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This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-week multicomponent positive psychology self-help application on ability to adapt and mental well-being in the following the Covid-19 pandemic in adults with mild to moderate anxiety and depression levels. Outcomes were assessed online at baseline, posttest (three weeks after baseline), and follow-up (12 weeks after baseline). The intervention group (n = 118) received the application after baseline, whereas the control group (n = 116) received the app after completing posttest. Linear mixed models showed significant effects on ability to adapt, mental well-being, anxiety, depression, spiritual well-being, and self-compassion at post-test compared to the control condition (d = 0.56–0.96). Effects in the intervention group were maintained at follow-up. Results suggest that a multicomponent positive psychology self-help application can support adults with distress to recover after a psychologically disruptive pandemic. Clinical Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05292560). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effects of inductively versus deductively organized product descriptions on Chinese and Western readers. It uses a 2 × 3 experimental design with text structure (inductive versus deductive) and cultural background (Chinese living in China, Chinese living in the Netherlands, and Westerners) as independent variables and recall, reading time, and readers' opinions as dependent variables. Participants read a product description that explained two refrigerator types and then recommended which one to purchase. The results showed that Chinese readers rated readability and persuasiveness higher when the text was structured inductively whereas Western readers rated these aspects equally high for the inductively and deductively structured text. The results suggest that culturally preferred organizing principles do not affect readers' ability to read and understand texts but that these principles might affect their opinions about the texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research problem: Cultural differences may be increasingly important in technical communication. Research is needed to investigate differences in document design practices and user preferences. This study examines cultural differences between Chinese and Western manuals for household appliances. Literature review: Earlier studies identified a wide range of possible differences between Chinese and Western documents, but the findings are not consistent and do not provide more generic perspectives on cultural differences. Possible reasons are the diversity of the documents used, the rather informal research designs, and relatively small sample sizes. Research question: To what extent and how do Chinese and Western manuals for household appliances differ from each other in terms of content, structure, and use of visuals? Methodology: To overcome these shortcomings, a quantitative content analysis was conducted, comparing 50 Chinese manuals and 50 Western manuals for household appliances. The coding scheme was based on earlier research findings and focused on content, structure, and the use of visuals. Results and conclusions: The results show that the content of Chinese manuals is less strictly confined to the function of user support than that of Western manuals. Compared to Western manuals, the structure of Chinese manuals appears to be fuzzier and less rigid. Regarding visuals, Chinese manuals contain more non-instrumental, entertaining illustrations than Western manuals. Underlying these differences is a more general distinction between highly instrumental Western manuals and more flexible Chinese manuals. These differences seem to point to two cultural dimensions: holistic versus analytic thinking and analog versus digital cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research problem: Despite the abundance of research into usability and user experience (UX), there is still debate about the relationship between both concepts. The user perspective is underrepresented in all discussions. This study examines the personal conceptions that users of electronic and software products have of usability and UX. Research questions: 1. How do users of electronic and software products conceptualize usability and UX? 2. What do they think is the relationship between both concepts? Literature review: We review the literature on conceptualizations of usability and UX and their relationship. The literature suggests that both concepts are still developing and that there are different views about their relationship. A personal-constructs research approach appears to be a fruitful way of shedding more light on this. Methodology: Twenty-one participants were asked to place up to eight products in a grid with two axes: usability (high-low) and UX (high-low). They then filled out a short questionnaire about the products. Finally, interviews were held about their decisions and their views on usability and UX. Results and conclusions: A weak positive correlation between products’ usability and UX scores indicates that the relationship between both concepts is far from straightforward. An analysis of the four quadrants of the grid provides a first typology of products based on how users perceive their usability and UX. When reflecting on the relationship between the two concepts, most participants see usability as a part of or contributing to UX. Based on our findings, however, it seems risky to assume that usability is sufficiently covered by the overall concept of UX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the introduction of online health screenings, guidelines describing how to communicate about a person's health need to be adapted for a digital setting. This study aimed to uncover older adults' preferences regarding such online messages. Materials and Methods: Thirty older adults (aged 65 to 75 years) viewed four versions of the results message of a screening aimed at identifying frailty: a standard, empathic, tailored, or both empathic and tailored message. After each version, they were interviewed about what they (dis)liked about the message. They also ranked the four versions according to preference. Ranks were analyzed with a Friedman's test and a Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. Results: There was no significant difference for message-type preference when the outcome was positive. For the prefrail or frail outcome, message-type preferences differed (χ² = 10.51, p = 0.02 and χ2 = 13.56, p < 0.01, respectively). Overall, for the prefrail and frail outcome, the tailored version was appreciated most. Participants commented that the tailored version made them feel appreciated more as a person. Some found the empathic additions comforting, others found these unnecessary. Conclusions: When communicating the results of an online health screening to older adults via the Internet, one should primarily tailor the message toward personal characteristics. The effect of empathic elements in results messages appeared to be limited. Whether a message should be adapted depends on whether the outcome is positive or negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technical communication is a new field of work compared to other professions, and therefore it does not have a standardised curriculum. In Europe, many technical communicators do not have qualifications in the area. TecCOMFrame, a project funded by the European Union, aims to develop an academic competence framework and higher education prototype curricula at various levels that correspond to the European Framework of Qualifications. The project team has developed the competence framework, comprising six dimensions and 22 subjects. The team is currently developing prototype curricula, including one curriculum which is a focus of this paper, a specialisation stream in technical communication in a Master's in Translation Studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ARCS Model of Motivational Design has been used myriad times to design motivational instructions that focus on attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction in order to motivate students. The Instructional Materials Motivation Survey ( IMMS) is a 36-item situational measure of people's reactions to instructional materials in the light of the ARCS model. Although the IMMS has been used often, both as a pretest and a posttest tool serving as either a motivational needs assessment prior to instruction or a measure of people's reactions to instructional materials afterward, the IMMS so far has not been validated extensively, taking statistical and theoretical aspects of the survey into account. This paper describes such an extensive validation study, for which the IMMS was used in a self-directed instructional setting aimed at working with technology (a cellular telephone). Results of structural equation modeling show that the IMMS can be reduced to 12 items. This Reduced Instructional Materials Motivation Survey IMMS ( RIMMS) is preferred over the original IMMS. The parsimonious RIMMS measures the four constructs attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction of the ARCS model well, and reflects its conditional nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research problem: Both the function and the appearance of annual reports have changed over the last few decades. These multimodal reports now include many types of information that serve different functions. In this study, the effects of several information types on stakeholders' attitudes toward annual reports and the companies that published them are measured. Literature review: Not much is known about how stakeholders read annual reports. The literature is not conclusive on the relative importance of several information types in these reports. Most studies investigate the impact of part of the information in annual reports and ignore the combined impact of the information types. Whether the potential investors are more affected by the financial review, the future strategy narrative or by pictures, such as a picture of the CEO, is unknown. Methodology: An experiment (2\,\times\,2\,\times\,2 between subjects design) was conducted to test the effects of a good financial review versus a poor one, a good future strategy versus a poor one and a picture of the CEO smiling versus that with a serious facial expression. The effects on potential stakeholders' attitudes toward the information, on their attitudes toward investing in the company, and on their perceptions of the corporate reputation are measured. Results and conclusion: The results show significant effects of all three information types. A good financial review, a good future strategy, and a serious facial expression have beneficial effects on the potential stakeholders' attitudes and on the corporate reputation. More important, however, the results show that the information types should be aligned with each other. A smiling facial expression, for example, is only beneficial if the content of the other information types is good. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to patient safety worldwide. To stop antimicrobial resistance, Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs; programs for optimizing antimicrobial use), need to be implemented. Within these programs, nurses are important actors, as they put antimicrobial treatment into effect. To optimally support nurses in ASPs, they should have access to information that supports them in their preparation, administration and monitoring tasks. In addition, it should help them to detect possible risks or adverse events associated with antimicrobial therapy. In this formative study, we investigate how nurses' can be supported in ASPs by means of an eHealth intervention that targets their information needs. Methods We applied a participatory development approach that involves iterative cycles in which health care workers, mostly nurses, participate. Focus groups, observations, prototype evaluations (via a card sort task and a scenario-based information searching task) and interviews are done with stakeholders (nurses, managers, pharmacist, and microbiologist) on two pulmonary wards of a 1000-bed teaching hospital. Results To perform the complex antimicrobial-related tasks well, nurses need to consult various information sources on a myriad of occasions. In addition, the current information infrastructure is unsupportive of ASP-related tasks, mainly because information is not structured to match nurse tasks, is hard to find, out of date, and insufficiently supportive of awareness. Based our findings, we created a concept for a nurse information application. We attuned the application's functionality, content, and structure to nurse work practice and tasks. Conclusions By applying a participatory development approach, we showed that task support is a basic need for nurses. Participatory development proved useful regarding several aspects. First, it allows for combining bottom-up needs (nurses') and top-down legislations (medical protocols). Second, it enabled us to fragmentise and analyse tasks and to reduce and translate extensive information into task-oriented content. Third, this facilitated a tailored application to support awareness and enhance patient safety. Finally, the involvement of stakeholders created commitment and ownership, and helped to weigh needs from multiple perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research problem: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two types of motivational elements—verification steps and personal stories—in an instruction manual for a cell phone targeted at senior users (between 60 and 70 years). Research questions: What are the effects of adding verification steps and personal stories to an instruction manual on: (1) Seniors' confidence in being able to work with a cell phone? (2) Seniors' motivation to work with a cell phone? (3) Seniors' effectiveness and efficiency in performing tasks, and their satisfaction with the cell phone and the instruction manual (usability)? Literature review: To optimize products and services for older users, the literature suggests that two specific motivational elements may be beneficial: (1) verification steps, which provide information at the end of procedures to allow users to check if these procedures were performed correctly. These appear to users as part of conventional procedural information in user instructions and (2) personal stories, which are anecdotes or testimonials that describe how a fictitious user succeeded in completing a procedure. Methodology: We conducted a quantitative experiment in which 59 seniors between 60 and 70 years of age participated. They performed a number of tasks with a cell phone, using a version of the instruction manual with added verification steps, or a version with additional personal stories, or a control version without motivational elements. We measured participants' confidence, their motivation, and usability by asking them to answer several questionnaires and by measuring task performance. Results and conclusions: Results support the use of verification steps or personal stories as motivational elements in user instructions as they can positively affect confidence, motivation, and usability, especially when senior users encounter setbacks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative has issued guidelines for making websites better and easier to access for people with various disabilities ( W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines 1999 ). Method The usability of two versions of a website (a non-adapted site and a site that was adapted on the basis of easy-to-read guidelines) was tested with two groups of 20 participants. One group had intellectual disabilities but could read, the other group had no identified intellectual disabilities. In a 2 × 2 experimental design, it was investigated whether the easy-to-read website was indeed better accessible and usable for the participants with intellectual disabilities. Results The adaptation of the website worked well for participants with intellectual disabilities. Users without identified intellectual disabilities were as effective with the adapted site as they were with the non-adapted site. Conclusion The results form an empirical basis for recommendations about applying guidelines for easy-to-read text on websites for people with intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was carried out to investigate whether it is useful to add system information to procedural information in instructional text. It was assumed that readers of instructions construct both a procedural and a system mental model, and that the latter enables the readers to infer possible missing information in procedural instructions. Moreover, it was assumed that system information would increase the cognitive load during reading and practicing, and that it would affect the appreciation of the instructions as well as the self-efficacy of the reader. The participants in the experiment read instructions and practiced with a fictitious machine before performing a number of tasks and answering a questionnaire. The results indicate that system information increased the cognitive load during reading and decreased self-efficacy, while the instructional text with system information was judged as more difficult. The effect on performance is limited: system information leads to faster performance for correctly completed tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to patient safety worldwide. To stop antimicrobial resistance, Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs; programs for optimizing antimicrobial use), need to be implemented. Within these programs, nurses are important actors, as they put antimicrobial treatment into effect. To optimally support nurses in ASPs, they should have access to information that supports them in their preparation, administration and monitoring tasks. In addition, it should help them to detect possible risks or adverse events associated with antimicrobial therapy. In this formative study, we investigate how nurses' can be supported in ASPs by means of an eHealth intervention that targets their information needs.Methods: We applied a participatory development approach that involves iterative cycles in which health care workers, mostly nurses, participate. Focus groups, observations, prototype evaluations (via a card sort task and a scenario-based information searching task) and interviews are done with stakeholders (nurses, managers, pharmacist, and microbiologist) on two pulmonary wards of a 1000-bed teaching hospital.Results: To perform the complex antimicrobial-related tasks well, nurses need to consult various information sources on a myriad of occasions. In addition, the current information infrastructure is unsupportive of ASP-related tasks, mainly because information is not structured to match nurse tasks, is hard to find, out of date, and insufficiently supportive of awareness. Based our findings, we created a concept for a nurse information application. We attuned the application's functionality, content, and structure to nurse work practice and tasks.Conclusions: By applying a participatory development approach, we showed that task support is a basic need for nurses. Participatory development proved useful regarding several aspects. First, it allows for combining bottom-up needs (nurses') and top-down legislations (medical protocols). Second, it enabled us to fragmentise and analyse tasks and to reduce and translate extensive information into task-oriented content. Third, this facilitated a tailored application to support awareness and enhance patient safety. Finally, the involvement of stakeholders created commitment and ownership, and helped to weigh needs from multiple perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]