MariAnne Karlsson

Exploring children's foodscapes

In this article, we discuss childrens becoming as food consumers in the intersection of various foodscapes. We draw from a project, Children as co-researchers of foodscapes, where we have been working with children as co-researchers, using basically ethnographic methods, and as co-designers in a collaborative design effort. This article focuses on the findings from a theoretically inspired perspective, using the concept of foodscapes. These are food-related structures of different kinds, which evolve as the child explores them and where children as food consumers are generated. In this article, we highlight the scapes of taste, routines, people, things, commerce, child (as opposed to adult) and health and give brief accounts of the way the children related to them. Finally, we turn to the benefits of working with foodscapes for a better understanding of childrens becoming as food consumers in the intersection of various foodscapes. This article is based on data gathered by the children, but also on our fieldwork notes and observations following the children in their foodscapes.

Considering the importance of user profiles in interface design

User profile is a popular term widely employed during product design processes by industrial companies. Such a profile is normally intended to represent real users of a product. The ultimate purpose of a user profile is actually to help designers to recognize or learn about the real user by presenting them with a description of a real user’s attributes, for instance; the user’s gender, age, educational level, attitude, technical needs and skill level. The aim of this chapter is to provide information on the current knowledge and research about user profile issues, as well as to emphasize the importance of considering these issues in interface design. In this chapter, we mainly focus on how users’ difference in expertise affects their performance or activity in various interaction contexts. Considering the complex interaction situations in practice, novice and expert users’ interactions with medical user interfaces of different technical complexity will be analyzed as examples: one focuses on novice and expert users’ difference when interacting with simple medical interfaces, and the other focuses on differences when interacting with complex medical interfaces. Four issues will be analyzed and discussed: (1) how novice and expert users differ in terms of performance during the interaction; (2) how novice and expert users differ in the perspective of cognitive mental models during the interaction; (3) how novice and expert users should be defined in practice; and (4) what are the main differences between novice and expert users’ implications for interface design. Besides describing the effect of users’ expertise difference during the interface design process, we will also pinpoint some potential problems for the research on interface design, as well as some future challenges that academic researchers and industrial engineers should face in practice.

A Worldwide State-of-the-Art Analysis for Bus Rapid Transit: Looking for the Success Formula

This paper’s intended contribution, in terms of providing an additional angle in the existing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) state-of-the-art knowledge spectrum, is a dual one. On the one hand, it provides a detailed description of the mode, re-defining BRT as an overall concept by identifying, discussing, and categorizing in a systematic way its strengths and its weaknesses in comparison with rail-based solutions and conventional bus services. On the other hand, it presents in detail a number of selected scheme-oriented applications from around the world, looking into some of the basic ingredients behind BRT’s success (or failure) stories. This is a scientific effort that could inform the reader about the current status of BRT inter nationally and about the challenges and opportunities that exist when trying to materialize BRT’s potential as an effective urban passenger solution that could challenge the merits of more conventional mass-transit options.

Expressions, emotions, and website design

The aim of the study was to investigate the relation between the design elements of web pages and (i) perceived usability, (ii) perceived expression and (iii) emotional responses. Two different websites, differing in content as well as in graphic design, colour schemes, the balance between text versus illustrations, etc., were evaluated in an experimental study involving altogether 20 subjects. Three main factors were identified that contributed to the perceived expression of the websites: graphic design; content; and perceived usability. Also the reported emotional responses appeared related to the same aspects.

Living Room on the Move: Autonomous Vehicles and Social Experiences

Developing autonomous vehicles is technically complex and up to now research has focused on technical improvement and operative safety. As the level of automation increases the role of the driver will change; from controlling every movement of the vehicle into becoming an operator/passenger. Little is known about how this new context will affect the social experiences with and within the vehicle. This workshop focuses on three different kinds of social experience and socializing, namely; between other road users and the autonomous car, the social activities taking place within the autonomous car, and lastly the relationship between the car and the operator. The workshop aims at exploring possible practices, research and design directions of autonomous vehicles in relation to these social experiences. A human-centered design approach is the core of the workshop, with playful field excursions and ideation sessions.

Developers as Users: Exploring the Experiences of Using a New Theoretical Method for Usability Assessment

There is a need for appropriate evaluation methods to efficiently identify and counteract usability issues early in the development process. The aim of this study was to investigate how product developers assessed a new theoretical method for identifying usability problems and use errors. Two cases where the method had been applied were selected and the users of the method in them were asked to fill in a questionnaire and were then interviewed about their experiences of using the method. Overall, the participants (students and professionals) found the methods useful and their outcome trustworthy. At the same time, the methods were assessed as difficult to learn and as cumbersome and tedious to use. Nevertheless, both students and professionals thought that the methods would be useful in future development work. Suggestions for further improvement included provision of further instructions, for example, on how to adapt the methods and development of an IT-support tool.

Exploring User Experience in the Wild: Facets of the Modern Car

Experiential approaches to technology create opportunities for facilitating a wider range of in-car user experiences, however holistic knowledge regarding experiences that car users find enjoyable is lacking. We present the experience themes of the car as a caretaker, the car as a space for relatedness, the car as a space for stimulation, and the car as a space for transition, collected through a holistic study of 16 drivers, using contextual interviews, reflexive photography and the UX curve method. The use of the themes is exemplified through a design example. The experience themes can help designers empathize with users and create design solutions that can support positive in-car experiences, while the methodology used, serves as an example of how user’s experiences with technology can be studied.

HMI of autonomous vehicles - more than meets the eye

Cars are becoming increasingly automated and intelligent and will soon be able to drive on their own. The new intelligent technology will mean that communication between driver and vehicle will and must change. However, much of the research in autonomous vehicle interaction still revolves around the traditional GU interfaces and modes. To open up the full potential of interactive possibilities and allow for the creation of interfaces that can enable effective and satisfactory communication between driver and vehicle, this paper will present and argue for a holistic framework to aid analysis and design of human – vehicle interaction. The framework is based on four types of interactive surfaces. The first is the explicitly designed interfaces of today, the second is the interior design of the vehicle as a whole, the third is the implicit information included in the vehicle’s movement pattern, and the fourth is the interactive technology brought into the vehicle. The framework focuses on the interaction related to the operation of the vehicle (not in-car entertainment) and on the vehicle information output.

Improving Attractiveness of Public Transportation with Interactive Experiences

New interactive experiences can change the way people experience and perceive public transportation and hence improve its attractiveness. This workshop addresses such interactive experiences in public transportation. The main focus is on new interactive experiences with travel services in public transportation. We invite both practitioners and researchers to propose design concepts, design and evaluation methods, novel interactive technologies or future research issues for the HCI in public transportation. The topics address services for individual transportation vehicle types (buses, electric buses, trains, trams), or for the whole public transportation chain. The workshop will form a research agenda for interactive experiences in public transportation.

Users' perception and reported effects of long-term access to in-vehicle traffic information services mediated through nomadic devices: Results from a large-scale inter-european field operational test

Abstract ICT-mediated traffic information has been argued to contribute to a more sustainable transport system through affecting drivers. Nevertheless, long-term effects of travellers having access to nomadic in-vehicle systems for traveller information are not well known. This study presents the results from a multi-national large-scale field operational test (FOT). The results show that the users in general were positive to the tested systems and that there were several effects on their driving behaviour but in many cases the effects were limited. Moreover the effects varied between system types. Positive effects were related to comfort, as well as individual and system efficiency. One could also notice that perceived effects were not as high as the participants had expected, leading to some disappointment. Most of the times this was due to the tested systems functioning in a less than optimal way.