Gamification, that is the use of game mechanics and experience design to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals, has seen an increase in the rate of adoption in several fields including health, marketing, education, crowd-sourcing and others. It is undeniable that the widespread use of new technologies, such as mobile phones, internet, digital applications and social networks added new ways for learning and gaining knowledge. Although the educational field is one of the growingly interesting topics about gamification, there are not enough existing researches on adopting gamification in digital learning apps which are considered nowadays as a convenient tool for many people which aims to enhance the learning process. Digital learning applications are designed for many different purposes to improve many kinds of skills such as music, scientific materials, languages and others. Although increasing technological advancements over the last few years especially in the software world and various forms have been introduced to increase student’s engagement using gamification such as digital learning apps, there is still criticism of how to apply it and there is a need to investigate that in depth. The main purpose of this research is to serve as infrastructure to identify and investigate the core game mechanics / gamification elements which are used in digital learning apps and make it more effective for knowledge acquisition. With a view to examining game mechanics, its impact and consequences, the following research questions have been formed: RQ1: What gamification mechanics are more central to improving the learning process using digital apps? RQ2: What evidence do we have for 1? Do these gamification mechanics also improve the user experience? In order to attempt answering the research questions a list over gamification elements was created by analyzing two chosen games which became later the base for field trial sessions. Data from field trial session was collected with several participants and analyzed before being used in a discussion with the previous theoretical works. The conclusion of the research suggests a group of game elements which have positively affected the learning outcomes when applied in digital apps for learning purpose. Moreover, those elements revolve around achieving at least one of the three core aims, (1) increase level of entertainment and fun, (2) motivate students, and (3) enhance skills to gain learning content. However, further research is required to test more game mechanics and investigate its role and effectiveness when applied in learning apps with a larger number of participants.

The purpose of this paper is to identify critical factors forcing manufacturing companies to improve the development of production technology in a machining environment. The focus in the paper is on industrial challenges within product design and production system development when introducing new products in a machining environment. Particular attention is given to the product development process and the production equipment acquisition process. A single case study is presented, consisting of interviews, observations, document studies and an analysis of a large Swedish manufacturing company. The case study company is characterized by advanced production technology, high mechanization and high automation level. In parallel with the case study a literature review was conducted in order to identify state-of-the-art methods/models for efficient design and product introduction within a production system. The paper identifies a gap in the current way of working within the case company as well as challenges regarding the development of production technology. Based on the study, the need for future research has been identified including the need of developing an improved working support for efficient production technology development when industrializing new products.

In order to compete within the manufacturing industry, there is a need to acquire and develop new manufacturing technologies to differentiate the company from others. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse factors affecting development of a manufacturing technology in a joint development project with an equipment supplier. A longitudinal case study has been conducted at a Swedish manufacturing company and the collaboration between a manufacturing company and an equipment supplier has been studied. The findings reveal that tacit knowledge and good equipment supplier relationship are highly important factors that facilitate development of a manufacturing technology.

In order to compete within the manufacturing industry, there is a need to acquire and develop new manufacturing technologies to differentiate the company from others. This paper builds on extant operations management and innovation management literature with the focus on how to managing early manufacturing technology development. A multiple case study has been conducted at a Swedish manufacturing company in the automotive industry and our paper proposes a conceptual process for early manufacturing technology development and the key activities therein. The findings are relevant for managers working with long-term development and the paper concludes by discussing implications and research limitations.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss how the MRL scale can support the assessment of a manufacturing technology’s maturity level. A single case study within the manufacturing industry has been conducted investigating the use of a MRL scale. An assessment of MRL 4 has been studied.

ESBE AB is a company with a long history that develops and sells plumbing and heating related products. Their products possess a markedly high quality and reliability along with a strong focus on their design language. The purpose of this thesis is to update this design language and produce three concepts that describes how it could be done. The thesis was carried out as a concept study, using a product development process to structure the work. The theories, methods and how those methods were carried out are also described. A large part of the study was dedicated to preliminary work which studied the history of the company, its brand strategy as well as the products position on the market in order to create a comprehensive basis for the concept generation phase and the concept selection phase. The study produced three final concepts that were presented to responsible parties at the company. All three concepts were considered to have potential for future implementation. ESBE intends to, after evaluation, eventually have one or several concepts be realized by a consulting firm that would produce prototypes and prepare for production. 

Despite significant changes in the construction industry due to the digital revolution, geotechnical engineering has been slower to adopt novel technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM). While the benefits of BIM in construction management and planning are recognized, its potential for geotechnical projects is less understood. This study seeks to develop a method for incorporating BIM into geotechnical projects, focusing in particular on the role of parametric design. A qualitative study was conducted based on a scoping review of various secondary data sources. Alongside a literature review, a case study was undertaken to provide practical insights and examine a real-world application of the method, integrating ArcGIS, Excel, Dynamo, and Revit with a Common Data Environment (CDE) to facilitate collaborative and efficient management and visualization of geotechnical data and assets. This research showcases the feasibility of merging parametric geotechnical modeling with BIM, laying the groundwork for future progress in geotechnical modeling and its digital transformation.

The manufacturing industry remains a critical force in the quest for global sustainability. An increasing number of companies are modifying their operations in favor of more sustainable practices. It is hugely important that manufacturers, irrespective of the subsector they belong to, or their organizational size, implement practices that reduce or eliminate negative environmental, social and economic impacts generated by their manufacturing operations.

Consequently, scholars have called for additional studies concerning sustainable manufacturing practices, not only to address the paucity of related literature, but also to contribute to practitioners’ understanding of how to incorporate sustainability into their operations. However, apart from expanding the knowledge of sustainable manufacturing practices, it is first key to understand the ground set of values, or principles, behind sustainable manufacturing operations. For that reason, the purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the existing body of knowledge regarding sustainable manufacturing principles and practices.

The results presented in this thesis are based on three studies: a systematic literature review exploring sustainability principles applicable to manufacturing settings, and two empirical studies addressing sustainable manufacturing practices.

In general, it is concluded from the literature that there is a little knowledge about sustainability principles from a manufacturing perspective. In relation to the most common sustainable manufacturing practices, it is concluded that these practices mainly refer to energy and material management, and waste management. Similarly, the study of the adherence of sustainable manufacturing practices to sustainable production principles concluded that the principles concerning energy and materials conservation, and waste management were found to create the highest number of practices. Although most manufacturers still engage in reactive sustainable manufacturing practices driven by regulatory and market pressures, some industrial sectors were found to be more prone to develop proactive sustainable manufacturing strategies than others. Furthermore, SMEs were found to lag behind large organizations regarding adherence to sustainable manufacturing principles.

A common understanding of sustainable production principles and the identification of sustainable manufacturing practices among practitioners are key starting points in studying how manufacturers are making their operations more sustainable. However, there is a lack of insight in the literature connecting conceptual sustainable production principles, and the practices reflecting these principles. Using semi-structured interviews founded on the sustainable production principles posed by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, this paper presents an outlook of how companies in different industries carry out manufacturing practices related to the sustainability production principles. Results showed that the majority of sustainable manufacturing practices remain strongly centered on the environmental dimension of sustainability, with the greatest number of practices emanating from principles concerning energy and material conservation, and waste management. Similarly, reactive sustainable manufacturing practices prevailed over proactive sustainable manufacturing practices, as most of the practices aimed to comply with regulatory and market pressures. Quality and environmental management systems were acknowledged as important tools for putting sustainable production principles into practice; while Swedish environmental and social regulations were found to drive sustainable manufacturing practices. This study connects sustainable production principles with sustainable manufacturing practices and opens the way for further studies on a global or sector-specific scale.

Recently, there has been a notable rise in the use of colored lighting for both indoor andoutdoor spaces. This trend necessitates a clear understanding of the principles behindselecting lighting levels that are both ergonomic and energy efficient. The objective ofthis study was to establish guidelines for planning colored light. An experiment wasconducted where the perceived brightness of three different near-monochromatic lightswere compared to white light. The stimuli covered a narrow visual field. 33 personsaged 18-40Y participated. Through the measurement of the participants' perception ofthe amount of colored light required -to achieve the same level of brightness as withwhite light- the study was able to determine a percentage-based relationship betweencolored and white light. The result showed that there were clear differences in theperceived brightness of the different colored lights, in line with earlier research withsimilar conditions. This implicates that the results may be used as a foundation whenplanning colored light.

Purpose – The contradiction of the increased demand for IT specialists and the decrease of the enrollment in programming courses at universities worldwide has been discussed over the years. To tackle the problem, researchers and teachers in computing education have investigated various success factors in introductory programming courses, mostly within the context of computer science. This paper focuses on the investigation of success factors for students that are not majoring in computer science (non-CS) in an introductory programming course, to report on the results of student's performance and analysis of the most relevant success factors, also provide suggestions that could be considered for the course design and teaching method.

Method – The methods used to carry out the study are a survey with 36 participants, conducted before the start of an introductory programming course, and qualitative interviews conducted with twelve students after the end of the course. The interviews were then analysed thematically to find common patterns for five success factors between the students with different grades. The success factors that were examined are math background, previous programming experience, comfort level, motivation and attribution to success.

Findings – Math background could not be proved as a success factor in this study due to the lack of a standardized assessment of the students’ math levels. Previous programming experience could be regarded as a success factor but not as dominant as the success factor motivation, which has shown clear patterns in the data. Comfort level could be seen as one of the success factors as well, as most of the data in this study support this conclusion. Lastly, attribution to success as a success factor could not be supported by this study; the qualitative data showed variety which makes it hard to draw a conclusion directly.

Implications – The study suggest increasing the motivation for the non-CS students in introductory programming by combining programming with other subjects in the programme. The lecturer could customize the course for students with different interests so they could select a path and adapt the knowledge to their needs. Bridging courses and various forms of mentoring are also recommended to offer.

Limitations – The time frame of the study limited the amount of data that could be collected. The study was conducted with students from only one university and one non-CS programme, with a small data sample for analysis, which is limiting in the way the results can be generalized.

Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to explore optimization of the demand planning process with focus on the judgmentally adjusted forecasting approach. The exploration of the system operator perspectives was focused upon for potential optimization actualization. As demand planning is an essential supply chain management process, this thesis contributes to the supply chain management literature and practice by supporting improved sustainable balancing of supply and demand plans. This retains sustainability implications, thus also contributing to the domain of sustainable supply chain management.

Method: A case study research design was applied involving a large Swedish manufacturer that utilizes the forecasting approach in question. Data collectiontechniques involving participant observations, several types of interviews, anddocument analysis were utilized. Analysis methods included reiterative thematic analysis and Design of Experiment. Software based coding through mixed inductive and deductive approach was conducted for deriving themes and variables which werefurther analyzed by full factorial simulation experiments.

Findings: Several themes were identified in the data in which challenges, benefits, and improvement potentials were identified and encapsulated in a framework based on system operator perspectives. Through statistical experimental analysis, it appeared that taking these system operator perspectives into consideration for demand planning process optimization can constitute promising potentials. These include correctidentification of relevant refinement variables for enhancing the system forecast adjustments quality.

Implications: Identifying challenges leads to mitigation. Understanding benefits allows for enhancement. Exploring improvement potentials leads to actualization. Hence, the demand planning process, in regard to this approach, would be optimized. With optimization, it would be easier to maintain the right levels of inventory, order numbers and quantities, and transportation miles, while increasing service levels by minimized backorders. Therefore, sustainability is to be supported by minimized costs and elevated service levels (economic sustainability), enhanced operational and logistics planning (environmental sustainability), and taking workers’ perspectives into consideration to improve their work task and serve customer needs better (social sustainability).

Limitations: As is the case with research involving interviews, participant perspective involves perception filters that can dim the objectivity of the findings. This, however, was mitigated by applying quantitative data gathering and analysis. The forecasting approach explored is especially suitable for planning demand of components like spare parts. Similarly, other types of assortments and forecasting approaches can be explored for demand planning process optimization.

This report represents a comparison between two different tools used to create an online store that was developed by two students at the Technical University in Jönköping. The web shop will be of great benefit to both customers and administrator in a food firm known as Mattias' Livs. The company wanted an online store that facilitates the sale section and gives a full control of their stocks. The aim of this thesis is to create an online store that offers customers the ability to shop online and help the staff to operate the company in a simpler and more efficient way, which reduces the need for human resources and thus leads to less costs for the company. The aim also includes a comparison between the two different tools used to create the online store. At the start of work, the authors discussed the problem with the client and finally came up with a set of requirements, which our work is based on. The report includes an introduction chapter, which is divided into two different sections. The first section describes the background and problem description. While second chapter describes the purpose of the thesis and the subjects that the students will respond at the end of the report. The study compares the two different tools, which is Microsoft Visual Studio and osCommerce. Visual Studio has been the market leader in Internet-based applications since 1997. While osCommerce is a newer tool that has gained significant market share. The two tools are examined through the creation of two websites built into each tool. The results of this study show that Microsoft Visual Studio is a more efficient alternative for creating a stable web applications, but the tool has also some usability problems due to programming complexity. OsCommerce is a simple tool that has some issues with the design customization, at the same time it has a usable interface for the administrator. The web shop was published online by installing the application on a host server which means the customers can order products online.

This research paper studies the extent of how microinteractions are utilized in Microsoft Teams and the impact that they have on workflow efficiencies, specifically in the creative industry. In a novel time where Covid-19 virus has increased the demand of digital platforms, the importance of research within remote meeting utilization, and the interaction possibilities within, is of utter importance. Also, since we are missing out on the spontaneous interactions that occur when meeting face-to-face, the microinteractions within digital meeting platforms now carry a heavier weight when interactions are solely occuring remotely.

The data collection was achieved through a qualitative approach consisting of participant observations and semi-structured interviews. The results of this research proved that microinteractions are used frequently within digital meetings in Microsoft Teams, but in different contexts and in different constellations. The results also identified that microinteractions, which hold the right conditions, can streamline workflows in certain scenarios. This study concluded in interesting data that answered the research questions but also opened up for further research due to the topic being of a novel field and in a special time, in this case referring to the pandemic and Covid-19.

The aim of this research is to examine how lean has been implemented in the geriatric care sector in a municipality in Sweden. The research focuses on implementation experiences and challenges encountered. The research method used is a case study using interviews and observations for data collection. The findings indicate that there are many advantages of lean in the geriatric care sector, such as better communication, organisation and workflow. The lean implementation worked as an eye-opener and created a situation, where the employees realised a great deal of waste in the daily operations. In addition, lean tools helped to reduce the waste. The findings also indicate that there are some challenges of lean in the geriatric care sector, such as the difficulty to create long-lasting lean commitment. A lack of follow-ups, decreasing interest from senior management and lack of a holistic view were the main issues in the case organisation.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify patterns in the absence due to illness at a distribution center with higher absence due to illness compared to other companies in the same industry, and to investigate how managers work with routines for absence due to illness. To achieve the purpose, it has been divided into two research questions:

1. Which patterns in absence due to illness can be found at a distribution center with higher sick leave compared to other companies in the same industry?

2. How do managers work with routines regarding the absence due to illness at a distribution center with higher sick leave compared to other companies in the same industry?

Method – Theories about sick leave, work environment, psychosocial health, motivation, organization and leadership were collected to fulfil the purpose of the study. A case study was carried out to collect empirical data on the basis of interviews and document studies which then were compared with the theory for further analysis.

Findings – The study identifies patterns that were found after mapping the statistics of the absence due to illness on the case company. The result shows that women have higher absence due to illness than men, mostly younger women and older men. Permanent and temporary employees have more absence due to illness than workers on deputy posts and that employees who have worked one to three years have more absence due to illness than other groups. The mapping also shows that employees have the highest sick leave in the fall, on Mondays and only one day is most prevalent. There are clear routines regarding sick leave and rehabilitation at the case company. Improvements can be made with the documentation in the web-portal for sick leave, how the first day reporting sick should be done, and that a comprehensive action plan could be designed for managers to use. The study shows that the managers who are committed and have a higher focus on creating a good group dynamic through activities generally have lower absence due to illness. By creating a satisfying work environment where employees have the opportunity to participate, influence, take responsibility, develop and be seen and heard can therefore improve productivity, motivation and workplace health.

Implications – A mapping of absence due to illness can improve the same work on other companies and create a greater understanding of why some groups have higher absence due to illness in the workplace than others. This case study also shows that the work environment, motivation and leadership are essential to encourage health in the workplace which can be applied on companies in several sectors.

Limitations – Deviation may have occurred as a large amount of data during the study was processed. To do a mapping is considered generalizable but the result may differ between companies, therefore is the study not applicable in all contexts. The authors consider however that the study could be applied in general to other businesses as work environment and absence due to illness is an issue in all industries. 

This paper presents an empirical study that evaluates the effects of visualizing missing data on decision-making tasks. A comparison between three visualization techniques: (1) emptiness, (2) fuzziness, and (3) emptiness plus explanation, revealed that the latter technique induced significantly higher degree of decision-confidence than the visualization technique fuzziness. Moreover, emptiness plus explanation yield the highest number of risky choices of the three. This result suggests that uncertainty visualization techniques affect the decision-maker and the decisionconfidence. Additionally, the results indicate a possible relation between the degree of decision-confidence and the decision-maker's displayed risk behavior.

Manufacturing companies are continuously faced with requirements regarding technology novelty, shorter time to market, a higher level of functionality, and lower prices for their products. This is especially true of suppliers that develop and manufacture highly customized products within the automotive industry. It is not uncommon that a request for a new product or subsystem goes out to several suppliers and that the one that can deliver the product most quickly and at the lowest price receives the contract. It is therefore vital for any supplier to answer to quotation requests rapidly and with a high level of precision while also ensuring that company assets are used efficiently. Other issues that apply to suppliers in the automotive industry are heavily fluctuating requirements during development projects, each customer’s individual preferences, and the ever changing interfaces with the OEM product with which the supplier’s product is to be integrated. Platform strategies have been widely accepted in industry to serve a wide product variety while maintaining business efficiency. However, the challenge of applying a platform strategy at the supplier level in the face of the reality described above has not been fully investigated. Platform approaches tend to require a focused development of the platform, which in turn requires some knowledge about which future variants are to be derived from the platform. The research presented in this thesis investigates the state of practice in industry regarding the challenges, needs, and current use of platforms. To respond to the identified need, a platform approach is proposed that expands the scope of what a product platform has traditionally contained. This is undertaken to aid in the development of highly customized products when physical modules or component scalability does not suffice. The platform approach provides a coherent environment for heterogeneous design assets to be used in product development, supporting both the activity of designing and off-the-shelf solutions. The approach is based on identifying and modelling generic product items that are associated with descriptions governing their design. By describing the outcome of technology and product development like finished designs, design guidelines, constraints, etc., in a standardized format, the platform continues to evolve. To aid in using the platform approach, a support system called Design Platform Manager is introduced at a company active as a secondtier supplier in the automotive industry. The system enables the creation of generic product items that can be structured, instantiated, and associated with descriptions, which aids in realizing product variants. The aim of the platform approach and tool is to support the quotation and continued design processes by identifying valid knowledge to use as circumstances, such as requirement changes or new design iterations, warrant. The support tool and overarching model have been evaluated by company representatives, who reported good results.

Introduction (and purpose) - Daylight can affect environments in several ways, it has many benefits in the aspect of well-being where daylight maintains the natural circadian rhythm of humans and can enhance their performance. Mimicking daylight with electric lighting along with daylight can create an efficient and productive environment. Mimicking daylight with electric lighting can recreate some of the benefits that daylight brings to humans, such as maintaining the natural circadian rhythm. The aim of the study is to find out what possibilities exist today and what is desirable in the future, in terms of control and technology, to achieve a higher quality of daylight-like electric lighting with good qualities.  

Method - The method used for this study is interview. The data collection technique is semi-structured interviews to allow participants to respond freely based on pre-determined questions. The interview responses are supported by relevant scientific literature not older than five years. The participants consist of four experts in the field of lighting control and daylighting design, two of whom are technical experts and two of whom are daylighting experts who were interviewed individually via Microsoft Teams.  

Results - The results are presented with quotes linked to the interview questions, and then summarised and linked to the issues addressed by the study. Three of the participants say that a visually seamless experience is achievable with current technology, one participant says that the technology needs more development, but that it is possible to implement a reasonably visually seamless experience. Participants also individually describe what a visually seamless experience is for them.  

Analysis - What can be inferred from the results is that overall, the technology required to create a visually seamless experience between outdoor and indoor environments is not considered a problem, but there are some differences of opinion in how such programming should be implemented. One participant believes that if you are going to follow the characteristics of daylight with the electric lighting then you should do it exactly, while a couple of others argue that following it exactly is not a sustainable solution in as we in the Nordic countries have few hours of sunlight in the winter months. All experts agree that more expertise is needed in the area of control programming, both to build the required systems and for clients and lighting designers to plan it into works more frequently than at present.   

Discussion - The discussion answered whether the results from the study were consistent with previous research or whether the current situation seems to be different from what the research claims. The discussion gave that there was a great difficulty in being able to design projects with good results if one did not deviate from what the standard SS EN 12464-1 says. One participant was sceptical about the current sensors in use, while the others were more open to the idea that there are sensors that are capable of reading daylight to the extent that it mimics a daylight-like environment indoors. The participants were convinced that there is hardware to create a good integration but that the onus is on the lighting designer and programmer to be able to create such an environment in a good way and be able to argue for it to the customer.  

Purpose - To avoid a manual interaction required to activate an assault alarm in today'ssolutions, the purpose of this study is to investigate how well it is possible to detect aphysical assault using a mobile device's GPS.

Method - An experimental study where the study's experiment was designed after atheoretical framework was established where previous studies on GPS accuracy havebeen reported. The experiment is then tested using three different use-cases for whenan alarm should be triggered or not.

Results - The results of the study indicates that GPS functionality for detecting physicalassaults works to varying degrees. To detect if a user deviates outside a certain radiuson a route, the best possible outcome has an 80% positive predictive value. When itcomes to detecting whether the user has not moved on the route, the result shows thatall tests have a result with a sensitivity of 100%.

Conclusion - The study's conclusion shows that it is considered possible to use the GPSto detect the scenarios where the user has suffered an “immobilization reaction” duringan assault to avoid the manual interaction that today's solutions require. However, thepositive predictive value is too low to be considered to meet the requirement to detectassaults in the scenarios the user deviates from the route.

Demanding markets and complex products are only some of the reasons that make changes and variations inevitable through different stages of product realization. From early phases of product development to downstream production phase, these changes or variations cause failure either directly or by propagating to other phases, triggering more fluctuations like the well-known butterfly effect. In this paper, first, the definition of changes in product realization will be reviewed and then different papers and their classification on change related system properties (illites) will be discussed and compared. It was argued that considering a system-level view, one could trace these propagations in the systems as a result of not being robust, flexible, or adaptable, etc. Some of the ambiguity in this semantic field demonstrated and most repeated definitions are identified as the unanimous and agreed-upon definitions in the literature. In the end, a historical comparison of the three identified properties presented. The results of this study help us to understand the multidisciplinary nature of these propagations and identify their stemming turbulent environment. This will be used as a foundation for forthcoming research either to prevent these propagations or utilize their attributes in the product realization.

It is increasingly important for cities to attract visitors, potential new residents and businesses. Jönköping is one of the cities working with place marketing, a strategy that intends to mediate a positive image of the city, in order to accomplish just that.

People often have a need to preserve the memory of a trip into something tangible. Anyone visiting Jönköping encounters a souvenir choice, much like the one in many other cities. Linked to the idea of positive place marketing, our work aims to investigate how we as product developers can create a product that en¬hances the image of Jönköping based on the thought that all residents are con¬sig¬nors. Accordingly, we develop three different products from the residents' own image of the city.

Our research questions are:

Based on the photographs, what image of Jönköping do the ambassadors mediate of their own city?

As designers, what in Jönköping's history versus the image of Jönköping today, can we seize in order to give products for visitors a sense of authenticity?

As designers, how can we use knowledge of place branding in the development of souvenirs?

We performed interviews within three different aspects: history, souvenirs and place branding, all focused on the city of Jönköping. The interviews and a work-shop formed the basis for the further design process.

This work has resulted in three products: the matchbox Det nya Jönköping i en historisk förpackning, highlights an important part in the city's history and becomes a conversation piece. Lek dig genom Jönköping want to show visitors what the city offers, and distinguish it from others, from the on-site. Detaljerna gör staden is an every¬day object and function can get residents to begin to discover the details of their own city.

Through the use of knowledge and theories of place branding and souvenirs, we would argue that we have found a way to actually catch the residents' image of the city in a number of products. We also believe that it would be able to apply this type of project in other locations to create more authentic and at the same time innovative souvenirs.

The usage of artificial intelligence in banking is an important theme within entrepreneurial research. The purpose of the study was to analyse the motivations, challenges and opportunities for Swedish banking institutes to implement artificial intelligence based solutions into their customer service process. The research is based on a case study of the Swedish banking institute Swedbank AB, who introduced an AI based virtual assistant (Nina) to deal with customer requests. For the qualitative study, interviews with Swedish banking customer and experts were conducted. Further, to understand the managerial motivations of Swedbank, a theory of Moore (2008) regarding innovation management was applied. The findings display that Nina improved the service spectrum of Swedbank with the potential of decreasing costs, while maintaining customer satisfaction. Further, the results displayed a high acceptance of new technologies from the customer perspective. This provides the foundation for Swedbank to introduce further artificial intelligence based services. Banking institutes and other service oriented organisations with high customer interaction can use the implications of the thesis when considering to more effectively handle customer requests.

There are still too many households in Sweden that use mostly incandescent light for lighting, using incandescent or halogen bulbs. This causes a substantial part of the unnecessary surplus of carbon-dioxide that is one of the reasons for global warming. Therefore, this degree project aims to promote a greener environment by studying and paying attention to factors that have an influence in the lighting context.

The purpose of this degree project is to gain a better understanding of how the LED light is experienced in a home environment. The work will show how LED light source's current quality is evaluated based on individual room experiences, and if additional quality improvements are needed. The objective is to turn the public's attitude in a more positive direction where LED can contribute to a more ecologically sustainable environment.

To investigate how LEDs are perceived in home environments an experimental study was performed which was based on the following research questions: How is LED light quality experienced compared to halogen light, how is personal wellbeing perceived in relationship to halogen and LED light, how are room experience and room character affected if halogen light is replaced by LED light in a home environment and are there any differences in these experiences between lighting designers and non lighting designers?

Two identical test-rooms were used. They were identical in size, interior design and lighting design. Halogen bulbs were used in one room and LED lights were used in the other room. A survey was used to get answers to the questions above. The results have been analyzed and detailed room analysis was also made.

The results showed that the light, regardless of light-source, influenced the participant's well-being and their room experience in different ways, depending on the occupational group they belonged to. It was also found that the difference in quality of light between halogen light and LED light is no longer significant. The presently available LED lights are improving and are worthy replacements for incandescent and halogen lamps.

In this survey, 105 papers related to interactive clustering were reviewed according to seven perspectives: (1) on what level is the interaction happening, (2) which interactive operations are involved, (3) how user feedback is incorporated, (4) how interactive clustering is evaluated, (5) which data and (6) which clustering methods have been used, and (7) what outlined challenges there are. This article serves as a comprehensive overview of the field and outlines the state of the art within the area as well as identifies challenges and future research needs.

This thesis investigates additive manufacturing as an alternative method for producing casting patterns in sand casting processes. Traditionally, casting patterns are manufactured using CNC milling, which entails long lead times, high manufacturing costs, and negative environmental impacts. Surface finish plays a significant role in casting pattern production and is one of several critical factors in assessing a method's suitability. By examining additive manufacturing, its potential and suitability for casting pattern production can be evaluated.

A key aspect of the study is the examination conducted to assess the surface finish of radius and draft angles on casting patterns fabricated through FDM and SLS printing. Surface finish was evaluated by measuring the Sa value using a digital microscope. Achieving high-quality surfaces on casting patterns is crucial for ensuring smooth and uniform sand mold patterns. The investigation resulted in moderately rough surfaces on the radius and draft angles of the casting patterns, with the Sa value varying depending on the casting pattern's layer thickness, angle, and radius.

The conclusion of this study is that FDM technology holds potential for casting pattern production but may require optimization to overcome existing challenges. Introducing 3D printing into foundries could lead to a more efficient and sustainable production process while reducing manufacturing costs for casting patterns.

The study examines the light level's influence on the visual experience in a clothing store. The survey should, with empirical data and theory, contribute to increased knowledge of the level of light in store environments. The question that the study answers is "How does the visual experience of a store change when the light level changes?" Based on previous studies and own observations, stores have relatively high visual light levels. The room experience of a store is influenced by various factors such as interior design, materials, colors and design, and our senses. Several studies have shown that the visual conditions for our experience have a strong impact on the stay in a store. The survey is based on field observations in existing stores located in Jönköping's shopping center, Asecs. A field observation was performed to gather information and create an idea of what visual light levels and physical aspects such as the illuminance are present in today's stores. The stores design, materials and surface colors were documented. With the support of the field observation results and standards from Ljus & Rum (2013), an experiment was designed to mimic a store environment in order to be able to evaluate and study the light level's influence on the visual experience. The 16 participants had to evaluate three different light scenes with the average illuminances of 300 lux, 700 lux and 2700 lux. The evaluation was performed by using a psychological instrument from a well-proven method, BELUPP. The results of the experiment show that the participants preferred 700 lux, which is not fully in line with the generally recommended 300 lux for stores. The results show that in the planning of lighting, the light level, distribution and character should interact to create a light environment with a pleasant visual experience. Higher light levels are more acceptable in rooms with darker surface colors and materials. Light levels are a significant factor in retail environments and have a major impact on ecological, social and economic sustainability. Lighting in the shop should be adapted to the situation as there are a number of factors that affect the perceived light level.

This thesis examines how to improve the exhibition of products within retail for clothes and gift articles. The purpose is to investigate and test how light sources and different directions of light affect how the products are perceived regarding their exhibition. Our question formulations are:

1. To what degree does the level of light in combination with the background of the interior design of a shop affect whether a product is perceived more or less attractive?
2. What can we recommend to make the exhibition of products more attractive?

From our observations shops nowadays have relatively high levels of light when they expose products on vertical areas. We have looked on the recommendation from “Energimyndigheten” in order to see what they think is important when designing retail lightening. This recommendation only considers food stores and there were no recommendations for retails when it comes to exhibition. In this thesis we investigate how the level of light affect the experience of illuminated products and how to improve the knowledge of how to illuminate products so that are experienced more attractive.

The methods we used in this thesis where interviews, experiment and measurements of light. We did the interviews with staff from seven different shops in Jönköping city. This was done in order to understand how shops work with lighting and concepts. In our experiment we built up five different test scenes with four identical objects in each scene but with different lightings. Our informants evaluated how the different objects were experienced by estimating their experiences in a survey. We tested how different sources of light work with different backgrounds and objects. The objects that were used in the experiment were glass, metal, a cube of concrete and textile. The measurements of light were used in order to see connections between the measured values and whether they corresponded with the result from the experiment.

From our results we can see that metal halide has the capacity of bringing out textile and also contribute to creating fresh and light impressions on products. Halogen contributes in creating a calmer and lower impression in a retail environment. With darker backgrounds you bring out clear contrasts from bright and colorful objects . Whiter backgrounds reflect the light better which creates life in glass and metal objects in combination with metal halide. We can conclude that the level of light does not affect how attractive products are experienced, this is rather due to the direction of light, the color temperature, the effect and the capacity of the source of lighting to reproduce color in combination with different backgrounds.

Syfte – Ta reda på hur man utformar en receptsida i avseende på design och anpassning för mobila enheter samt hur mycket detta påverkar den dagliga datatrafiken på webbplatsen.

Metod – Litteratursökning, kvantitativ webbenkät, webbaserad intervju samt mätning och jämförelse av datatrafik på webbplatsen.

Resultat – Navigation (struktur) på en webbplats är enligt många den viktigaste delen av webbplatsens innehåll. Navigationen ska även följa med i en mobilanpassning – för att användaren ska kunna känna igen sig på webbplatsen ska både strukturen och designen vara konsekvent.

Smartphones är framtidens datorer, vi blir bara fler och fler som surfar via mobila enheter. Ska en webbplats hållas modern och kunna konkurrera med liknande sidor så måste den vara mobilanpassad. På så sätt tappar inte webbplatsen några besökare, och användarna stannar längre på webbplatsen eftersom de även kan navigera från sin smartphone (eller surfplatta).

Begränsningar – Studien går endast på ytan av några av problemen som beskrivs i rapporten, eftersom en fysisk webbplats gjordes utöver studien.

Empirin består mestadels av litteratursökning och en kvantitativ enkät. Den kvalitativa aspekten av en utav metodvalen försvann under arbetets gång och blev mest en blandning mellan kvantitativ/kvalitativ. Därför förlitade jag mig mest på min webbenkät när jag besvarade min första frågeställning.

Nyckelord – användbarhet, navigation, datatrafik, responsiv webbdesign

In recent years, the web development industry has made websites more sustainable through green hosting and sustainable approaches in both back-end and front-end levels of websites. This study evaluates and aims to improve existing guidelines for designing lower-impact websites in the e-commerce sector. First, the study investigates the Internet users’ awareness of the Internet’s carbon footprint and their impressions of existing lower-impact websites. This data is then used to construct and conduct focus groups. The Internet’s impact on the environment and existing lower-impact website solutions are further analysed and dis-cussed in the grocery e-commerce context. These findings are then used as a base to build a lower-impact grocery e-commerce website prototype and test it with users and evaluate its attractiveness based on a hedonic/pragmatic model. The study reveals that users are pretty acceptive of the front-end changes to a website to make it more sustainable and willing to change their online habits. However, as current user awareness and knowledge about the Internet’s carbon footprint is very low, any changes to the User Experience (UX) of a website to make it more sustainable need to be communicated to the user.

With the recent advancement of computer technology, having an immersive experience has become more accessible. A technology that offers that is the one of virtual reality, or VR, for short, which immerses the user in another reality that is artificially constructed. It is natural to argue if there is even a need to switch from the general Online Video Conferencing software to VR-interviews.  The proposed research looks to dive into the user experience in this area to answer this question. This problem is important from the perspective of business owners, companies, and employees trying to have the best experience to recruit new employees or get recruited as a new employee, having the best possible experience. This research has three questions, where the first question examines how the user experience of an interview is different in VR compared to video conferencing software. The second and third question examines the user experience "job candidate's and recruiter's perspectives", in comparison to video conferencing software. For RQ1 a mixture of a small experiment followed by a think-aloud session with the participants was done. To gather the data for RQ 2 & 3, a total of three methods were chosen (experiment, interview, and survey), where these methods were both quantitative and qualitative to allow for triangulation.   The conclusions from the gathered data and the analysis of this research were that the user experience of virtual reality was preferable than that of the video conferencing software for both the recruiter and the candidate.

Background: Organizations are continuously challenged to create differentiated customer value and experience to increase profitability and gain competitive advantage. At the same time, the fast-paced advancement of technologies provides the opportunity to the organizations to create a differentiated customer value by offering innovative products and services. Internet of things (IoTs) is one such emerging technology that brings within itself opportunities and challenges to be addressed. However, so far research has not sufficiently followed how the utilization of IoTs can enhance customer value and experience.

Purpose: The purpose of conducting this study is to explore how the utilization of IoTs enhance customer value and experience in an equipment manufacturers context and what are the associated opportunities and challenges. The study also aims to contribute to gap identified in the literature about how organizations can utilize IoTs to enhance customer value and experience.

Method: The qualitative study utilized a single instrumental case study to explore the research questions. The data is collected by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews.

Conclusion: The study reveals that the utilization of IoTs can significantly improve customer value and experience in many ways. This may involve enabling user to monitor, control and optimally use the equipment, sharing useful information, allowing value co-creation and synergistic values and finally by providing autonomous equipment’s or solutions. However, the study also reveals that the utilization of IoTs also pose certain challenges along with the opportunities which must be carefully evaluated.

In the most recent years, the importance of managing inventory in the form of raw materials to the industries has expanded, marking a need to design a new warehouse for inventory management (Ackerman, 1997). Today, it is a requirement for industries to enhance each of their activities with a very effective manner. The optimization of managing raw materials inventory is concerned to smooth material flow with the internal activities of the industries. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to design a layout for new incoming inventory warehouse, which smoothens raw material distribution along the manufacturing shop floor and improves flow in production.

For this purpose, a case-study was carried out in one of the sheet metal manufacturing companies at Jönköping, Sweden. During the investigation in the company, data collection techniques utilized for gathering the required information are interviews and observation. Later, the gathered information is analyzed by relating them with the subject of the theoretical background, which mainly include warehouse management, warehouse processes, storage method, ABC Analysis and Lean production.

By reviewing the information from literature search and case study, initially the drawbacks of current situation in the company are determined. Later, the layout design for a new incoming inventory warehouse is suggested based on the appropriate features, to smoothen the material flow in the shop floor and finally concluded with suggestions for future research.

Sustainability and sustainable production methods are becoming more important in the manufacturing industry all around the world. Within this trend, United Nations’ formulated 2030 Sustainable Development Goals are used as a target and guideline for developing a roadmap in manufacturing companies’ schedules. For this purpose, there are some existing methods used in practice such as Triple Bottom Line (TBL) management, which is based on the environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainability. The purpose of this study is aiming to provide insights into the role of the TBL management approach in supporting companies to achieve the UN 2030 sustainability goals. As well as contributing to the ongoing discussions on the importance of sustainable practices in achieving the significance of the study.

The findings of this study, gathered through a combination of qualitative primary and secondary data collection, show that there are some similarities and differences between the sustainability practices depending on the SDGs. Approaches of the companies vary with factors such as legislations, culture, and other formal and informal institutions of the country. It is found that most of the Dutch companies act more proactive regarding the SDGs whereas Turkish organisations are more reactive to change. It can be seen that Turkish organisations are very much still primarily focused on the economical perspective of TBL. Dutch organisations tend to prioritise the social and the environmental aspects more than their Turkish counterparts. It can also be identified that Turkish organisations tend to be incredibly focused on legislations, whereas Dutch organisations are more often moving towards their own visions and how they want to position themselves in the market. Even though there is a significant difference between the Dutch and Turkish organisations, it can be identified that the economical aspect plays a major role in both cases. Yet the way they work towards this differs strongly. 

Syfte – Syftet för denna studie är att utforska hur automatisering av administrativa processer påverkar anställdas arbetsupplevelser och vilka faktorer som begränsar dessa effekter.

Syftet har brutits ner till studiens två följande frågeställningar:

1. Vilka möjliga förändringar har automatisering av administrativa uppgifter på individers arbetsuppleverser?

2. Vilka faktorer förhindrar automatisering av administrativa processer från att orsaka dessa upplevelser?

Metod – Studiens design är en enfallsstudie med ett producerande fallföretag i fokus. Triangulering har använts vid datainsamling och datainsamlingsmetoderna som använts är intervjuer, frågeformulär och dokumentstudie. Studien består av kvalitativa data, analys har genomförts med transkribering och kodning av data.

Resultat – Studien visar att automatisering av administrativa processer kan förändra och förbättra individers arbetsupplevelse och effektivitet. Däremot hindras dessa fördelar av faktorer såsom brist på kunskap, resurserbegränsningar och motstånd bland medarbetare. Att åtgärda dessa faktorer genom utbildning och att främja en samarbetskultur kan förbättra den framgångsrika implementeringen av automatisering och uppnå fulla potential.

Implikationer – Denna studie fyller ett gap i tidigare forskning genom att bidra med insikter om hur automatisering av administrativa processer i tillverkningsindustrin kan påverka arbetsupplevelsen samt identifierar hinder som begränsar automatiseringens fulla potential. Resultatet är användbart för företag som önskar förstå vilka hinder som kan påverka utfallet av automatisering i administrativa processer.

Begränsningar – Studien är begränsad till ett tillverkningsföretag och dess specifika sammanhang, detta kan påverka möjligheten att generalisera studiens resultat. Ytterligare forskning i olika organisatoriska och geografiska sammanhang rekommenderas för att validera och utöka resultaten.

Little is known about the development of social e-atmospherics. And yet, e-atmospherics have motivated an emerging body of research which reports that both better layouts and ‘recognized’ atmospherics encourage consumers to modify their shopping habits. While the literature has analyzed mainly the functional (design) aspect of e-atmospherics, little has been done in terms of linking its characteristics’ to social (co-) creation. This paper attempts to redress the imbalance by exploring the anatomy from a website designer perspective of the social dimension of design in relation to e-atmospherics, which includes factors such as the aesthetic design of space and the influence of visual cues as a socially constructed meaning. We identify the challenges that web designers as social agents, who interact within intangible social reference sets, restricted by social standards, value, beliefs, status and duties, face daily within their work. We aim to review the current understanding of the importance and voluntary integration of social cues displayed by web designers from a mature market and an emerging market, and provides an analysis based recommendation towards the development of an integrated e-social atmospheric framework. Results report exploratory findings from questionnaires with 10 French and 16 Turkish web designers. These allow us to re-interpret the web designers’ reality regarding social e-atmospherics. We contend that by comprehending (before any consumer/client input) social capital, daily micro practices, habits and routine of designers, a deeper understanding of social e-atmospherics possible functions in the future will be unpacked.

Background: The Covid-19 crisis has caused limitations that have led to some serious economic consequences around the world. The crisis that is still ongoing has created a complex situation for most economic actors. Every firm has been affected by the crisis in one way or another including family firms, that play a vital role in the global economy. The majority of family firms are family small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), that occupy an enormous proportion of the economy. Considering the evident role of family SMEs, the crisis situation calls with urgency to investigate strategic measures that family SMEs apply in order to survive. Different from all other countries, the Swedish government has implemented the most unorthodox and relaxed restrictions in the world. This created a unique business environment for Swedish firms to operate in. Family SMEs generate 60 percent of value to the non-financial economy, and 65 percent of employment in Sweden. The crucial economical role of family SMEs in Sweden in combination with the unique restrictions, has triggered the urgency to investigate the strategic measures that Swedish family SMEs apply to adapt.

Purpose & method: This study aimed to find an answer to the question of what strategic measures are applied by Swedish family SMEs in order to cope with the Covid-19 crisis. This study was executed by conducting qualitative research. 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 Swedish family SMEs from the construction, design, building, manufacturing, education and sports industries. The collected data was then sorted and analyzed systematically to generate knowledge, and draw upon conclusions that answer the research question of the study.

Conclusions: The findings showed that Swedish family SMEs use a different set of strategic measures in order to cope with the crisis. This study identified five strategic measure combinations which are: three cases of persevering + innovation, 1 case of retrenchment + innovation, 1 case of retrenchment + persevering, one case of retrenchment + persevering + innovation, and one case of pure persevering. It was found that the use of the strategic measures depends on five decisive factors namely, the impact of the crisis on the firms, the industry of the firms, the unique governmental restrictions, the preparedness of the firms for crisis and the development of the strategic measures through time. One interesting result was that all the firms in the sample have benefited financially from the crisis in the long-run, despite the challenges regarding supply chain disruptions.