Search Results (28)

Background/Objectives: Upper limb amputation presents considerable physical and psychological challenges, especially in young, active individuals. This case study outlines the rehabilitation journey of a 33-year-old patient, an Italian national Paralympic snowboard cross athlete, who underwent elective transradial amputation followed by advanced surgical and prosthetic interventions. The objective was to assess the combined impact of upper limb Targeted Sensory Reinnervation (ulTSR) and the Adam’s Hand prosthetic system on functional recovery and user satisfaction. Methods: After a partial brachial plexus injury caused complete paralysis of his right hand, the patient opted for transradial amputation. He subsequently underwent ulTSR, performed by plastic surgeon, Alexander Gardetto, MD, which involved rerouting sensory nerves to defined regions of the residual limb in order to reestablish a phantom limb map. This reinnervation was designed to facilitate improved prosthetic integration. The Adam’s Hand, a myoelectric prosthesis with AI-based pattern recognition, was selected for its compatibility with TSR and intuitive control. Outcomes were evaluated using the OPUS questionnaire, the DASH, and patient feedback. Results: ulTSR successfully restored meaningful sensory input, allowing intuitive and precise control of the prosthesis, with minimal cognitive and muscular effort. The patient regained the ability to perform numerous activities of daily living such as dressing, eating, lifting, and fine motor tasks—which had been impossible for over 15 years. OPUS results demonstrated significant improvements in both function and satisfaction. Conclusions: This case highlights the synergistic benefits of combining ulTSR with user-centered prosthetic technology. Surgical neurorehabilitation, paired with advanced prosthetic design, led to marked improvements in autonomy, performance, and quality of life in a high-performance amputee athlete. Full article

In the context of the rapid digital transformation of the catering industry, the design of ordering interfaces—key hubs of human–computer interaction—has become critical to user service quality and brand competitiveness, especially in terms of usability, visual appeal, and emotional resonance. Based on a human–computer interaction design framework, this study proposes a dual-path optimization model integrating user demand mapping and conflict resolution to synergize explicit need translation with innovative design problem solving. The model employs KE to capture implicit user needs, applies AHP to construct a weighted design element system, and uses QFD to establish a matrix linking user needs with technical attributes. To address contradictions among design elements, TRIZ is introduced to resolve conflicts between functional redundancy and interaction efficiency. Additionally, generative AI tools such as MidJourney are incorporated to accelerate concept generation and improve innovation. Based on user evaluations and controlled experiments, the optimized design demonstrates measurable improvements in task efficiency and visual appeal. Overall, the dual-path approach effectively bridges the gap between vague user needs and concrete design solutions, achieving a balanced integration of functionality, aesthetics, and interactivity. The proposed model overcomes the limitations of experience-driven design by offering a systematic methodology encompassing demand analysis, technological transformation, conflict resolution, and intelligent generation, with practical value for enhancing the user experience of digital service touchpoints in the catering sector. Full article

The prognosis for Hormonal Receptor positive-HER2-negative (HR+ HER2-negative) metastatic breast cancer (mBC) has significantly improved by advances in hormone therapies, targeted drugs, and antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs). Nevertheless, maintaining quality of life (QoL), managing symptoms, and reducing treatment-related toxicity remain essential. Background: eHealth solutions offer new opportunities to enhance patient engagement and well-being through digital tools. This paper aims to delineate the fundamental functionalities and objectives of TreC_Metha, a technologically advanced instrument to provide effective support during all care process of patients diagnosed with HR+HER2-negative mBC able to proactively change its configuration depending on the treatment line or on the intra-line treatment phase the patient undergoes, as set by the healthcare team. Methods: The TreC_Metha platform was developed through a structured, evidence-based four-phase process aimed at scalability, usability, and clinical relevance. The development began with a formal analysis of the metastatic breast cancer (mBC) care pathway using BPMN modeling to map phases, activities, and stakeholders, highlighting differences from early-stage breast cancer. This analysis informed the identification of key points where digital support could enhance care. Patient needs were assessed through a web-based questionnaire (N = 20) and two focus groups (N = 11), enabling a participatory design approach. Based on these insights, the platform’s functional and non-functional requirements were defined, leading to the design and implementation of a patient-facing mobile app and a clinical dashboard tailored to mBC-specific needs. Results: Preliminary findings from the web survey focus groups revealed significant gaps in communication and information delivery during the mBC care journey, contributing to patient anxiety and reduced confidence. Participants expressed a preference for digital and printed resources to improve understanding and facilitate interactions with healthcare providers. These insights informed the development of the TreC_Metha platform. The clinical dashboard enables real-time monitoring and decision-making, while the mobile app supports bidirectional communication, therapy adherence, and patient-reported data collection. A system prototype is currently under refinement and will undergo usability testing with a small cohort of users. Following this phase, the pilot study will evaluate the platform’s impact on QoL, aiming for a ≥10% improvement in outcome measures and contributing to a more patient-centered care model in the mBC setting. Conclusions: TreC_Metha represents an innovative tool that may enable involvement and active participation in the mBC care process for both a multidisciplinary care team of professionals and the patient, and that can be easily adapted to other cancer types and chronic diseases. Full article

Understanding customer journeys is key to e-commerce success. Many studies have been conducted to obtain journey maps of e-commerce visitors. To our knowledge, a complete, end-to-end and structured map of e-commerce journeys is still missing. In this research, we proposed a four-step methodology to extract and understand e-commerce visitor journeys using process mining. In order to obtain more structured process diagrams, we used techniques such as activity type enrichment, start and end node identification, and Levenshtein distance-based clustering in this methodology. For the evaluation of the resulting diagrams, we developed a model utilizing expert knowledge. As a result of this empirical study, we identified the most significant factors for process structuredness and their relationships. Using a real-life big dataset which has over 20 million rows, we defined activity-, behavior-, and process-level e-commerce visitor journeys. Exploitation and exploration were the most common journeys, and it was revealed that journeys with exploration behavior had significantly lower conversion rates. At the process level, we mapped the backbones of eight journeys and tested their qualities with the empirical structuredness measure. By using cart statuses at the beginning and end of these journeys, we obtained a high-level end-to-end e-commerce journey that can be used to improve recommendation performance. Additionally, we proposed new metrics to evaluate online user journeys and to benchmark e-commerce journey design success. Full article

(1) Background: Public transport has a vital role to play in creating sustainable, accessible societies. Accessible and inclusive, door-to-door public transport systems with low barriers to use benefit everyone, increasing the mobility of citizens and improving independence. As the industry strives towards multi-modal and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concepts, there is a need to delve deep into the needs and perceptions of transport user’s door-to-door journeys to find ways to improve. Accordingly, in order to increase the sustainability of MaaS, improving accessibility and understanding service user perceptions are of utmost importance. However, there is a scarcity of research within national transport services to determine unmet user needs to increase the accessibility and autonomy of door-to-door journeys. This research aims to investigate if it is possible to improve the door-to-door journey experience for public transport travellers, increasing the accessibility and the perception of autonomy via technology, and by doing so, providing a more sustainable alternative to road transport. It focuses on understanding service users of Ireland’s National Rail service, Irish Rail, to create key improvements in interactive systems. (2) Methods: The study applies a user-centred mixed-methods methodology using surveys (N = 316) and co-design workshops (four workshops N = 15). The research collected deep insights into the mindsets and needs of service users, showing the potential to improve this door-to-the-door customer journey. Key improvements for interactive systems were outlined. Experience maps were designed, leading to a Conceptual Design for a travel assistant to aid the service user throughout the door-to-door journey. (3) Results: Travellers’ autonomy and the sense of freedom they experience can be improved, mainly if their needs across the complete door-to-door customer journey are supported. Highlighted areas for action include information, accessibility, personal security, ticketing, comfort, facilities, and anxiety. (4) Conclusions: This research reiterates the need for national transport and MaaS providers to prioritise service users’ perspectives when developing sustainable services. Co-designing is recommended as a means of achieving this. Full article

Computer vision (CV), a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses digital videos or a sequence of images to recognize content, has been used extensively across industries in recent years. However, in the healthcare industry, its applications are limited by factors like privacy, safety, and ethical concerns. Despite this, CV has the potential to improve patient monitoring, and system efficiencies, while reducing workload. In contrast to previous reviews, we focus on the end-user applications of CV. First, we briefly review and categorize CV applications in other industries (job enhancement, surveillance and monitoring, automation, and augmented reality). We then review the developments of CV in the hospital setting, outpatient, and community settings. The recent advances in monitoring delirium, pain and sedation, patient deterioration, mechanical ventilation, mobility, patient safety, surgical applications, quantification of workload in the hospital, and monitoring for patient events outside the hospital are highlighted. To identify opportunities for future applications, we also completed journey mapping at different system levels. Lastly, we discuss the privacy, safety, and ethical considerations associated with CV and outline processes in algorithm development and testing that limit CV expansion in healthcare. This comprehensive review highlights CV applications and ideas for its expanded use in healthcare. Full article

A chatbot is a computer program that uses general rules and Artificial Intelligence techniques to simulate human conversation. This paper highlights the different scenarios of human-computer interaction and the journey it has gone through from evolution to evolvement to innovation to the development of the technical era. Here, the main focus is on the ways humans interact with the computer and how it has changed day-to-day life and reduced human efforts in performing everyday activities. There is an impact of HCI (Human–Computer Interaction) on people and has consequences in the form of both advantages and disadvantages of this interaction. The various innovations and machines have given birth to human–computer interaction as well as technology interaction. The main objective is to style the interface amongst men as well with Personal Computers (PCs) as usual as the interface amid beings. The user can interact in this system using text or voice. As per way as interaction is concerned direct, indirect, and strategic interaction of humans with computers and the latest gadgets is possible. Dynamic intelligence makes it like real-time communication with an individual. It can handle the user request and offer relevant information that can be used as a friend one would seek for knowledge. The proposed system is developed using the Rasa of an open-source platform. Further, the article focuses on the features and role of chatbots in an educational context. High precision in sentence analysis is attained with the aid of the proposed method up to a 91% hit ratio. The hit rate for the similarity computation is high. The system can handle a broader variety of requests as a consequence of its ability to recognize many ways to phrase the same inquiry and map them to related results. Full article

In recent years, despite the widespread success of artificial intelligence (AI) across various domains, its full potential in the field of education, particularly in filmmaking education, remains largely untapped. The purpose of this study is to explore the application of AI-generated programs in filmmaking education to address existing shortcomings in curriculum design. We employed a comprehensive approach, starting with an extensive review of existing filmmaking courses and AI-recommended courses. Subsequently, two rounds of in-depth interviews were conducted, involving both experts and students, to gain profound insights. We utilized user journey maps to visualize the participants’ experiences and feedback, complemented by a mixed-methods analysis approach for a comprehensive data assessment. The study revealed that both the experts and the students derived positive benefits from AI-recommended courses. This research not only provides a fresh perspective on the practical applications of AI in filmmaking education but also offers insights for innovation in the field of education. Theoretically, this study establishes a new foundation for the application of AI in education. In practice, it opens up new possibilities for filmmaking education and promotes the development of cutting-edge teaching methods. Despite limitations in sample size and geographical scope, this study underscores the immense potential of AI in filmmaking education. It provides directions for future research to deepen our understanding of AI’s impact on education. Full article

In Taiwan, people who enjoy traditional Gongfu tea are becoming older and older, while the younger generation has many alternative beverages to select from. In order to sustainably pass down traditional tea-drinking culture, this study has incorporated concepts and methodologies of the peak-end rule, customer journey maps (CJMs), quality function deployment (QFD), fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation based on entropy, resulting in the development of a set of tea utensils tailored for a novice or beginner tea maker with the purpose of improving the tea-drinking experience of the younger generation. In this study, the ranking of the importance in regard to six design requirements turned out to be: enhancing the sniffing experience (0.240); having ergonomic designs that facilitate a smooth process of pouring hot water into the cup (0.205); increasing the ease of storing tea utensils after brewing (0.162); enabling users to more precisely determine the strength of the tea (0.144); increasing fun while pouring tea leaves into the teapot (0.143); and having clearly designated space for placing each tea utensil (0.107). Through the experts’ evaluation, 66.6% of them rated the design outcome as “good” or “very good”, indicating that the innovative tea utensils developed in this study can effectively satisfy users’ needs. This study can be the supplement to the innovation shortage of tea-culture-related studies, establish the research framework in the academic field, and bring more innovation and potential to the field of the tea culture. Full article

The demand for healthcare services using mobile devices has surged owing to the ageing population and increasing interest in personal healthcare. In particular, extensive efforts have been made to utilise mobile personal health records (PHRs) to provide personalised healthcare services to users (patients). Users must understand various types of health information that are included in PHRs to ensure successful and continued use of mobile PHRs. In this study, we developed and evaluated a user-friendly method for delivering health information from a PHR using mobile devices with small screens. We first constructed a patient journey map (PJM) for easy verification of disease treatment data from the perspective of the patient. Subsequently, we developed a mobile prototype that organises and visualises personal health information according to the patient-centred PJM and conducted user evaluations with 20 Korean participants. The results demonstrated that information delivery using the proposed prototype was easy to understand, user-friendly, and efficient. This paper highlights the importance of PJMs for patients in the understanding and use of different medical information. The proposed method is expected to promote the development of patient-centred mobile health applications in the future. Full article

Based on the treatment journey, this study aimed to present insights into improving the patient-centered service experience for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. We interviewed and observed patients, caregivers, and doctors. We conducted a qualitative content analysis and service clue analysis to identify barriers and enablers to patient care and to derive insights into the patient experience (PE). We received feedback from doctors considering the priority, importance, and feasibility of improvements and classified the insights into three service experience aspects, to suggest improvement directions. As a result, the ‘functional’ aspect of service experience stressed the importance of a comprehensive guide to the treatment process, delivery of reliable information, use of easy-to-understand terms, repeated summary explanations, the establishment of close and flexible linkages between departments, and the provision of educational programs. Regarding the ‘mechanic’ aspect, the use of large and clear visuals for patients, to easily understand the care information provided by medical staff was distinguished. In the ‘humanic’ aspect, patients’ psychological stability, trust in doctors, and doctor’s encouragement and support through maintaining a positive attitude were prioritized. This qualitative study provided integrative insights into the HNC patient experience, through the application of service design methodologies, such as a patient journey map, participatory research methods, and service experience clues. Full article

As a strong and effective alternative to disposable food boxes that cause serious pollution consequences, reusable takeaway containers are promising in terms of environmental protection. However, at present, in the service process of leasing, using, distribution, and recycling, reusable takeaway containers have many problems, such as incomplete cleaning, resulting in unhygienic conditions, repeated use of materials that are not safe enough, food spillage, leakage or theft of customer phone and address information due to exposed takeaway order labels, and wrong containers taken by customers. In addition, there is a lack of objective and comprehensive evaluation methods and systems to guide their design and improvement. In order to solve the current problems of reusable takeaway containers and explore a quantitative approach for evaluation of design solutions from the perspective of users, this paper analyzed user behaviors and needs through user interviews, questionnaires, user journey maps (UJM), and other methods. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) were used to construct an evaluation model for the design of reusable takeaway containers, and it was calculated as a function of the survey dataset. The comprehensive index weight model was established, and the design indicators were sorted to obtain the priority of design elements. Three design schemes were proposed and calculated by combining questionnaire data and the FCE method to obtain the optimal Scheme B. The results showed that the combination of UJM and AHP–FCE method framework was suitable for scheme evaluation and design development, which could provide effective and detailed user evaluation for designers and guide the direction of product improvement. Full article

The global novel coronavirus pandemic has caused a surge in the use of masks worldwide. A large number of used masks that have not been properly handled enter the environment, which caused and will cause serious ecological problems. The purpose of this study is to propose a solution to the problem of mask management from the perspective of science of design, and to build a good mask recycling service design strategy through the combination of design and psychology. Firstly, based on the theory of behavioral environment and field investigation, this study analyzes the correlation between the existing mask recycling device and its recycling efficiency, user behavior psychology and environment, and studies the behavioral scene of mask recycling, and then establishes the center of design strategy implementation. Secondly, a visual guidance system is designed, as is a special recycling device for masks by color psychology and product design. Thirdly, combined with the concept of social innovation service design, the design of a mask recycling strategy is conceived, and the optimization and formulation of mask recycling strategy is demonstrated through stakeholders, user journey maps and service flow charts. Finally, the design strategy is hierarchically established, and the feasibility analysis system model of a mask recycling strategy design is constructed. The data collection is carried out through expert interviews and questionnaires, and the weight is calculated by a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The final output comprehensive evaluation results show that the mask recycling strategy constructed in this study has public recognition. Full article

With the introduction of “carbon neutrality”, promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality has become contingent upon the vigorous development of pure electric vehicles. The development of electric minivans is receiving substantial backing from the government as China’s logistics vehicle market undergoes a transformation. The drivers of electric minivans in China’s Shanxi Province are the objects of this research, whose purpose was to establish a service model based on the four elements of service design and grounded theory to clarify the key factors of user guarantee for electric minivans. We conducted a pilot study using questionnaires, user patterns, user interviews, and a user journey map to determine the user needs for electric minivan user service guarantees. NVivo was used to analyze and code the user interview data qualitatively. The research findings can serve as a resource for entrepreneurs, service providers, managers, and designers of electric minivans. Full article

Buildings account for 40% of the European Union’s energy consumption. Deep energy renovation of residential buildings is key for decarbonization and energy poverty alleviation. However, renovation is occurring at far below the needed pace and depth. In this context, building renovation one-stop shops, which bring all project phases under one roof and provide advice, support, and finance to households, are highlighted as a promising solution. Nevertheless, this model is still absent or under-developed in most European countries and remains understudied in the scientific literature. Therefore, the present research goals are as follows: (i) to provide a critical review of emerging one-stop shop models; (ii) to streamline the deployment of building renovation digital one-stop shops by piloting a sequential multi-staged approach for Portuguese households and proposing it for replication elsewhere; and (iii) to compare case-study insights with other one-stop shops and discuss the notion in the context of the European Renovation Wave. In total, for the Portuguese case-study, five steps were conducted. The first three—stakeholder mapping, expert interviews, and customer journey—aimed to gather intel on the local energy renovation market. The results from these stages informed the design of the platform (fourth step). Finally, a post-launch market consultation survey gathered user feedback (fifth step). Insights from this study suggest that digital one-stop shops, while providing a helpful tool to close information gaps and activate specific audiences, may be insufficient on their own. As such, a more comprehensive set of instruments supporting households is needed to accelerate building renovation. Full article