Abstract Preschool children may interact with the Internet of Things (IoT) devices and program the behavior of these products. However, not much is known about the children’s ideas for a software programming tool. This research aimed at investigating how children aged from 4 to 6 years perceive the programming of IoT devices and, from practice with them, build a prototype of a programming environment for them. To this end, three Participatory Design techniques were adapted and applied to (and with) 30 children. A final prototype was built and its usability was assessed with the participation of six children. Photos and videos collected during the empirical assessment were later analysed using the Content Analysis Method. During the design, children relied on buttons and explicitly represented the IoT devices and adults in the user interfaces. They also adopted a top-down approach to programming IoT devices. Lessons learned for the design of these solutions are discussed.

Abstract Therapeutic digital games aim to support rehabilitation treatments and help patients understand, motivate and persist in therapeutic practices. Although there are several therapeutic digital games available, their development highly depends on the involvement of computer science professionals. This paper’s contribution is about how RUFUS was designed as a platform to provide EUP (End-User Programming) for healthcare professionals. This platform enables these professionals to author digital games aiming at performing therapeutic activities with their patients and/or caregivers. The platform has a web interface for game authoring, currently composed of three different game mechanics, as well as the possibility of viewing interaction reports. It also encompasses a mobile app that displays the games created for patients. Participatory design techniques were used during the design and evaluation of the three games to engage different stakeholders and also empower healthcare providers. A preliminary evaluation of the RUFUS point to an easy-to-use design solution, but which still needs further testing to ensure intuitiveness for users who have no experience with games or with authoring interfaces.

To address diverse interaction needs of heterogeneous users' groups, user interfaces must be flexible to accommodate for customization that are specific to each user profile. Although, existing web interfaces provide some flexibility, some problems still remain: a) manual adjustments carried out by end users are required for each web application; b) the flexibility provided by current web interfaces is insufficient to address diverse interaction needs of various users' profiles and c) few users are aware about such options to customize the presentation of web interfaces. To contribute to the customization of user interface according to the needs of diverse users, in this work we asses the suitability of a tool that customize web interfaces based on the needs and preferences of end users. UIFlex is a web-based browser plugin that enables users to define their interaction profile. In this task, users are supported by fifteen web-based design rules that were extracted from the literature and the knowledge of authorities. To customize the presentation of web interfaces, UIFlex relies on a set of rules defined for each individual user and "injects" JavaScript codes, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and in some cases HyperText Markup Language (HTML) codes in any page that follows W3C standards. UIFlex was evaluated by 104 users of diverse interaction profiles. The results obtained are promising and suggest that the solution improves the perception that the interactive system performs as desired by users.

Studies show that music is an effective form of emotional induction and can change the emotional behavior of the user. In view of this, this article seeks to create a "selection" algorithm that includes a subset of songs chosen by the user, while taking account of their current emotional state and allowing them to achieve the emotional state that is desired. In carrying out the experiment, we established the current emotional state, the desired emotional state and 20 suggestions of musical items from a sample of 20 users. With the aim of achieving the desired emotional state, the proposed algorithm returned a new list of musical items for each participant. The participants underwent an evaluation during and after playing the music to assess the effectiveness of the returned list. The results suggest that when listening to the songs selected by the algorithm, the user can approach the desired emotional state.

Ubiquitous systems can be characterized as providing transparency, while being context-sensitive and dynamically interactive. Evaluating ubiquitous environments involves challenges ranging from multidisciplinary areas to environmental simulations. However, few studies have been carried out on the user's feelings and moods in these environments, i.e. within mental contexts. This paper undertakes an observational case study which involves evaluating emotional responses in ubiquitous environments. A number of volunteers were exposed to stimuli with the aim of changing their mood through colors and images, in accordance with their initial emotional state. Emotional responses were evaluated by means of a hybrid approach that entailed employing different evaluation instruments at different periods of the interaction and which took account of different stakeholders. The results suggest that the approach is appropriate, although some adjustments are required for the evaluation instruments, as well for the interaction time with the environment so that it is possible to collect further data about the user's experience.

One approach for suiting the diverse and mutable interaction requirements is to tailor interfaces according to the users' preferences or needs. Although literature regarding flexible systems presents results with diverse foci, there has been a lack of works with a sociotechnical view to the problem and which consider methods and techniques to support designers in their practice. This paper presents PLuRaL - a framework to design flexible systems that considers a broader and deeper understanding of the domain and the context of use and proposes a norm-based representation for the different “behaviors” the system should have. A feasibility study was conducted, and the results suggest a positive evaluation of PLuRaL's utility, flexibility in supporting design changes, creative freedom and satisfaction with the results.