Evaluating the user experience of acoustic data transmission A study of sharing data between mobile devices using sound

Users of smart devices frequently need to exchange data with people nearby to them. Yet despite the availability of various communication methods, data exchange between co-located devices is often complicated by technical and user experience barriers. A potential solution to these issues is the emerging technology of device-to-device acoustic data transmission. In this work, we investigate the medium-specific properties of sound as a data exchange mechanism, and question how these contribute to the user experience of sharing data. We present a user study comparing three wireless communication technologies (acoustic data transmission, QR codes and Bluetooth), when used for a common and familiar scenario: peer-to-peer sharing of contact information. Overall, the results show that acoustic data transmission provides a rapid means of transferring data (mean transaction time of 2.4 s), in contrast to Bluetooth (8.3 s) and QR (6.3 s), whilst requiring minimal physical effort and user coordination. All QR code transactions were successful on the first attempt; however, some acoustic (5.6%) and Bluetooth (16.7%) transactions required multiple attempts to successfully share a contact. Participants also provided feedback on their user experience via surveys and semi-structured interviews. Perceived transaction time, physical effort, and connectivity issues. Specifically, users expressed frustration with Bluetooth due to device selection issues, and with QR for the physical coordination required to scan codes. The findings indicate that acoustic data transmission has unique advantages in facilitating information sharing and interaction between co-located users

Benefits & drawbacks of different means of interaction for placing objects above a video footage

Public Display Systems (PDS) increasingly have a greater presence in our cities. These systems provide information and advertising specifically tailored to audiences in spaces such as airports, train stations, and shopping centers. A large number of public displays are also being deployed for entertainment reasons. Sometimes designing and prototyping PDS come to be a laborious, complex and a costly task. This dissertation focuses on the design and evaluation of PDS at early development phases with the aim of facilitating low-effort, rapid design and the evaluation of interactive PDS. This study focuses on the IPED Toolkit. This tool proposes the design, prototype, and evaluation of public display systems, replicating real-world scenes in the lab. This research aims at identifying benefits and drawbacks on the use of different means to place overlays/virtual displays above a panoramic video footage, recorded at real-world locations. The means of interaction studied in this work are on the one hand the keyboard and mouse, and on the other hand the tablet with two different techniques of use. To carry out this study, an android application has been developed whose function is to allow users to interact with the IPED Toolkit using the tablet. Additionally, the toolkit has been modified and adapted to tablets by using different web technologies. Finally the users study makes a comparison about the different means of interaction

Improving children’s patient experience with a mobile hospital clowning application – Initial user experiences from the clowns’ perspective

eHealth solutions are increasingly being developed to support patient care and improve patients’ experiences (PXs). Recently, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the shortage of nurses in several countries, including Finland, have further underscored the need for new digital services. In the context of children’s hospitals, care-supporting services include hospital clowns who work to provide emotional support for children and improve their PXs. Hospital clowns are known to have a positive impact on children’s PX. The Finnish hospital clown organization Sairaalaklovnit ry has published its first mobile application Sairaalaklovnit to provide a digital contact platform to reach patients remotely via messages. The application is mainly targeted at child patients and includes both entertainment and messaging facets for communication between child patients and hospital clowns. The two main user groups for this application can be considered to be child patients and hospital clowns. This article presents the data and results found during a study related to the user experience (UX) of the Sairaalaklovnit application. With the research questions, “Which aspects influence the UX of the hospital clown application?” and more specifically, out of the two user groups, “How do Finnish hospital clowns experience the new hospital clown mobile application?”, this study aims to gain an understanding of how Finnish hospital clowns experience the newly developed application for expanding physical contact with patients into a digital form. The qualitative data used in this article were collected in the summer of 2022 through an online questionnaire (n = 5) and semi-structured interviews (n = 3) with hospital clowns. The hospital clowns were mostly satisfied with the published application, but some deficiencies were mentioned. Most of the complaints were related to technical issues. However, the application was seen as a useful tool that can bridge physical and digital contact with children. The developer has been made aware of the technical issues and fixes expected in the future. For future research, it can be beneficial to rerun the UX study for the hospital clowns and possibly with a larger sample to see whether there have been any changes after the technical issues have been solved. Moreover, studying how child patients, which constitute the other user group, experience the new application, can prove to be beneficial for possible future development

Evaluating an Overall Experience of Virtual Learning in Meeting the Continuing Education Needs of Rural Nurses in North Carolina

Background. Rural nurses in North Carolina (NC) face several barriers to accessing face-to-face continuing education (CE) opportunities. Objective. The purpose of the project is to connect to rural nurses in NC by designing accessible and flexible CE programming that includes virtual learning activities. Methods. System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Usability Metric for User Experience short version (UMUX-Lite) tools were used. to predict whether participants will use or adopt a new technology following a North Carolina Area Heath Education Center (NC AHEC) hosted virtual conference. Findings. Of the 103 participants who attended the CE conference, 93 completed the program evaluation survey. The average overall SUS score was statistically significant at 75.9 out of 100, falling above the average of 68 (Yes: 77.3, No: 64.1; p=.004). The average overall UMUX-Lite score was statistically significant at 82.8 out of 100, falling above the average of 68 (Yes: 83.7, No: 75; p=.025). Conclusion. The rural nurses indicated high perceived usability of Zoom virtual platform overall. Although close to half of the rural nurses from this conference preferred obtaining CE through virtual learning, 31% of the participants would rather attend in person. Further study is recommended to learn more about the attitude and values of faceto- face CE learning than virtual learning related to knowledge retention and other benefits associated with different types of learning modalities

Experiencia del usuario y grado de satisfacción en el uso del Chromebook en alumnos en un centro de primaria

La introducció en els centres de primària de la modalitat a distància, a conseqüència de la pandèmia sanitària per la COVID-19, va implicar la incorporació de dispositius informàtics perquè els alumnes poguessin continuar el curs lectiu. Un d'aquests dispositius va ser el Chromebook. Aquest treball té com a objectiu valorar l'experiència de l'usuari i el seu grau de satisfacció per part de l'alumnat. La metodologia utilitzada és del tipus quantitatiu descriptiu. Per a això s'incorpora el qüestionari denominat UMUX (Usability Metric for User Experience). Un instrument fàcil d'aplicar per a alumnes del tercer cicle de primària. Els resultats obtinguts indiquen que els alumnes d'aquest cicle valoren de manera positiva la utilització, experiència i grau de satisfacció amb aquest dispositiu. Els resultats aconseguits són per al grup de 5è (M=13,16) mentre que per al grup de 6è de (M=12,55). Una anàlisi estadística més detallada aporta que l'experiència i satisfacció de l'usuari és independent del curs en la qual està matriculat l'alumne en aquest cicle. La valoració de tots dos cursos és alta per part dels alumnes del tercer cicle primària. Amb aquesta recerca s'obre una porta a futurs treballs comparatius amb altres qüestionaris 'post-study'.The introduction of the distance learning modality in primary schools, as a result of the health pandemic caused by COVID-19, implied the incorporation of computer devices so that students could continue the school year. One of these devices was the Chromebook. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the user experience and the degree of satisfaction of the students. The methodology used is of the quantitative descriptive type. For this purpose, a questionnaire called UMUX (Usability Metric for User Experience) is used. This is an easy-to-apply instrument for students in the third cycle of primary school. The results obtained indicate that students in this cycle positively evaluate the use, experience and degree of satisfaction with this device. The results obtained are for the 5th grade group (M=13.16) while for the 6th grade group (M=12.55). A more detailed statistical analysis shows that the user's experience and satisfaction is independent of the course in which the student is enrolled in this cycle. The evaluation of both courses is high on the part of the students of the third primary cycle. This research opens the door to future comparative work with other post-study questionnaires.La introducción en los centros de primaria de la modalidad a distancia, a consecuencia de la pandemia sanitaria por el COVID-19, implicó la incorporación de dispositivos informáticos para que los alumnos pudieran continuar el curso lectivo. Uno de estos dispositivos fue el Chromebook. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo valorar la experiencia del usuario y su grado de satisfacción por parte del alumnado. La metodología utilizada es del tipo cuantitativo descriptivo. Para ello se incorpora el cuestionario denominado UMUX (Usability Metric for User Experience). Un instrumento fácil de aplicar para alumnos del tercer ciclo de primaria. Los resultados obtenidos indican que los alumnos de este ciclo valoran de forma positiva la utilización, experiencia y grado de satisfacción con este dispositivo. Los resultados obtenidos son para el grupo de 5º (M=13,16) mientras que para el grupo de 6º de (M=12,55). Un análisis estadístico más detallado aporta que la experiencia y satisfacción del usuario es independiente del curso en cual está matriculado el alumno en este ciclo. La valoración de ambos cursos es alta por parte de los alumnos del tercer ciclo primaria. Con esta investigación se abre una puerta a futuros trabajos comparativos con otros cuestionarios ‘post-study’

Measuring Mobile User Experience Instruments for Research and Practice

User experience (UX) research focuses in large part on how users subjectively evaluate digital products, services, and software. In the mobile computing domain, however, UX researchers currently face limitations in the multifaceted measures that they can apply to assess specific mobile device and software combinations. Currently available measures can produce only single-score usability measures (e.g., the well-known system usability scale and its variants) or cover only a part of the mobile device-software user experience (e.g., the recently developed mobile application usability instrument). This paper adds two multifaceted survey instruments to the toolkit of UX researchers and practitioners: the mobile user experience (MUX) instrument, a 15-item instrument tailored toward scholarly research, and the short-form sMUX, a six-item instrument intended for use in practical settings or other situations where survey length is constrained