Antonio Opromolla

UX and Usability on Smart TV: A Case Study on a T-commerce Application

Smart TVs offers new possibilities of interaction, due to the peculiarity of the device and the presence of apps. However, more usability studies on Smart TV apps are needed in order to improve the quality of the user interfaces. So, in this paper the authors focus on the interaction between user and Smart TV through remote control. In detail, they test with the users an e-commerce (or more specifically, t-commerce) application on Smart TV.

A Usability Study of a Gesture Recognition System Applied During the Surgical Procedures

Within an operating room, surgeons need to interact with a large amount of patient’s medical information and data. In order to avoid misunderstandings among the staff and protecting the patient safety, the medical staff may use a touchless interaction system that allows the surgeons to directly interact with digital devices that visualize digital images. The RISO project aims to create a gesture recognition system for the visualization and manipulation of medical images, useful for the surgeons even during the surgical procedures. In this paper we show the main findings from a usability study carried out with the aim to evaluate, among others, the learnability of the system and the memorability of the gestures employed for the interaction.

A User-Centered Approach in Designing NFC Couponing Platform: The Case Study of CMM Applications

In this paper, we will introduce CMM, a mobile couponing platform that allows retailers to create virtual coupons, and consumers to download and redeem them through NFC technology. In developing the system, we followed a user-centered design approach, adopting an iterative design process. Moreover, we studied the way consumers interact through NFC technology in mobile couponing applications. For this purpose, we arranged an analysis on user needs, a usability evaluation performed by experts, and a survey involving final users. The paper will show the most important findings from these studies.

Elderly and Tablets: Considerations and Suggestions About the Design of Proper Applications

In this paper, the authors support the idea that tablet is the ideal tool to assist and enhance the elderly living by providing them with value-added services. Currently the risk is that a poor design interface may exclude this substantial part of the population from using useful technologies because of their specific age category requirements. So, after an analysis of the related academic literature and an assessment both of elderly needs and tablet limits and potential, the authors select a set of considerations and suggestions for the design of tablet applications for elderly, in order to facilitate the interaction.

Roma Crash Map: An Open Data Visualization Tool for the Municipalities of Rome

The open data availability, promoted by the open government approach, does not correspond to an effective and organized use of them with the detriment of both citizens and PAs. We assume that a data visualization tool could help the spread of information in an easy and accessible way, even for what concerns open data. In this paper we will focus on the map, as one of the most suitable tools for the interactive representation of spatial related data. So, we will present the Roma Crash Map platform, a web application that allows to visualize the road crashes open data related to the 19 Municipalities of the city of Rome. In details, we will report the considerations about the selection and design of the visualization tools, according to the purpose to familiarize the users with participating tools integrating maps or more complex geographical systems.

Improving Quality of Interaction with the Mobility Services Through the Gamification Approach

The evolution of mobility sector towards a multimodal and multi-service approach enables new possibilities of interaction for travellers. At once it creates a complex ecosystem where the final users are one of the main key components for the effectiveness and the success of the deployed mobility strategies and solutions. It implies that, both for academic and commercial purposes, a remarkable attention should be put on the design approaches focusing on human aspects in interactive systems. Moreover different methods aiming at enhancing the user experience should be exploited, in order to trigger desirable and worthy innovations. So in this paper we focus on gamification for improving the quality of interaction with the mobility services. In effect, mobility represents a more and more promising domain for the application of playful solutions, although in this field it is nowadays employed mostly for incentivizing smart and sustainable behaviours, also in combination with crowdsourcing. However we can suppose a wider use of this approach in the mobility services, e.g. to improve the overall traveller experience and to increase an active collaboration among the stakeholders. In detail, in this paper we will discuss three main variables to identify which possibilities can emerge in future mobility services by applying a gamification approach: the different stages of a journey, for better knowing the contexts of action and the needs of people potentially interested in; the devices to be exploited, for better accomplishing gamification purposes; the game components, for better understanding how they contribute to fulfill the traveller objectives.

Citizen Involvement in Public Services Design: The SPAC3 Case Study

In the last years new relational systems between citizens and Institutions have been arising. One of the main effects of such transformation is an increasing citizen engagement in designing public services. The motivations, modes, and effects concerning this practice are relevant research topics addressing political, social, and economic issues. In this paper the authors present the SPAC3 project, as it involved the citizens in the design process. The project aims to allow families of the Municipality of Bergamo Italy to access services and information dedicated to them in a more effective way. Here, the authors will focus on the analysis carried out in the project, by pointing out the methodology and the main achieved outcomes, and the features of the identified solution. In the end, the SPAC3 project has been a good opportunity to think about the complex relationship between citizens and Institutions in order to strengthen it.

The role of design in supporting the continual emergence of hybrid spaces of interaction within the city

Abstract The high connectivity of people, things and ideas provided by ICTs has started a transformation of the physical aspect and the social relations of the city by creating hybrid spaces of interaction largely influenced by human factors. By assuming a human-centered perspective and providing tools and mental approaches suitable to tackle complex systems, the design has been contributing to this process. However the deep correlation between public spaces and social exchanges letting emerge new interaction patterns makes forewarn that, if aware, the design of hybrid public spaces would arguably lead to a sustainable development of future cities. It means dealing with complexity and at the same time with the participation of an increasing amount of people with different levels of expertise. So open and flexible tools derived from several disciplines are needed. As an example of what design for next would be, the paper shows some possible design frameworks.

Playful Interactions for the Citizens’ Engagement. The Musical Language as a Possible Application

The human side of the city is taking more and more importance. It allows to create a positive human experience and to evaluate what people feel and what are their emotions in the city during the interaction with services and spaces. Moreover, in order to make the cities more “human”, an active citizens’ involvement in design processes is more and more considered as a necessary factor. However, the mere existence of tools that can engage people does not ensure real and effective actions. This work proposes to consider the dissemination of game elements in the city environment (exploiting the physical affordances of the urban pattern) as a possible approach to enhance the citizens’ engagement, and discusses the related technological and interaction issues. The musical language is proposed as a possible language related to the game context that we would apply to city for engagement purposes in the urban environment.

Enhancing Data Visualization Modes Through a Physical Representation: The “Makerometer” Solution

In this work we investigate how a physical representation of a large amount of data could increase not only their value but also their understanding by the final users. Indeed, the use of visual metaphors related to a three-dimensional environment, specific of a physical representation, makes the access to the related information easier and “natural” if compared to those used in an only-digital environment. In this context, digital fabrication tools can be useful for fast prototyping and testing of different tools. In this work, we show one application of these concepts, “Makerometer”, a solution installed at Maker Faire Rome 2015, which collects and visualizes the data related to this exhibition.