Creative User-Centered Visualization Design for Energy Analysts and Modelers

We enhance a user-centered design process with techniques that deliberately promote creativity to identify opportunities for the visualization of data generated by a major energy supplier. Visualization prototypes developed in this way prove effective in a situation whereby data sets are largely unknown and requirements open – enabling successful exploration of possibilities for visualization in Smart Home data analysis. The process gives rise to novel designs and design metaphors including data sculpting. It suggests: that the deliberate use of creativity techniques with data stakeholders is likely to contribute to successful, novel and effective solutions; that being explicit about creativity may contribute to designers developing creative solutions; that using creativity techniques early in the design process may result in a creative approach persisting throughout the process. The work constitutes the first systematic visualization design for a data rich source that will be increasingly important to energy suppliers and consumers as Smart Meter technology is widely deployed. It is novel in explicitly employing creativity techniques at the requirements stage of visualization design and development, paving the way for further use and study of creativity methods in visualization design

Construction and validation of the service climate scale for hybrid service delivery models in the hospitality industry

Service climate scales are oriented predominantly to measure employee perceptions toward hotels with human interaction service delivery. The thesis aims to develop and validate a scale to measure service climate in hotels with hybrid service delivery models. Comprises three systematic literature reviews, with bibliometric (Bibliometrix) and network (VOSviewer) analysis, one eDelphi research to develop the scale via an international expert panel, and two quantitative studies to instrument reliability and validity. Our systematic literature reviews are the first to utilize bibliometric analysis and knowledge network analysis structures to assess service climate construct as a sustainable competitive advantage in the hospitality field. This thesis presents a new instrument to measure the People-Technology Hybrid Service Climate Scale (P-THSCS). P-THSCS has an original, innovative, and compact perspective. It measures the perceptions of people (employees and customers) in hybrid service deliveries (Human Interaction Service and Self-Service Technologies) with one English version of 31 items grouped into five dimensions: Co-Creation, Standards, Support, Characteristics, and Global Service Climate. The co-creation dimension shows the most significant predictive value overall.Ao longo dos últimos anos, o Fórum Económico Mundial tem vindo a alertar que um dos principais riscos para o futuro das sociedades é a deterioração do emprego. Um dos objetivos de desenvolvimento sustentável, o ODS8 – estabelece como foco o trabalho digno e o crescimento económico como um meio para atingir a sustentabilidade e a competitividade. No sector da hotelaria, os gestores estão focados em encontrar soluções que conduzam ao aumento da competitividade e a sustentabilidade dos seus hotéis. Neste sentido, algumas decisões sobre o tipo da entrega de serviço são fundamentais para o futuro dos mesmos. Tradicionalmente, as entregas de serviço eram operacionalizadas através da interação com os empregados de contato. Cada vez mais, com a introdução das tecnologias, a entrega híbrida de serviços é uma opção estratégica e essencial para inovação, sustentabilidade e competitividade, uma vez que os recursos combinados de pessoas (incluindo empregados e clientes) e tecnologia cocriam a experiência do serviço. Na área da hospitalidade, a literatura que explora estes modelos híbridos com os dois tipos de entrega de serviço é escassa e dispersa. Desta forma, os gestores hoteleiros continuam a manter uma postura cautelosa, com muitas dúvidas e alguns receios, para implementar integralmente esta nova tendência, sem que, antes, haja uma compreensão clara do impacto da adoção das mesmas. Como tal, é necessário desenvolver e validar novos instrumentos de medição que potenciem a recolha de dados sobre as variáveis mais críticas da hotelaria, nomeadamente, as experiências das pessoas e o desempenho financeiro. O clima de serviço é uma dessas variáveis. O clima de serviço é uma vantagem competitiva potencial e sustentável do ponto de vista da gestão devido à sua inimitabilidade. Um ativo intangível único, impossível de replicar, que relaciona os empregados, as experiências do cliente e, consequentemente, o desempenho financeiro. Embora na literatura o clima de serviço seja um construto inicialmente relacionado com as perceções do empregado e as respetivas escalas orientadas predominantemente para medir essas perceções em hotéis com entrega através de interação humana, atualmente, o clima de serviço percecionado pelo cliente tem ganho alguma dimensão. Assim sendo, uma medida das perceções das pessoas (empregados e clientes) em entregas de serviços híbridas (serviço de interação humana e tecnologias de auto-atendimento) pode ser uma ferramenta relevante. Neste contexto, o objetivo principal da tese é desenvolver e validar um novo instrumento, original, inovador e compacto, para medir o clima de serviço em hotéis com entregas de serviço híbridas em que pessoas (empregados e clientes) cocriam a experiência de serviço através da tecnologia. A metodologia da tese tem por base 3 etapas. Na primeira etapa, pesquisamos conceitos, definições, dimensões e subdimensões e itens através de 3 estudos qualitativos (revisões sistemáticas da literatura). Os resultados permitiram desenvolver uma estrutura de pesquisa preliminar para a escala de Clima de Serviço Híbrido Pessoas-Tecnologia (PTHSC). Na segunda etapa, elaboramos um trabalho de pesquisa qualitativa com base na técnica Delphi (com três rondas), com análise de conteúdo, para construir a redação final do instrumento e validar o conteúdo por consenso entre os especialistas. Utilizámos o método Delphi modificado, não aplicando o questionário aberto inicial, e estabelecemos as dimensões, subdimensões e itens iniciais com base nas revisões sistemáticas da literatura realizadas. As três rondas com um painel de 21 especialistas foram realizadas em ambiente virtual [online], através do software eDelphi.org, nas datas [21/dez/22/jan], [22/fev/22/mar] e [22/mar/22/abr]. Na última etapa, validámos o instrumento através de Análise de Componentes Principais, Análise Fatorial Exploratória e Análise Fatorial Confirmatória para validar a respetiva estrutura fatorial. Entre 2019 e 2022, foram realizados 6 trabalhos de investigação, compilados em quatro artigos para publicação em revistas científicas especializadas. Desta forma, a tese compreende três revisões sistemáticas da literatura, com análise bibliométrica (Bibliometrix) e de rede (VOSviewer), que deram origem a três artigos. O artigo “Mapping service quality and service climate for sustainable strategy in the business to the consumer hospitality and tourism industry" com o objetivo específico de identificar e resumir a literatura existente sobre a conexão entre clima de serviço e construtos experiências do cliente, nomeadamente a qualidade de serviço. O Segundo artigo "A bibliometric analysis of trust in the field of hospitality and tourism" surge da necessidade de incluir a confiança como dimensão ou sub-dimensão do clima de serviço. Por último, o artigo "A bibliometric analysis of service climate as a sustainable competitive advantage in hospitality" que contribuiu para a conceção da estrutura do clima de serviço híbrido de pessoas-tecnologia. Compreende ainda, uma pesquisa eDelphi para desenvolver a escala através de um painel internacional de especialistas e dois estudos quantitativos para a confiabilidade e validade do instrumento. Estes três trabalhos de investigação deram origem ao artigo "Developing a people-technology hybrid scale to measure service climate in hospitality", que divulga à comunidade científica e hoteleira um novo instrumento (P-THSCS) com uma versão em inglês de 31 itens, agrupados em cinco dimensões: Cocriação, Padrões, Suporte, Características e Clima de Serviço Global, em que a dimensão de cocriação mostra o valor preditivo mais significativo. A tese apresenta uma componente inovadora muito forte de onde se destaca duas originalidades. As revisões sistemáticas da literatura foram as primeiras a utilizar análises bibliométricas e estruturas de análise de rede de conhecimento para avaliar a construção do clima de serviço como uma vantagem competitiva sustentável. A outra é o facto de desenvolver um novo instrumento (People-Technology Hybrid Service Climate Scale) que abre uma nova agenda científica para pesquisas futuras com base na estrutura do clima de serviço, e fornece à hotelaria um novo instrumento para a obtenção de novos dados. Apesar do protocolo com o grupo hoteleiro Vila Galé para a colaboração na recolha de respostas para os trabalhos quantitativos, a taxa de respostas validadas é a maior das limitações encontradas. Ainda assim, os resultados mostram uma ferramenta de gestão relevante, que faculta dados essenciais para a gestão de recursos humanos, para a gestão comercial, “revenue management”, marketing, e gestão financeira. Ao nível académico esta tese abre as portas a toda uma nova agenda científica

Data in Business Process Models. A Preliminary Empirical Study

Traditional activity-centric process modeling languages treat data as simple black boxes acting as input or output for activities. Many alternate and emerging process modeling paradigms, such as case handling and artifact-centric process modeling, give data a more central role. This is achieved by introducing lifecycles and states for data objects, which is beneficial when modeling data-or knowledge-intensive processes. We assume that traditional activity-centric process modeling languages lack the capabilities to adequately capture the complexity of such processes. To verify this assumption we conducted an online interview among BPM experts. The results not only allow us to identify various profiles of persons modeling business processes, but also the problems that exist in contemporary modeling languages w.r.t. The modeling of business data. Overall, this preliminary empirical study confirms the necessity of data-awareness in process modeling notations in general

Online banking customization via tag-based interaction

In this paper, we describe ongoing work on online banking customization with a particular focus on interaction. The scope of the study is confined to the Australian banking context where the lack of customization is evident. This paper puts forward the notion of using tags to facilitate personalized interactions in online banking. We argue that tags can afford simple and intuitive interactions unique to every individual in both online and mobile environments. Firstly, through a review of related literature, we frame our work in the customization domain. Secondly, we define a range of taggable resources in online banking. Thirdly, we describe our preliminary prototype implementation with respect to interaction customization types. Lastly, we conclude with a discussion on future work

An Empirical Assessment of Energy Management Information System Success Using Structural Equation Modeling

The Energy Industry utilizes Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) smart meters to monitor utility consumers’ energy consumption, communicate energy consumption information to consumers, and to collect a plethora of energy consumption data about consumer usage. The EMIS energy consumption information is typically presented to utility consumers via a smart meter web portal. The hope is that EMIS web portal use will aid utility consumers in managing their energy consumption by helping them make effective decisions regarding their energy usage. However, little research exists that evaluates the effectiveness or success of an EMIS smart meter web portal from a utility consumer perspective. The research goal was to measure EMIS smart meter web portal success based on the DeLone and McLean Information Success Model. The objective of the study was to investigate the success constructs system quality, information quality, service quality, use, and user satisfaction, and determine their contribution to EMIS success, which was measured as net benefits. The research model used in this study employed Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) to determine the validity and reliability of the measurement model and to evaluate the hypothetical relationships in the structural model. The significant validity and reliability measures obtained in this study indicate that the DeLone and McLean Information Success Model (2003) has the potential for use in future EMIS studies. The determinants responsible for explaining the variance in net benefits were EMIS use and user satisfaction. Based on the research findings, several implications and future research are stated and proposed

Facilitating the interaction with data warehouse schemas through a visual web-based approach

In most respects, there are implicit drawbacks concerning representation and interaction with data in relational-database applications. On the one hand, there is a lack of expressiveness and ease of use in the user interfaces that handle such data. On the other hand, there is an implicit need for interactive end-user visual tools to query data and avoid dependency on programming languages. The main aim of this work is to study the problem of database interaction and usability, comparing existing solutions and providing a new approach that overcomes existing problems. We propose a web-based tool that manipulates Data Warehouse schemas by using a visual language to represent the database structure and providing several visualization techniques that facilitate the interaction and creation of queries involving different levels of complexity. We based our research on an End-User Development approach that has been evaluated to obtain some initial usability indicators

Exploring the motivation behind cybersecurity insider threat and proposed research agenda

Cyber exploitation and malicious activities have become more sophisticated. Insider threat is one of the most significant cyber security threat vector, while posing a great concern to corporations and governments. An overview of the fundamental motivating forces and motivation theory are discussed. Such overview is provided to identify motivations that lead trusted employees to become insider threats in the context of cyber security. A research agenda with two sequential experimental research studies are outlined to address the challenge of insider threat mitigation by a prototype development. The first proposed study will classify data intake feeds, as recognized and weighted by cyber security experts, in an effort to establish predictive analytics of novel correlations of activities that may lead to cyber security incidents. It will also develop approach to identify how user activities can be compared against an established baseline, the user’s network cyber security pulse, with visualization of simulated users’ activities. Additionally, the second study will explain the process of assessing the usability of a developed visualization prototype that intends to present correlated suspicious activities requiring immediate action. Successfully developing the proposed prototype via feeds aggregation and an advanced visualization from the proposed research could assist in the mitigation of malicious insider threat

Design and Evaluation of a Didactical Service Blueprinting Method For Large Scale Lectures

University instructors face strict economic constraints when designing lectures. Intelligent usage of IT and higher degrees of learner integration can help to face this challenge, but it is difficult to decide which parts of a lecture should be re-designed and how. Thus, we present the Didactical Service Blueprint (DSB), a method to analyze and re-design large scale learning services with reasonable resources by integrating eLearning and peer learning activities. We have used DSB to iteratively improve an IS-lecture over the course of four years and evaluated learning success (n = 404) and satisfaction (n = 389). Results indicate that DSB is suitable to improve lectures considering reasonable consumption of resources. As theoretical contribution, this paper offers an advancement and adaptation of the traditional Service Blueprint explicitly designed for large scale learning services. The practical contribution lies in the application of DSB to develop solutions for common problems in large courses