones. This strongly limits the applicability of classical artificial intelligence approaches, and requires the design of specialized solutions. Some specific tasks, like locomotion or grasping, have been deeply studied, and important concepts like the Zero Moment Point (ZMP) for stable walking or the Grasping Shape Primitives were introduced. Previous relevant work also explored planning strategies for these two important tasks and ongoing research keeps improving the algorithms in terms of speed, robustness and applicability. When dealing with more generic tasks, a demonstration from a human can be used to derive an initial movement, which is then often optimized by the robot itself. In particular, one of the most common approaches is to directly acquire the movement of a human performer and adapt it to the robot. Ideally, this technique can yield very natural looking motions. This is a strong advantage, since human likeness of motions is very important for communication between human and robots, but no general mathematical formulation has been provided to date. The retargeting of human motions to robot motions presents indeed several inconveniences. First of all, the instrumentation for acquiring motion data is expensive, requires a careful setup and may not be accessible to most of the users. Second, a human actor who is able to perform the desired movement may not be available. Finally, the differences in the shape, degrees of freedom, power and weight distribution between humans and robots may require an intensive modification of the human motion in order to adapt it to the robot. During this adaptation process, the quality of movement appearance can end up to be significantly reduced. An alternative approach that does not suffer from these issues is the direct physical interaction between the robot and a human teacher. In a typical setup the instructor moves the humanoid's limbs, showing the robot how the task needs to be accomplished. The idea behind this technique, called ``kinesthetic demonstration'', actually appeared very early in robotics. Although under different names like ``teach-in'', ``guiding'', ``play back'', ``direct teaching'' or ``walk-through programming'', it constitutes one of the most effective methodologies for programming industrial robot arms. When teaching a robot using this technique the joints are usually let free to move. This approach has the disadvantage that the joints move under the force of gravity, so some setups include gravity compensation or workarounds to make the joints passive only when the teacher touches the robot. Apart from applying forces that compensate for gravity, when kinesthetic demonstration is used the robot usually just responds passively to the forces applied. In order to ease the teaching process, this thesis proposes a new paradigm, termed ``teaching by touching''. This approach consists in having the robot interpret the meaning of the tactile instructions it receives and move based on its own understanding of the user's will, instead of limiting its behavior to a mere passive movement. For instance, if the robot is squatting, and the user pushes the sensors on both sides of the robot, the robot will guess that the user wants it to stand up and will apply by itself forces on its knees. Using the classical approach, instead, the robot would not move when touched on both sides, and would require the user to actually lift up the robot's body. In other terms, the proposed methodology changes the way of interacting between humans and robots: with the classical, kinesthetic demonstration approach, the robot moves passively under the user forces like a puppet, while within the teaching by touching approach, touch is considered a way of communication between humans and robots that allows the robot to take an active role in the teaching process. Among the many ways of communication between humans, touch is actually one of the least studied but most powerful. Touch is often used by instructors in sport or dance classes to adjust the student's posture in a very intuitive way. Tactile instructions thus appear to be a very appealing modality for developing humanoid robot motions as well. Interpretation of tactile instructions spontaneously given by human teachers reveals to be a complex task for artificial systems. In fact, the way users employ touch to communicate their intention is still completely unexplored even in the interaction between humans, and models are not available. This thesis reports the first results obtained in the realization of a system for robot motion creation based on tactile interaction. In particular, it will be shown that the meaning of tactile instructions is both context dependent and user dependent. An example of context dependence of tactile instructions can be readily provided. If a user presses the upper part of the leg when the robot is standing he or she could imply that the robot should bend the leg backwards. However, when the robot is squatting, the same touch on the leg could mean that the robot should bend its knees further. In regard to user dependence, experiments showed that when asked to interact freely with the robot, different people tend to give different meaning to similar tactile instructions. In detail, preliminary results seem to suggest that the differences in the way of teaching could be partially explained by the diverse abstraction level at which teachers provide their instructions. For instance, some subjects decided to use a nearly direct mapping from a small set of sensors to the joints. Other users adopted a mapping between sensors and joints that appears to be derived from physical considerations. Expressly, the relationship between the pressed part and the way the robot should move according to the user can be estimated by imagining each joint to have a spring inside and to move according to the applied force. Finally, other people employed a mapping between a single touch and a complete movement. Using this approach, for instance, a step with one leg is symbolized by a tap on the knee of that leg. The experiments were conducted initially with simulated touch sensors. A technique that permits the interaction with virtual sensors displayed on a touch screen while making the real robot execute the motion will be introduced. The strongest advantage of this setup is that it allows applying teaching by touching even to cheap humanoids on the market that are usually lacking tactile sensors. A second set of experiments was then conducted with M3-Neony, a new humanoid robot equipped with touch sensors over the whole body, that will be shortly introduced. Data analysis confirmed the complexity of the mapping between touch instructions and the movement to be executed. On the other hand, it will be shown that experimental data suggest that the way in which the robot should respond to touch instructions can be described by using a low-dimensional subspace of the complete joint space. Interestingly, this subspace seems to be highly correlated to the subspace where the motion being developed lies. This fact suggests that the postures assumed by the robot during the movement could be used to improve the interpretation of tactile instructions. The final part of the thesis will briefly deal with very simple techniques used to improve the robustness of the motions taught to the robot. In detail, two approaches that use sensory information to automatically make small modification to the movement during its execution will be introduced. The first, graph based one, simply tries to make the robot return to a known state as soon as possible when a perturbation brings the robot state far from the expected one. The second approach, inspired from the chemotaxis of bacteria like Escherichia Coli, works by the addition of random noise of intensity that depends on whether the robot state evolves as expected or not.
Nonostante la ricchezza di soluzioni proposte in letteratura, la generazione di movimenti per robot umanoidi si rivela ancora un problema non risolto. I robot umanoidi presentano spesso oltre 20 gradi di libertà, anche nel caso di umanoidi di dimensioni ridotte. Questo rende impossibile applicare gli approcci classici dell'intelligenza artificiale, e richiede lo sviluppo di soluzioni specifiche per ciascun problema. Alcuni task particolari, come la locomozione o il grasping, sono stati studiati approfonditamente, e sono stati introdotti importanti concetti come lo Zero Moment Point (ZMP) per la camminata stabile o le grasping shape primitives per il grasping. Quando si ha che fare con task più generici, una dimostrazione da parte di un essere umano può essere utilizzata per derivare un movimento preliminare, che può poi venir ottimizzato dal robot stesso. In particolare, uno degli approcci più comuni è far eseguire il movimento direttamente ad un attore umano, registrarlo ed adattarlo al robot. Questa tecnica si rivela efficace nel produrre movimenti che appaiono naturali, e viene infatti spesso utilizzata nel campo della computer grafica. Questo è un grosso vantaggio, in quanto, sebbene avere movimenti naturali risulti importante per la comunicazione tra utenti e robot, al momento non esistono formalizzazioni matematiche. Il trasferire i movimenti da esseri umani a robot presenta tuttavia alcuni inconvenienti. Innanzitutto, la strumentazione per l'acquisizione di movimenti è costosa, richiede particolare cura per l'allestimento del sistema e non è fruibile alla maggior parte degli utenti. In secondo luogo, un attore in grado di compiere il movimento che si vuole far eseguire al robot potrebbe non essere disponibile. Infine, le differenze di forma, gradi di libertà, forza e distribuzione del peso tra esseri umani e umanoidi potrebbe richiedere di modificare in modo sostanziale il movimento. Durante questo processo di adattamento, caratteristiche importanti del movimento potrebbero venir modificate con una conseguente perdita di naturalezza del movimento. Un approccio alternativo che non presenta questi problemi è ottenere il movimento mediante interazione diretta tra il robot ed un insegnante umano. Un modo tipico di effettuare questo trasferimento di conoscenza è prevedere che l'insegnante muova direttamente gli arti del robot, mostrando come il task debba essere eseguito. L'idea di base di questa tecnica, denominata ``kinesthetic demonstration'', è comparsa molto presto in robotica, e sebbene sotto diversi nomi come ``teach-in'', ``guiding'', ``play back'', ``direct teaching'' o ``walk-through programming'', costituisce uno degli approcci più efficaci e diffusi per la programmazione di bracci robotici industriali. Solitamente quando viene impiegato questo approccio i giunti vengono lasciati liberi di muoversi. Se non vengono presi opportuni accorgimenti, quindi, vi è lo svantaggio che il robot si muova per il semplice effetto della forza di gravità. Sistemi per compensare automaticamente la forza di gravità sono stati proposti in letteratura. Altre soluzioni adottate sono rendere i giunti passivi solo localmente, quando l'utente tocca il robot. A parte eventuali compensazioni della gravità, quando viene impiegata la kinesthetic demonstration il robot si muove in modo totalmente passivo sotto effetto delle forze applicategli. Allo scopo di facilitare l'insegnamento di movimenti, questa tesi propone un nuovo paradigma di programmazione, chiamato ``teaching by touching''. Questo approccio consiste nel prevedere che il robot interpreti il significato delle istruzioni tattili che riceve, e si muova in base alla stima dell'intenzione sottostante all'istruzione tattile, anziché limitarsi a muoversi passivamente sotto l'effetto delle forze applicate. Per esempio, se il robot è accovacciato, e l'utente preme i sensori sui fianchi del robot, il robot potrebbe intuire che l'utente desideri che il robot si alzi, e potrebbe applicare forze agli arti inferiori in modo da assumere una posizione eretta. Viceversa, se viene utilizzata la kinesthetic demonstration classica, il robot non si muove quando gli vengono applicate forze ad ambo i lati del corpo, e per fare in modo che il robot si alzi l'utente deve esplicitamente sollevare il robot. In altri termini, la metodologia proposta cambia il modo di interagire tra esseri umani e robot: con la kinesthetic demonstration classica il robot si muove passivamente come farebbe una marionetta, mentre con il teaching by touching, le istruzioni tattili sono considerate come una forma di comunicazione tra uomo e robot ed il robot assume un ruolo attivo nel processo di apprendimento. Tra le varie forme di comunicazione tra esseri umani, il tatto è infatti una di quelle meno studiate ma più efficaci per trasferire una grande varietà di informazioni. Si pensi ad esempio a come, con semplici tocchi, istruttori di sport o di danza riescano a suggerire ai loro allievi come modificare il proprio movimento. Osservazioni di questo tipo, suggeriscono come il tatto risulti quindi una forma di comunicazione interessante anche per la comunicazione tra esseri umani e robot. L'interpretazione di istruzioni tattili fornite in modo spontaneo da insegnati umani risulta però essere complessa per sistemi artificiali. Infatti, il modo in cui gli esseri umani usano il tatto per comunicare le loro intenzioni è un campo completamente inesplorato, e modelli di come le istruzioni debbano essere interpretate sono completamenti assenti in letteratura. Questa tesi riporta i primi risultati ottenuti nella realizzazione di un sistema di sviluppo di movimenti per robot umanoidi basato su interazione tattile. In particolare viene dimostrato come il significato delle istruzioni tattili dipenda sia dal contesto che dall'utente che le fornisce. Un semplice esempio di dipendenza dal contesto può essere facilmente fornito: se il robot è in posizione eretta e l'utente preme la parte superiore della gamba allora ci si può aspettare che l'utente desideri portare indietro la gamba, mentre se il robot è accovacciato si può pensare che l'utente desideri che il robot pieghi le ginocchia per accovacciarsi ulteriormente. Per quanto riguarda la dipendenza dall'utente, esperimenti hanno dimostrato che, quando lasciati liberi di interagire a piacimento con il robot, utenti diversi tendono talvolta ad associare significati sostanzialmente differenti a istruzioni molto simili. In particolare, i risultati riportati in questa tesi sembrano suggerire che le differenze nel modo di insegnare di utenti diversi possano essere interpretate come differenze nel livello di astrazione usato da diverse persone. Per esempio, alcuni utenti hanno deciso di utilizzare un mapping fisso tra sensori e giunti. Altri soggetti hanno adottato una relazione tra sensori premuti e movimenti che sembrano derivare da considerazioni fisiche, ed in particolare dall'immaginare che i giunti siano elastici e che il robot si muova sotto l'effetto delle forze applicate dall'utente o dalla reazione del pavimento. Infine, altri utenti impiegano un mapping tra un singolo tocco ed un movimento completo. Con questo approccio, ad esempio, la pressione di un ginocchio è associata ad un passo effettuato con la relativa gamba. Gli esperimenti presentati sono stati condotti inizialmente con un sensori di tatto simulati. Una tecnica che permette di interagire con sensori simulati, visualizzati su un touch screen, è introdotta nella tesi. Il vantaggio di questo tipo di approccio sta nel fatto che permette di applicare la tecnica del teaching by touching anche agli umanoidi di basso costo tipicamente disponibili sul mercato. Un secondo insieme di esperimenti è stato condotto con M3-Neony, una nuova piattaforma robotica dotata di sensori tattili su tutto il corpo. L'analisi dei dati ha confermato la complessità della struttura del mapping tra istruzioni tattili e modifiche del movimento. D'altro canto, i risultati sperimentali indicano che i movimenti attesi come riposta alle istruzioni tattili giacciono in un sottospazio dello spazio dei giunti. In particolare, il fatto interessante è che tale sottospazio coincide con in sottospazio in cui può essere proiettato il movimento che l'utente sta sviluppando. Questa constatazione suggerisce che le posture assunte dal robot durante l'esecuzione del task possono essere impiegate per migliorare la stima del significato delle istruzioni tattili. La parte finale della tesi presenta brevemente due semplici tecniche che possono essere utilizzate per migliorare la robustezza a perturbazioni esterne dei movimenti generati. La prima, basata sulla costruzione di in grafo, tenta di far ritornare il robot in uno stato conosciuto il prima possibile dopo che una perturbazione porta lo stato lontano da quello aspettato. Il secondo approccio, derivato dalla chemiotassi di un batterio denominato Escherichia Coli, si basa sull'aggiunta di rumore al controllo, con un intensità che dipende dal fatto che lo stato evolva nel modo atteso o meno.

The project, presented in this paper, developed a web-based tool that provides training and technical support in the use of computers to employees at the San Bernardino Community College District. The purpose of this project was with the lack of one support system it has become necessary to create one place for support entities to share their expertise with one another and with the campus community. This project creates a web presence that all of these groups can contribute to. This system starts out small and creates a skeletal system that will allow for continued development after the project is over.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how prototyping of video game levels can be made more accessible by developing a user-friendly game level creation system, evaluating it and producing a number of design principles to be followed when designing such systems. The research question for this study is thus: How can video game level creation be made more accessible? There were several key areas at the center of this study such as Usability, GUI Design, Prototyping, and Game Development. This study utilized an adaption of the Design Science Research Methodology, and evaluation of the resulting artifact was done via user testing and surveys. Survey responses revealed that 95% of the participants successfully completed the main task of the trial, to create a completable video game level within 25 minutes. In addition, all participants answered a 3 (neutral) to 5 (best) on ranked survey questions relating to the usability of the artifact. This study resulted in design principles which were derived from the survey responses via a qualitative decoding process. The conclusion drawn is that computer game level creation can be made more accessible via the development of tools abiding by the design principles proposed by this study.

GIS have been plagued by complicated interfaces for some time but is improving. This thesis researches whether an interface with a flattened hierarchy is better suited for a geographical information system rather than a ribbon interface. Two interfaces were built for a system used to supply geographical data to aircraft and Mission support systems. A pre-study was conducted with the existing users and developers to synthesize initial requirements and conclude what is troublesome in the existing system and the workflow process. It was found that there was a lack of consistency in the current system and that the workflow felt ad-hoc. Two prototypes were developed as add-in in Esri’s newly launched ArcGIS Pro and usability tested, one using the ribbon interface and one with the flattened hierarchal interface. Using the subjective workload NASA TLX questionnaire, time on task and a questionnaire regarding the participants’ attitude towards the interface, it was able to see how the workload, efficiency and attitude for the different interfaces were. The usability testing of these interfaces showed no significant difference in time. There was only one significantly difference for the workload, it was in the physical scale. Users that first tested the ribbon interface and later the flattened hierarchal interface found the second interface to be significantly more demanding physically. An attitude questionnaire showed also that participants felt that the flattened hierarchal interface was significantly more overwhelming and would be more discouraged to use it compared to a ribbon interface.

Test management tools are used to structure and manage test processes in software and hardware development. The purpose of this project was to design a test report template editor for a test management tool with a focus on usability. Requirements analysis was made using domain analysis and stakeholder interviews. In the design phase, usage scenarios were developed as well as two paper prototypes. A final paper prototype was created based on feedback from the stakeholders. TDR reports is a WYSIWYG editor that provides a set of features that allow users to choose which information to include in their test reports. A basic usability evaluation was performed at the end of the study that indicated that the initial requirements were fulfilled.

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This capstone project created a proof-of-concept, web-based geospatial interface to record first-person written combat narratives from U.S. military service members in a story map format. The application compares the service members’ geographic-referenced combat stories, called story maps, against the historical record with the intent to validate potentially beneficial aspects derived from service member storytelling. If the stories produce results that are consistent or comparable to other historical records, then one consequence might be that soldier and Marine narratives may constitute an under-explored reservoir of knowledge, observations, and data. The application accomplishes the project’s original three goals: recording multiple narratives; turning the multiple narratives into a comprehensive map; and allowing an analyst to compare and contrast the narratives with historical documentation. The second battle of Fallujah in 2004 is this report’s case study for testing the application. Using constructed stories from artificial authors, the application’s narratives produced equivalent graphic illustrations as compared to the historical maps from the battle of Fallujah. The geographic accuracy of the graphic illustrations, on a par with the historical maps, validated the concept of obtaining service members’ combat stories.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
On the communication field, specifically on the studies about the creative processes of websites interfaces, the departments of account planning and information architecture/user experience design are responsible for the concept idealization and strategy for the creation and development of the digital interface. During the creative process, one of the most relevant factors is the focus on the user. Especially for sites that are part of advertising communication campaigns, driven to the relationship between brands and their consumers, which final objective is to build loyalty and generate the consumption of brands products and services on the long term. The mapping of users behavior, habits and needs that represent an interface s target, are basis for the tools and functionalities that the site will offer. A deeper and more complete mapping drives a more efficient and richer experience for the interface user. Under this purpose, planning methodologies are used together with user experience design techniques such as user tests and projective techniques, such as the creation of personas personas are fictitious characters created to represent the different real users profiles that are part of the target, defined in demographic, attitudinal and/or behavioral aspects, who will use a site. Having this context in mind, this study aims to analyze the planning process during websites creation, with focus on users mapping and understanding, reflecting on the available methodologies and projective techniques, above all the personas technique, and the impact of using those techniques in the creative process. Therefore, as methodological basis for this study we have done documental and bibliographical researches, and a descriptive presentation of a real case study, for illustrating digital interfaces creative process. The corpus of this study is the planning process for the creation of the new Brazilian Nestlé s website. Analysis period: August/2010 to June/2013. There were used as theoretical foundation concepts of mass communication, culture and consumption, advertising communication and hybrid advertising from Martin-Barbero, Bauman, Fontenelle, Wolf, Pinheiro, Carrascoza, Covaleski; of cyberspace and network creation processes from Castells, Lévy, Manovich, Morin, Deleuze and Guattari, Santaella, Leão, Salles, Lemos; and concepts of information architecture andu ser experience design from Kruger, Cooper, Moggridge, Mulder, Adlin. This study may contribute for the development of planning process typology for the creation of users centered websites, resulting on the development of interfaces capable to deliver an intuitive, interactive and efficient experience to different types of users
No campo da comunicação, especificamente nos estudos sobre os processos de criação de interfaces para sites, as áreas de planejamento estratégico e arquitetura de informação/user experience design são responsáveis pela idealização do conceito e estratégia para a criação e desenvolvimento da interface digital. Durante o processo criativo, um dos fatores de maior relevância é o foco no usuário. Sobretudo para sites que pertencem à comunicação publicitária voltada para o relacionamento das marcas com seus consumidores, cujo objetivo final é fidelizar consumidores e gerar consumo dos produtos e serviços da marca no longo prazo. A partir do mapeamento de comportamento, hábitos e necessidades dos usuários que representam o público-alvo de tal interface, são criadas as ferramentas e funcionalidades que o site oferecerá. Quanto mais profunda e completa for essa etapa de mapeamento, mais rica e efetiva será a experiência proporcionada ao usuário pela interface. Para isso, utilizam-se metodologias de planejamento aliadas a técnicas de desenho da experiência do usuário (conhecida como user experience design) com testes com usuários e técnicas projetivas, dentre as quais, destaca-se a de criação de personas personas são personagens fictícios criados para representar os diferentes tipos de usuários reais, que compõem determinado público-alvo definido em seus aspectos demográficos, de atitudes e/ou comportamento, que deverão utilizar um site. Nesse contexto, o presente estudo possui o objetivo de analisar o processo de planejamento durante a criação de sites, com foco no mapeamento e entendimento dos usuários, refletindo sobre as metodologias e técnicas projetivas existentes, sobretudo a técnica de criação de personas, e sobre qual o impacto da utilização dessas técnicas no processo criativo. Para tanto, como base metodológica desse estudo, foram realizadas pesquisas documentais, bibliográficas e apresentação descritiva de um estudo de caso real de mercado, a fim de ilustrar um processo criativo de interfaces digitais. O corpus do presente estudo é o processo de planejamento para a criação o novo portal brasileiro da marca Nestlé na internet. Período de análise: Agosto/2010 a Junho/2013. Foram utilizados como parte da fundamentação teórica conceitos de comunicação, cultura e consumo, comunicação publicitária e publicidade híbrida de Martin-Barbero, Bauman, Fontenelle, Wolf, Pinheiro, Carrascoza, Covaleski; de ciberespaço e processos de criação em rede de Castells, Lévy, Manovich, Morin, Deleuze e Guattari, Santaella, Leão, Salles; e conceitos de arquitetura de informação e user experience design de Kruger, Cooper, Moggridge, Mulder, Adlin. Esperase que este estudo contribua para o desenvolvimento de uma tipologia de processo de planejamento para criação de sites com foco nos usuários, resultando no desenvolvimento de interfaces que proporcionem aos diferentes tipos de usuários uma experiência intuitiva, interativa e eficiente

Mestrado em Comunicação Multimédia
O advento da Internet provocou alterações em diversas áreas da sociedade entre as quais a industria musical. Neste campo, essas mudanças levaram a que todo um modelo de negócio tenha agora de ser repensado. As editoras parecem estar a perder o controlo sobre a partilha dos conteúdos mas também sobre a própria promoção de artistas e obras. Hoje em dia qualquer pessoa pode ser um critico de música e exercer influencia dentro das suas redes sociais. É neste contexto que surge o Urock, uma aplicação multiplataformas para a partilha e transmissão de conteúdos musicais que permite aproximação entre artista e público. A especificação deste projecto levantou várias questões, entre as quais como atrair novos utilizadores e lidar com a quantidade de informação e conteúdos que estes têm dispersos na rede. O advento da tecnologia de mashups poderá ser a resposta a este problema. O utilizador comum tem, normalmente, a sua informação mais concentrada num local da rede e controlo sobre os seus conteúdos. No entanto, o utilizador artista pode ter a sua informação dispersa por vários locais na rede e pode não ter controlo sobre os conteúdos que lhe dizem respeito. Por esse motivo, a presente investigação procura identificar quais os web services necessários para criar perfil de artista dinâmico. Na impossibilidade de desenvolver a aplicação Urock, foi conceptualizado e implementado um subproduto, o Musikki. Esta aplicação permitiu efectuar um estudo de caso que possibilitou avaliar um modelo de mashups proposto como hipótese de trabalho.
The advent of Internet introduced changes in several areas of society and the music industry is no exception. These changes are forcing to a redefinition of the industryʼs business model. Record labels seem to be losing their control over how music content is shared and even how the promotion of artists and works are made. Nowadays, anyone can be a music critic and influence their network friends on what music to listen to. It is in this context that the Urock project appears, a user-generated content cross-platform application specially oriented for publishing and broadcasting musical content. Its main objective is to help new or established artists to promote their work, creating a bidirectional communication channel between artists and audience. The specification of this project raised several issues, like how to attract new users and how to deal with the information and content they have scattered all over the Internet. The advent of mashup technology might be the solution to this problem. Typically, common users have their information concentrated in one or two locations and total control over their media content. However, the user artist might have his information and content stored in different locations and might not have full control over all their content. For this reason, this research aims to identify which web services can be combined to create a dynamic user profile. Due to time restrictions it was impossible to develop the Urock application. For this reason, Musikki, an Urock sub product, was conceptualized and developed. This application allowed the evaluation, by means of a case study, of the mashup model proposed as a working hypothesis.