Human Computer Interaction: How Website Developers Improve User Experience; The Struggle for Safe and Convenient Micromobility in Washington, DC.

Every day, companies with great products and services lose out on potential customers due to poor web design choices. To effectively communicate goals and meet user needs, I propose integrating the principles of Human Computer Interaction into the web development process and testing user satisfaction throughout. Web developers should be relatively familiar with main HCI ideas, which should be integrated into Computer Science curriculums. Any website under development should continuously test user satisfaction to ensure the design choices are positively impacting efficiency and effectiveness. Through these improvements in the design process, companies may find a return on their initial investments in development. More satisfied users are more likely to return to the site and make additional purchases or generate more advertising revenue. In the future, the HMI design process could be automated to reduce cost and time spent in the development phase. New methods for testing user satisfaction can also be explored to ensure the website’s design is effective before it is released.

Amidst the rapidly changing climate and increasing environmental awareness, people are looking for alternative, sustainable transportation options instead of cars. For some, the vastly growing micromobility solutions are the answer. Micromobility’s share in the transportation sector has steadily expanded in large cities, presenting new infrastructure problems. Specifically in the metropolitan area of Washington D.C., infrastructure plans including protected bike lanes are controversial and opposed by groups of motorists. As a minority transportation group how do micromobility proponents in the D.C. area advocate for safer transportation conditions? The STS section of this thesis explores the various groups involved in these conflicts and characterizes each based on their relationships with one another. The Actor Network Theory framework is utilized to define these relationships and discuss effective strategies for motivating safer conditions for micromobility. The goal of this research paper is to contribute to the field of STS by reinforcing the notion that our transportation system should be engineered to serve our society through sustainability and accessibility.

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

Technical Advisor: Briana Morrison

STS Advisor: Bryn Seabrook