MFA, Kent State University, 2023, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

In this thesis I investigate the relationship between the soccer fan experience and the streaming experience centering American soccer fans. I chose this topic because it represents an important and sometimes frustrating experience in my life; soccer. I believe design is relevant and its value lies not only in physically designed objects but also in defining processes and new areas of opportunity. As soccer leans into the future with innovations like VAR and goal-line technology I am curious to know how design processes can assist in the implementation of future possibilities. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the viewing experiences of soccer fans in America and leverage user experience design and design research practices to consider how we can minimize pain points within current streaming models. Currently, broadcasting methodologies and TV rights bidding practices punish fans and users and force them to subscribe to a platform to view European soccer matches. Depending on the level of interest, fans may have one or more services which can be a struggle to manage and these services don't always guarantee access to every match. Additionally, this can become expensive as the fan dives deeper into the sport. To remedy this, I studied soccer and its history in America, broadcasting and TV rights, and fan experiences within the sport to suggest 90+ an alternative streaming solution. This service aims to point fans in the right direction and remove guesswork when comparing subscriptions. By recommending subscription packages and content based on user inputs and aggregating the viewing experience, we can maintain the current broadcasting model and act within reasonable feasibility while delivering a user and fan centered experience.

Committee: Jessica Barness (Advisor); Ken Visocky O'Grady (Committee Member); Sanda Katila (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2012, Industrial, Interior Visual Communication Design

Oral traditions and expressions in African cultures include a variety of forms: short stories, tales, riddles, proverbs, legends, myths, traditional songs and poems, prayers, theatrical performances and many more. African cultures use these avenues to pass on the knowledge of their society, values and the collective history of their tribes, which keeps their cultural identity alive. This study explores how oral culture can be leveraged in the digital environment. To do this, all the forms mentioned above will be assessed on how they translate into the digital realm. Almost all the methods above involve some form of interaction, whether it is touch, question and answers, dances, acting or just clapping. There is also the important area of sound inflection, with which a good storyteller can bring the story to life in the minds of the listeners. The challenge that I anticipate and will try to resolve is how these delivery methods that rely on the surroundings and settings can be simulated in the digital environment. This project is based on the hypothesis that the interactive environment will be more favorable for storytelling over the traditional book among the Diaspora communities. I will be testing a sample digital book created using the Apple iBooks Author software on the iPad environment to gather data to prove or disprove my hypothesis. I will then use the data to inform a future version of the digital book that will be used as a self-standing educational tool on any mobile device. I hope that this approach could be used as a template for documenting appropriate cultural heritages around the world. I strongly believe that the more cultures are documented, the more we can all gain an understanding of one another which could lead to better communication and fewer wars and conflicts. I see this project as a step in that direction.

Committee: Paul Nini Prof. (Advisor); Noel Mayo Dr. (Committee Member); Brian Stone Prof. (Committee Member) Subjects: African History; African Literature; African Studies; Black History; Design; Fine Arts; Folklore; Minority and Ethnic Groups

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

There is a growing expectation for customizing products to meet the end user aesthetic preferences, functional needs, or emotional attachment. However, it is challenging to customize a product without design knowledge or skills and accommodate the design and manufacturing process at affordable cost. The current model for mass customization provides limited room for personalizing colors, patterns, or materials, while the one for pure customization requires the involvement of professional designers to translate end users' personal needs. I propose a combined model for customization that offers step-by-step guidance for customizing a product based on parametric design process. This thesis presents the process of structuring the parametric design of eyeglass frames as a case study to demonstrate the proposed model and collect initial feedback from various stakeholders. A User Experience (UX) Design approach was applied to frame the user workflow, screen mockups, and digital interfaces for a web-based service that guides through the parametric design process with an eyeglass frame as an example. By simulating the online experience with a digital clickthrough prototype, I engaged multiple stakeholders, including product designers, service designer, marketing expert, and end users to demonstrate the model and collect initial feedback. Based on their feedback, I revised the initial screen mockups and discussed future opportunities to incorporate emerging technologies (e.g., 3D printing, AI facial scanning, online community for creative practice) into this process of guided customization, followed by their implications in design, business, and user experience.

Committee: Heekyoung Jung Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Brigid O'Kane MFA (Committee Member); Alejandro Lozano Robledo M.Des. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2022, Computer Science

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based brief interventional technique that has been demonstrated to be effective in triggering behavior change in patients. To facilitate behavior change, healthcare practitioners adopt a nonconfrontational, empathetic dialogic style, a core component of MI. Despite its advantages, MI has been severely underutilized mainly due to the cognitive overload on the part of the MI dialogue evaluator, who has to assess MI dialogue in real-time and calculate MI characteristic metrics (number of open-ended questions, close-ended questions, reflection, and scale-based sentences) for immediate post-session evaluation both in MI training and clinical settings. To automate dialogue assessment and produce instantaneous feedback several technology-assisted MI (TAMI) tools like ReadMI based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) have been developed on mobile computing platforms like Android. These tools, however, are ill-equipped to support remote work and education settings, a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, these tools lack data visualization features to intuitively understand and track MI progress. In this thesis, to address the aforementioned shortcomings in the current landscape of TAMI, a web-based MI data visualization dashboard tool ReadMI.org has been designed and developed. The proposed dashboard leverages the highperformance computing capacity of cloud-based Amazon Web Service (AWS) to implement the NLP-based dialogue assessment functionality of ReadMI and a vibrant data visualization capability to intuitively understand and track MI progress. Additionally, through a simple Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address, ReadMI.org allows MI practitioners and trainers to access the proposed dashboard anywhere and anytime. Therefore, by leveraging the high-performance computing and distribution capability of cloud computing services, ReadMI.org has the potential to reach the growing population of MI practitioner (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ashutosh Shivakumar Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Yong Pei Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Thomas Wischgoll Ph.D. (Committee Member); Paul J. Hershberger Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Computer Engineering; Computer Science

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2022, Computer Science

Education about implicit bias in clinical settings is essential for improving the quality of healthcare for underrepresented groups. Such a learning experience can be delivered in the form of a serious game simulation. WrightLIFE (Lifelike Immersion for Equity) is a project that combines two serious game simulations, with each addressing the group that faces implicit bias. These groups are individuals that identify as LGBTQIA+ and people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The project presents healthcare providers with a training tool that puts them in the roles of the patient and a medical specialist and immerses them in social and clinical settings. WrightLIFE games are distributed on both mobile and desktop devices and go through the entire cycle of providing healthcare professionals with experiential learning, which starts with defining the goals of the simulation and ends with collecting feedback. In this thesis work, cross-platform software frameworks like the Unity Engine have been used to develop survey scenes to comprehensively document users' pre- and post-simulation experience and attitudes towards implicit bias. Life course scenes were designed to convey an enhanced user experience that bridges the socio-technical gap between the real and virtual worlds. By applying existing user-experience design methodologies to design the survey scenes and life course scenes, it was possible to create an immersive experiential-learning assessment tool that has the potential to deliver data-driven and targeted learning.

Committee: Ashutosh Shivakumar Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Yong Pei Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Paul J. Hershberger Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas Wischgoll Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Computer Science

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Design

This is a scholarly personal narrative about the author's three-year journey leading to the development of the Recycling Distraction, a website designed to raise awareness of the shortcomings of municipal recycling. Based on research by environmental historians, sociologists, and economists, the Recycling Distraction presents a critical perspective on America's reliance on municipal recycling for managing post-consumer waste. Through the website, the author challenges the longstanding corporate practice of individualizing environmental responsibility to avoid anti-litter regulations, and argues that companies should be held responsible for their proportionate share of environmental damage caused by single-use disposable products. This paper documents the author's experience learning the fundamentals of user-experience (UX) research as an MFA candidate in the Department of Design. During the journey, the author navigates the landscape of sustainability programs at The Ohio State University, and searchers for opportunities to conduct UX research to support the development of circular-economy initiatives at the institution. Following a series of exploratory design activities, including: (1) conducting user-experience inquiries into recycling-related problems; (2) designing digital solutions aimed at improving recycling participation; (3) reviewing recycling and circular-economy literature; and (4) reflecting upon on his experiences, the author redirects his efforts toward raising awareness of recycling's failure to reduce waste and prevent pollution, which culminates with the development of the Recycling Distraction project.

Committee: Yvette Shen (Advisor); Bartow J. Elmore (Committee Member); Paul J. Nini (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

The excessive presence of technology in everyday life has challenged the usability of products for the older adult population. This population's feelings of frustration, uselessness, and lack of independence had been caused by the lack of accessibility components in technology, impacting their quality of life and psychological well-being. In addition, the rapid growth of smart applications and the lack of inclusion for older adults in the design development have enhanced the absence of engagement. Therefore, they have created complications that directly affect the quality of services they are receiving. This project focuses on the interaction between older adults and smart applications, specifically in health-related services, and draws attention to the lack of accessibility design for older populations. It uses exploratory research and participatory design methods to ideate possible interventions to improve older adults' health applications' experience, interaction, and usability. The design outcome of this project is a series of design principles for interface designers that strive to be a valuable tool to encourage the readers to reflect and improve accessibility features for older adults in smart applications. In addition, these principles seek to be easily readable and immediately applicable to interface design processes.

Committee: Renee Seward M.G.D. (Committee Member); Claudia Rebola Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2019, English

Planning, developing, and assessing sustainable mobile strategies is a challenge that many non-profit organizations face as they build mobile sites, native applications, and mobile experiences with community members. Through interviews with community organization leaders (n=3), community members (n=11), and a survey of a non-profit organization's members (n=266) in the southern Ohio region, this project, Designing Mobile User Experiences for Community Engagement, extends mobile literacy scholarship within the field regarding community-based work and, more recently, mobile communication literacies. Seeking to fill a gap in writing studies research concerning mobile communication strategy in non-profit organizations, this study's research questions include: (1) How do community organizations use mobile technologies and mobile communication practices for community engagement?; (2) What does the mobile technology and strategy development process look like in community organizations? (3) How do community members and leaders define the affordances of mobile technologies?; (4) What purpose do mobile technologies serve in community engagement?; (5) What are the challenges and benefits of using mobile technologies for community engagement purposes? Findings show participants encountered major breakdowns in motivation in using the application regarding three key areas: pertinence, personalization, and duplication of content, rather than issues that would be typically defined as breakdowns in ease of use. Ultimately, this dissertation offers a methodological framework based in activity theory and space as practiced place for studying mobile communication and mobile user experience that highlights identifying motivations and breakdowns that exist across communication ecologies and offers key strategies and practices for building, using, and developing mobile communications for community engagement.

Committee: W. Simmons PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Composition; Rhetoric; Technical Communication

Master of Fine Arts, Miami University, 2017, Art

There is a communication gap between farmers in Lerida, Tolima and colombian climate entities which contains information that is vital to better control farming operations. This project addresses this problem by improving the communication platforms between farmers and the technology available to help farmers by using design. The goal of this project was to enhance communication platforms between farmers and climate entities, different design theories and UI/UX tools were implemented to improve this communication. Currently, the design solutions and technologies available to rural farmers are not effective, accurate or user-friendly, these technologies were not designed with rural farmers in mind, they do not have access to the information that they need on a platform that is easy to navigate. This research aims to to enable farmers to get the information they need. It was economically relevant to invest in this problem in the area: Lerida, Tolima. because rice field farms are the first employment opportunity in town (Yanes, 2013). Mitigation adaptations and better communication would be very beneficial to the area (Ramirez-Villegas, n.d.).

Committee: Dennis Cheatham (Advisor); Erin Beckloff (Committee Member); James Coyle (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Design; Fine Arts; Instructional Design; Latin American Studies; Web Studies