 Else
Nygren
Associate Professor and Director of graduate studies
My background
In short, I have a background in engineering as well as in psychology.
I have been in the field of human-computer interaction for a long
time, doing research, teaching and consulting. In later years I
have also been taking on a number of administrative tasks.
My research interests
Research projects and publications
Currently i run projetcs in the area of interactive media and in
internet user behaviour. And, of course on my beloved cellular automata
models…
Other research activitites
I try do do my share of contributing to the international research
society by reviewing papers, networking and occasionally organizing
a workshop.
Teaching
Drawing on my academic knowledge and experience of practical usability
and design work, I have developed and currently teach courses in:
- Interaction design
- Advanced interaction design
- Internet and new media
- Information and communication technology and society
- Theories in human-computer interaction
- New media, new forms of expression
Administrative experience
As director of studies for the graduate program, I have had a fair
chance to get acquainted with the numerous bureucratic and administrative
aspects of education at higher levels.
I also spend some time in the department board and in the board
of the faculty of the social science. Some university working groups
also require my time: working out a strategy for digital publications
and an ethical policy for information on the internet.
Popular science activities
I love to read popular science and I also have contributed to this
area by some writings and exhibitions and a computer game
Consulting
Every year I devote a certain percentage of my time to consulting.
This often means that I do work in usability evaluation and/or redesign
of user interfaces.
Giving talks
At all times I have been recieving a steady flow of requests for
giving talks at companies, organizations and universities. This
have been great fun to do and it is always interesting to meet all
this curious people out there in reality.
MY RESEARCH INTERESTS
Visual communication in user interfaces
Here I am interested in how skilled users learn to interpret information
that is expressed in the form of symbols and graphs on the screen.
There is not so much research on skilled behavior since that
is difficult to capture. In my studies I have trained the subjects
so that they are maximally skilled before I do the actual measurements.
From the result of my experimental studies I have been able to
state some design rules for visual communications. These rules
have been validated by application of a mathematical model of
search time as a function of layout.
Publications
Nygren, Else, Arg fruktsallad, fönstersjukan och andra fenomen.
- ADB i verksamhetens tjänst. Sundsvall 42, dokumentation
1993., 1993
Nygren, Else et al. , The art of the obvious : Automatically processed
components of the task of reading frequently used documents. Implications
for task analysis and interface design. // Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems : Striking a Balance: Human Factors
in Computing Systems: CHI 92 Proceedings, Baursefeld, J. P. (ed.).
- 1992. - S. 235 - 239
Nygren, Else, Grafiska användargränssnitt, några
tips. - 1995 - (Report no. 60/95 from Uppsala University Center
for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala, Sweden
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander, Between the clicks: Skilled users
scanning of pages.. // Designing for the Web: Empirical studies.
October 30, 1996, Redmond, WA, USA. - 1996
Nygren, Else, From paper to computer screen : human information
processing and user interface design. - Uppsala : Univ. : Stockholm
: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1996 - (Comprehensive summaries
of Uppsala dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology
; 188, ISSN 91-554-3699-4)
Avhandling, licentiatsavhandling
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander, Display design principles based
on a Model of Visual Search.. - 1996 - (Report no. 64/96 from Uppsala
University Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala, Sweden)
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander; Lind, Mats, Experiments in visual
search I: Effects of patterns of highlighted items on list search.
- 1995 - (Report no. 55/95 from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer
Studies, Uppsala, Sweden; )
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander; Lind, Mats, Experiments in visual
search II: Effects of figural patterns on trend assessment. - 1995
- (Report no. 56/95 from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer
Studies, Uppsala, Sweden; )
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander; Lind, Mats, Experiments in visual
search III. Effects of patterns of varying probability on scanning
strategies. - 1995 - (Report no. 57/95 from Uppsala University
Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala, Sweden; )
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander; Lind, Mats, Experiments in visual
search IV. Effects of positional correlations on time order assessment.
- 1995 - (Report no. 57/95 from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer
Studies, Uppsala, Sweden; )
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander; Lind, Mats, Experiments in visual
search V. Prediction of the search time in a complex screen scanning
task. - 1995 - (Report no. 59/95 from Uppsala University Center
for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala, Sweden; )
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander; Lind, Mats, Skilled Users Interpretation
of Visual Displays. - 1996 - (Report no. 63/96 from Uppsala University
Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala, Sweden. 1996.)
Nygren, Else, Navigation in Hyper-paper. - 1996 - (Report no.
65/96 from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer Studies,
Uppsala, Sweden; )
Lind, Mats; Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander, Learning simple and
complex patterns in a diagnostic task. - 1995 - (Report no. 62/95
from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala,
Sweden; )
Nygren, Else, Interaktionsdesign kompendium. - Uppsala universitet,
insitutionen för informationsvetenskap, uppsala, 2004. - 39
s.
Nygren, Else, Estetik för dynamiska symboler : Användning
av grafik, och symbolspråk för bildskärmsbaserad
lägespresentation vid modernt ledningsarbete. - Institutionen
för Informationsvetenskap / MDI Uppsala, 2004
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User behavior on the internet
It is very interesting to study how users behave when they are
surfing for information on the internet, especially the difference
between the behavior of young and old users, and to understand
how the media literacy is distributed and developed in the society.
This line of research has been focused on two application areas:
intranets within corporations and internet users searching for
literature on the web. I have made a lot of studies of different
kinds, including deep interviews and laboratory tests.
Publications
Nygren, Else, Usability study: ROCHE Regulatory Intelligence System..
- 1996 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-150-1)
Nygren, Else, Informationsergonomi i Telia Nära intranät:
Sammanfattning av inledande intervjuer.. - 1997 - (Uppsala universitet,
Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-153-1)
Nygren, Else, Informationsergonomi i Telia Nära intranät:
Slutrapport. - 1997 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-153-S)
Nygren, Else, Informationsergonomi i Telia Nära intranät:
Arbetsinstruktioner. Hantering av Abusefall. - 1997 - (Uppsala
universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-153-3)
Nygren, Else, Telia Intranät : resultat av användartester..
- 1998 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport UR.EN-172-3)
Nygren, Else, Metoder för utvärdering av informationsstruktur.
- 1998 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-172-1)
Nygren, Else, Telia intranät informationsergonomi. - 1998
- (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-172-3)
Nygren, Else; Lind, Mats, Användargränssnitt för
kundinformationssystemet CURRY.. - 1998 - (Uppsala universitet,
Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-154-S)
Nygren, Else et al. , Finns svaret i Uppsala?: Utvärdering
av Uppsala universitets hemsidor. - 1998 - (Uppsala universitet,
Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-168-S)
Nygren, Else; Edeborg, Christer, Enkätundersökning av
Telias intranät: Sammanställning av öppna svar.
- 1998 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-172-4)
Nygren, Else; Edeborg, Christer; Ekman, Johan, Utvärdering
av ledningsinformationssystemet GLIS med avseende på användarvänlighet.
- 1999 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-185-S)
Nygren, Else; Edeborg, Christer; Lind, Mats, Utvärdering
av SLU-bibliotekens webbplats.. - 1999 - (Uppsala universitet,
Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-174-S, 1999)
Nygren, Else, KEMAB Intranät: Utvärdering av prototyp
1 daterad 991002.. - 1999 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-189-1)
Nygren, Else, Telia Intranät: Djupintervjuer av 24 användare.
- 1999 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-172-S)
Nygren, Else, Disposition av intranätets förstasida.
En undersökning av förändringen av 100 intranäts
förstasidor under 1 år. - 1999 - (Uppsala universitet,
Uppdragsrapport.EN-196-1)
Nygren, Else, KEMAB Intranät. : Utvärdering av prototyp
2 daterad 991010. - 2000 - (Uppdragsrapport E Nygren)
Nygren, Else, Telia Intranät Analys av användartester
: Form och navigation. - 2000
Nygren, Else, Disposition av intranätets förstasida.
: En undersökning av förändringen av 100 intranäts
förstasidor under 1 år.. - 2000 - (Uppdragsrapport E
Nygren)
Nygren, Else, Effektiv presentation för intranät-tillämpningar
: Projektredogörelse. - Rådet för Arbetslivsforskning
2000, 2000. - 7 s
Bark, Mats et al. , Intranätboken : från elektronisk
anslagstavla till dagligt arbetsverktyg. - Liber Stockholm, 2002.
- 120 s.
Nygren, Else; Rossito, Chiara, Utbildningsdatabasprojektet, Delprojekt
Gränssnittsanalys. - 2003 - (Uppdragsrapport E Nygren)
Nygren, Else, Utvärdering av sökvägledningar. -
Uppsala universitet, institutionen för informationsvetenskap,
människa-datorinteraktion, Uppsala, 2004. - 41 s.
Nygren, Else, LIMIT-projektet Användarundersökning av
bibliotekens hemsidor. - 2006. - 41 s.
Nygren, Else; Haya, Glenn; Widmark, Wilhelm, Students experience
of Metalib and Google Scholar. - BIBSAM 2006 Dnr 63-612-2005, 2006.
- 158 s.
Nygren, Else, Utvärdering av ämnesguider : Hur hjälper
de studenter att söka information?. - Institutionen för
informationsvetenskap, uppsala, 2006. - 9 s.
Nygren, Else; Haya, Glenn; Widmark, Wilhelm, Studenters upplevelse
av samsökningsverktyg: Metalib and Google Scholar. // INFOtrend
: Nordisk tidskrift för informationsspecialister. - 2006 (61)
: 3, s. 75-81
Haya, Glenn; Nygren, Else; Widmark, Wilhelm, Metalib and Google
Scholar: A user study. // Online Information Review. - 2007
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E-learning, interactive media and media literacy
This is also a very interesting area. The computer games are a
profound part of the young culture today. Very many young people
have played games since they were kids. In doing this they have
acquired a kind of visual literacy that involves the skill to
very easy interpret all the visual codes in the graphical very
rich symbolic languages used in the games. I have recorded the
behavior of people playing games and will analyse how they learn
to do this.
A special aspect of this field of interest is how we can use some
of this means of communication to express knowledge content to
faciliate computerbased learning.
Publications
Nygren, Else, From Paper to Computer Screen. Interactive Multimedia
in Higher Education. // Netlearning 2004 Ronneby 10-12 maj 2004
: konferens om flexibel, nätbaserad högre utbildning.
- 2004
Nygren, Else, Datorspelet, ett nytt syskon i mediefamiljen. //
Psykisk hälsa : Temanummer: Barn, unga och datorspel. - 2006
: 4, s. 35-40
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User behavior in complex systems
This means that I am interested in how users that work in complex
environments cope with their user interfaces. Especially in control
rooms in industries where the operators controls a complex dynamical
process with the help of computer screens that are their windows
to the process.
Publications
Nygren, Else; Allard, Alexander; Andersson, Arne W, Informationsergonomisk
analys: presentation av processtatus för styrning och övervakning
av oljeraffinaderi.. - 1997 - (Uppsala universitet, Uppdragsrapport.UR.EN-151-S)
Nygren, Else, Koncept och prototyper för ny presentation.
- 1999 - (Operatörsgränssnitt och larmhantering, NUTEK
9727, Report no 2)
Nygren, Else, Sammanfattning av slutsatser från den inledande
fasen.. - 1999 - (Operatörsgränssnitt och larmhantering,
NUTEK 9727, Report no 1)
Nygren, Else, The Evolution of Process Graphics.. // People in
Control. An international conference on Human Interfaces in Control
Rooms, Cockpits and Command Centres, 21-23 June 1999. University
of Bath, UK., Bransby, (ed.). – 1999
Nygren, Else, What can process industry learn from Nintendo, -
and other creators of video games?. // People in Control. An international
conference on Human Interfaces in Control Rooms, Cockpits and Command
Centres : Information display and visualisation June 2001. University
of Manchester, UK, Bransby, (ed.). - 2001
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User interfaces to medical information
I have made a number of studies on how the medical professionals
read and capture information. Especially I have studied the difference
between working in a paper based environment and then migrating
to a computerised situation. One of the articles has been used
by the Canadian government in a guideline for how to present
medical information.
Publications
Nygren, Else, Automatic Information Processing in Document Reading.
: A Study of Information Handling in Two Intensive Care Units.
// Proceedings of the first European Conference on Computer Supported
Cooperative Work : London 13-15 Sept, 1989.. – 1989
Nygren, Else, Reading documents in intensive care I : Pattern
recognition and encoding of characteristics of the information
media. - Report no. 21/91 from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer
Studies, Uppsala, Sweden. 1991, 1991
Sandblad, Bengt; Lind, Mats; Nygren, Else, Design of human-computer
interfaces in health care, based on task analysis and theories
of human cognition. // Proceedings of MEDINFO 92, Lun, (ed.). – 1992
Nygren, Else, Reading documents in intensive care II : Documents
used as tools for the control of a dynamic process. - Report no.
22/91 from Uppsala University Center for Human-computer Studies,
Uppsala, Sweden, 1991., 1991
Nygren, Else, Micro tasks in reading : Automatically processed
components of the task of reading frequently used documents. Implications
for human computer interface design.. - Report no. 25/91 from Uppsala
University Center for Human-computer Studies, Uppsala, Sweden 1991.,
1991
Nygren, Else, Interaction with Dynamic Documents: A field study
of information use in intensive care. - 1996 - (Report no. 71/96
from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala,
Sweden;
Nygren, Else; Henriksson, Peter, Reading the Medical Record I.
Analysis of physicians ways of reading the medical record. // Yearbook
of Medical Informatics 94 : Advanced communications in health care,
van Bemmel, J. H.; McCray, A. T. (ed.). - 1994. - S. 187-198 -
(Advanced communications in health care.)
Nygren, Else; Henriksson, Peter, Reading the medical record.I.
Analysis of physicians ways of reading the medical record. // Computer
Methods and Programs in Biomedicin. - 1992 (39) , s. 1992
Nygren, Else; Johnson, Mats; Henriksson, Peter, Reading the medical
record II. Design of a human-computer interface for basic reading
of computerized medical records.. // Computer Methods and Programs
in Biomedicine. - 1992 (39) , s. 13-25
Nygren, Else, From paper to computer screen: Human information
processing and interfaces to patient data.. // IMIA WG6 Conference
on Natural Language and Medical Concept Representation. January
19-22, 1997, Jacksonville, Florida, USA. - 1997. - S. 317-326
Nygren, E; Wyatt, JC; Wright, P, Helping clinicians to find data
and avoid delays. // LANCET. - LANCET LTD, 1998 (352) : 9138, s.
1462-1466
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Methods for design of user interfaces
In the early days of my research, we spent a lot of time figuring
out which methods would be best to use in a project for the design
of the user interface. We were kind of pioneers at that time.
Publications
Göransson, Bengt et al. , The interface is often not the
problem. // Human Factors in Computing Systems-IV and Graphics
Interface, Carroll, J. M. (ed.). - 1987
Lind, Mats et al. , Computer Based Workstations in Health Care.
// Proceedings of IMIA Working Conference: : Towards New Hospital
Information Systems. Nijmegen, 14-18 May. - 1988
Nygren, Else, Modelling and analysis of human work situations
as a basis for design of human-computer interfaces : Thesis for
the degree of Teknologie Licentiat. - Automatic Control and Systems
Analysis Group, Department of Technology, Uppsala University, Sweden,
1992
Bok
Nygren, Else, Utformning av användargränssnitt. I :
Erfarenheter, teorier och förslag till principer. - Rapport
nr 26/91, CMD, Uppsala universitet. 1992, 1992
Gulliksen, Jan et al. , The need for new application specific
interface elements. // Advances in Human Factors/Ergonomics 19B,
Human Computer Interaction : Software and Hardware Interfaces,
Salvendy, G; Smith, M. J (ed.). - 1993. - S. 15-20
Nygren, Else, Modelling and Analysis of Human Work Situations
as a Basis for Design of Human-Computer Interfaces. // Proceedings
of ACM INTERCHI'93 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
: Adjunct Proceedings. - 1993. - S. 217
Nygren, Else; Lind, Mats, Utformning av användargränssnitt.
II. : Förslag till en uppsättning av byggbara dialogelement.
- Rapport nr 27/91, CMD, Uppsala universitet. 1993., 1993
Sandblad, Bengt; Lind, Mats; Nygren, Else, Kognitiva arbetsmiljöproblem
och gränssnittsdesign.. - Rapport nr 20/91, CMD, Uppsala universitet.
1992, 1992
Åborg, Carl et al. , A practical method for evaluation of
human computer interfaces. // In 4 th international scientific
conference "Work With Display Units". 2-5 October 1994,
Milano : Book of short papers. - 1994
Nygren, Else, Empirical Results relevant to User Interface Design:
An overview of the literature. - 1996 - (Report no. 72/96 from
Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala,
Sweden)
Nygren, Else, Some pointers to the Psychological Literature of
Relevance to User Interface Design. - 1996 - (Report no. 73/96
from Uppsala University Center for Human-Computer Studies, Uppsala,
Sweden; )
Gulliksen, Jan et al. , Analysis of information utilization (AIU).
// INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION. - 1997
(9) : 3, s. 255-282
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Cellular automata and models of dynamical systems
I am in love with the beautiful little models called cellular automata.
Being a great admirer of Stephen Wolfram and his book a New Kind
of Science, I spend a lot of my free time running two-dimensional
cellular automata and exploring their behavior.
Publications
Nygren, Else, Resonances in 2D CA of Class IV. // NKS2006 WolframScienceConference
Washington June 15 - 18 2006, Rowland, Todd (ed.). - 2006
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