Revitalizing the past : a user-centric redesign of an archaeology excavation app

• Κύριος συγγραφέας: Σκαρμίντζος, Αλέξανδρος
• Άλλοι συγγραφείς: Skarmintzos, Alexandros
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: 2023
• Θέματα: Archeology; Human-computer interaction; Αρχαιολογία; Αλληλεπίδραση ανθρώπου-υπολογιστή

This thesis conducts a comprehensive analysis on the field of archaeology, exploring its challenges and limitations towards a digital transition. Studies are conducted over a developed poc web application with the functionality to support storing and retrieving archeological logs regarding the artifact findings. These functionalities are continuously used and adjusted to cover and support the collaboration with the archaeologists from the IDIPOS team. Research techniques used in the field of Human-Computer interaction are being applied, reaching for improvements in the user experience and minimizing the gap on the Archeological logging procedures and the optimal user-centric web interface. First part of research conducted within a week period at Prespes lake near Hellenic-Albanian border and part of it using online tools afterwards. Methods at some degree are covered in anarchy but wrap to the following. Direct observation, Interview, Document Analysis are conducted on the field to question whether the application meets the needs of its intended users while interacting directly from the excavation site. Online, a focus group and user story based on the notes provide a collaborative method involving users and stakeholders to define the user's journey in the application. Finally a think aloud study assigns predefined tasks to participants over the old and the new application to then analyze the exported data of the features in question. Overall, the study enables the investigation of whether the application meets the needs of the collaborating archaeological team but also the field as a whole . It engages to communicate flaws on the proposed application and identify areas that may require further refinement. Additionally, the employed user story mapping assists on the development of a minimum viable product (MVP) approach, generating the relevant features to streamline the application development process, making it both cost-effective and efficient. To achieve this objective, the study delves into the design of the user interface (UI) over the proposed application poc, by following a user-centered approach and ensures that the final product has the necessary features and it's easy to use.