This chapter summarizes the whole thesis. The result of the whole process, limitation of the used methodology, conclusion, and future work will be discussed. There are many tools in the market that help employees to increase interaction in the same working en-vironment. The usage of a big screen contributes additional features into the previous related work.
8.1 Summary of the thesis
The main aim of this thesis is to find a solution to increase interaction and communication between the people in the same working environment. There are many tools in the mar-ket to increase interaction, but they have some limitations. The user-centred design methodology was used for this thesis. The process begins with the Interview session.
Thinking about current relevant work, the questions were designed for the interview ses-sion. In the interview session, a total of ten participants was selected. Who were belong to different ages, nationalities, qualifications, skills, and cultural background? They are in Finland for a long time. Either they are studying and working part-time or a few of them were full-time employees. As the context of use is an office that is why participants form companies were selected. The next step was the selection of the location in the com-pany. All those areas were selected where employees meet each other. Specially cafe-teria and restaurant and then kitchen, entrance or in the event room. Few interviews were conducted in the office café. Where observations have been made. Over activities have been recorded in a notebook, took pictures. Interview sessions were recorded with the participant’s permission. After analysing interviews and contextual inquiries, affinity diagram, culture, and physical models were created.
Many ideas generated after analysing the collected data. 8 x 8 approach was used for the brainstorm session. Only those ideas were shortlisted where were fulling user re-quirements and feasible for office culture. Then a big screen idea was selected. The next step was what kind of feature should be included in the system which will bring employ-ees close to each other. Using User environment design, all features were described.
Afterwards, a Medium-fidelity prototype was developed. The idea was designed and cre-ated. To make sure that the proposed system is up to users' requirements and full their needs. The prototype was tested in an office environment with real users. Where two scenarios were created and explained to users. In written form and verbal form as well.
After the prototype testing. Users were invited to fill in the AttrakDiff questionnaire, to under user's experience. In the last step, an interview was conducted to understand where they were excited and disappointed.
We analyse the collected data from the post-interview session. The final result was show-ing that most users liked our system. And they are waitshow-ing for this kind of system in the real world. It will make the user's work-life more interesting. Few drawbacks and missing features were pointed out by the user. We noted them down. And we proposed to add them to the advanced version.
8.2 Methodological reflection and limitation
In the initial phase, the users’ needs were unclear and very broad. It was difficult to take a specific direction. Due to this, thinking of interview questions was a challenging part of the interview session. Another issue was that Interview participants belonged to different cultures and backgrounds. Their needs were different from each other. Our target group belongs to different age qualifications and skills. That is why their needs were quite scat-tered. Combining them all and give them one direction was a challenging task.
During data collection, there is a chance that some questions or explanations were miss- interpreted. Because participants have a different cultural background. In Finnish culture, people are loyal to their work and straight forward. In Asian culture, people act nice in front and maybe worse in the back. If Asian people have any issue with their boss. They will never argue with their boss, or they prefer to do Flattery to get his favour. While internally they might hate their bosses and do backbiting. The cultural difference was huge among the participants. It was difficult to understand the way of thinking. Being interviewer, I belong to Asian culture. Maybe I was biased during interpretation. There is little chance, we might miss some information.
In the office environment, everyone has tension in their mind about the meeting, pending tasks, deadlines, and new projects. Usually, everyone is in a hurry. Everyone pays at-tention to their work. They do not have time to focus on other stuff. A big screen Idea was initiated based on the office lifestyle and working culture. A users’ study shows that they will pay attention if something unusual happening in their surroundings. Attention will be dragged to the big screen. When someone enters in office and sees on a big screen a colourful notification about entraining event or funny note or karaoke challenge.
In the design process, the focus was it should be easy and simple to use. Everyone enjoys it while using it. The main aim was, it should bring some sort of relaxation and positive changes in the employee’s life. They should talk to each other. Not just bow their
head to work and not pays attention to their surroundings. The use of a big screen in the office premises was a challenging task. Many companies are using big touch screens to boost their sales. Like McDonald's touch screen to place order. But in this thesis context of use was different. We used big touch screen features to mobilize people to talk to each other. We designed it in this way that it can perform different tasks according to the situation. In working hours it will be an interesting noticeboard. Where general infor-mation about upcoming events and competitions will be displayed. It will show more per-sonalized data after login with the user's account. It will perform like a personal assistant.
During the free time, it allows colleagues to play silent games like tic tac toe, bowling, or chess. In the evening or during the party, it will perform as DJ. Where music can be played via Spotify. Or as a cinema house, where colleagues can watch movies after office hours.
The UCD is a very help full methodology. It has some limitations if it is performed in a small group. This approach should be done with a large group of people. For this thesis, few interviews were conducted, and sample data was limited. Which might not be an actual representation of the right target groups. In the Affinity diagram process. More people's participation is needed, to analyse user requirements correctly, and cluster them into the right category. In the brainstorm session, more people can share more ideas. They can discuss all pros and cons of the under develop system. It probably takes more time, but in the end, the solution will be refined and up to the users' demand. The same thing will affect the evaluation process. During prototype testing session, more people need to observe their activities, to note them all and reflect them in the final de-sign.
8.3 Conclusion and future work
After analysing the collected data from the UCD process, the conclusion has been made that the proposed system is fulfilling the user’s requirements. It will play an important role to increase interaction between the people, in the same working environment, based on the same interest. It has a strong privacy feature, which will restrict other users to see private data or activities. This system has flexibility. The user is a driver of this tool. He has the authority, and he can decide what kind of information will be visible, and to whom.
The aim of this system is that the user feels freedom and increase interaction with other users. Only focusing on work will reduce employee productivity and will increase depres-sion. This system is in favour of the company and its employees. If employees will be happy eventually, they will bring more benefits to the company. So, it is a win-win situa-tion for both entities.
This system is the too top line. If we deep dive into users' requirements. Few of them are looking for more advanced features. These features might not be needed in small com-panies. But in the corporate sector, it is a primary need. Users want to use this system to advertise their skills to the whole cooperate network. They are willing that system can make a connection, not only in one office building. But it should go beyond the bounda-ries. They are open to finding new friends around the globe. In Europe, it is quite common that people visit different countries on their vacation. Users want if they find a match in any other country. Then they will be willing to meet that long-distance colleague. Now there will be a reason to visit that specific country on their vacation. Probably after face to face meetings, they become friends or may life partners. Users told us in the interview session that normal social media is full of fake people. Most people have the wrong in-formation and personality. If they find someone via this system. One thing will be sure that users will be authentic and will have real data. If a handsome boy or girl is working in the same company and both have the same interest. There will be more chances that will go beyond friends' relationships.
Some users want to add features in the system to make their working life easier. In their daily work, they are using multiple applications. It is difficult to manage multi applications at the same time. They are looking for the “One Man Army” system. Where all functions should be in one place. Their meeting schedule, personal notes, project timeline, discus-sion board, file storage, and so on. They are looking for an advanced system, which will manage their daily tasks very easily. They think if they can save their time by using this system. Then they will have time to meet other colleagues and do some extracellular activities. In short, they want to have fun, but they do not find time due to hectic routines.
The proposed system will be suitable for small and medium-sized companies. But in the future, with more advanced features it will fulfil corporate network needs. It will be like an Enterprise resource planning system but with more rich features. It will be utilizing the advanced features of touch screens, smartphones, and laptops. And it will accommodate users at each level, based on their requirements. It will be easy to use and fun to interact with. The future system with advanced features will be costly to develop. But in the end, it will be effective and efficient for company productivity and employee grooming.