The Art Traveler: Building a user experience system to discover art

With the increasing popularity of mobile devices and their apps, mobile technologies have changed the nature of travel significantly. With numerous travel apps available today, many tourists can become confused with which one to select and use. Another important factor is that a majority of travel applications are designed for everyone traveling everywhere, not specifically for one kind of tourist and one subject matter. The goal of this thesis is to create an effective and efficient user experience system. The project is a travel planner for people to pursue an art tour of their own interest. It focuses on designing an effective user navigation system to guide tourists making their travel plans, and provides comprehensive tours to help people appreciate and learn more about art. To achieve this project, this thesis focuses on interaction design, information design, multimedia technology, as well as user experience design. Considering the independent choice of different tourists, this design provides various ways for them to make their own travel plans and discover art they are interested in. The final design is presented as an interactive prototype which demonstrates the functionality of the user interface and experience and is used for usability testing

Hotel 4.0: technologies and its relation with the Portuguese guest

Due to the development of technology, this dissertation aims to explore its impact in the hospitality industry, mainly, in Portugal. The most important technologies for the Portuguese were identified as well as how the latest technologies. It was also investigated if the technology implemented in the Portuguese hotels correspond to the Portuguese needs. For the sake of understanding the task at hand, on chapter 2 – literature review – studies about the industry and technology as well as its relation with customer satisfaction were analyzed. Furthermore, the Portuguese industry and the guests’ profile were also unveiled. A questionnaire distributed among the Portuguese population was integrated as part of the study in order to analyze the underlying Portuguese expectations and needs. The results indicated that, although the respondents are pleased with technology present in the Portuguese hotels, they would change some technology to obtain the best guest experience. The respondents expressed a strong desire to experience something new. However, there were services where the traditional methods were preferred, even though they were less convenient. The Portuguese is, usually, resistant to innovation. However, the constant innovation together with the changing expectations, technologies that were once innovative become common over time. Therefore, with this dissertation, hotels may obtain updated information regarding the technology the Portuguese really wants.Devido à evolução da tecnologia, esta dissertação visa explorar o impacto que esta tem no setor hoteleiro, principalmente, em Portugal. Foram identificadas as tecnologias mais importantes para os portugueses assim como as últimas tecnologias na indústria. Adicionalmente, foi investigado se a tecnologia presente nos hotéis portugueses corresponde às necessidades dos portugueses. Com o objetivo de entender a tarefa em questão, no capítulo 2 - revisão da literatura – estudos referentes à indústria hoteleira e tecnologia, e a relação da tecnologia com a satisfação do cliente foram analisados. Além disso, a indústria portuguesa e o perfil dos hóspedes também foram incluídos. Um questionário distribuído pela população portuguesa, com o intuito de analisar as expetativas dos portugueses, foi integrado como parte do estudo. A partir dos resultados obtidos, é possível afirmar que, embora satisfeitos com a tecnologia presente nos hotéis portugueses, os respondentes alterariam alguma tecnologia de modo a obter a melhor experiência. Um forte desejo de experimentar algo novo foi expressado. No entanto, havia serviços em que os métodos tradicionais eram os preferidos, mesmo sendo menos convenientes. Os portugueses são, geralmente, resistentes à inovação. No entanto, as tecnologias, que eram antes inovadoras, tornam-se comuns ao longo do tempo devido à contante evolução da tecnologia e das expetativas. Assim, com esta dissertação, os hotéis poderão obter informação detalhada da tecnologia que os portugueses realmente desejam