AdaptUIa context-aware framework for adaptive user interfaces in Smart Product-Service Systems (S-PSS)

Abstract

Smart Product-Service Systems (S-PSS) embody a transformative business model that integrates intelligent products with advanced digital capabilities and associated e-services. This dynamic model holds potential for driving sustainable practices. Despite this potential, fully exploiting digital capabilities and optimizing user experiences within S-PSS remains a challenge. In order to address the limitations of conventional User Experience (UX) analysis, which often concentrates on design stages and overlooks evolving user needs during usage, this thesis proposes a practical framework for developing adaptive user interfaces within S-PSS. The framework seamlessly integrates ontologies and context-aware recommendation systems, utilizing user interactions as the primary data source. This integration facilitates the development of adaptive user interfaces, ensuring digital services dynamically respond to user preferences and contextual cues. A key contribution of this work lies in the comprehensive integration of various components, resulting in the creation of adaptive user interfaces tailored for digital services. The practical application of the framework is illustrated through two case studies involving a smart device app and an industrial scenario. This real-world exploration serves to demonstrate the effective implementation of the proposed framework in diverse contexts, as the hands-on development approach considers technological aspects and utilizes appropriate tools, providing valuable evidence into the practicality and effectiveness of the framework. The evaluation first focuses on assessing the recommendation engine based on collaborative filtering. These results highlight the enhanced precision of recommendations when employing a context-aware approach compared to a traditional approach. Subsequently, pragmatic aspects of UX, such as usefulness and system efficiency, are evaluated based on participant feedback and UX metrics. The findings reveal an overall positive impact on the utilization of the smart product-services.