Prof. Dr. Claudia Mont'Alvão

Human Factors & Ergonomics Researcher

Since the 1990s, I've been researching Human Factors & Ergonomics, initially focusing on transport systems and information in the traffic environment. As a Product Designer - and from the perspective of usability and considering User Experience (UX) and User-Centered Design (UCD) - this approach led me to a broader vision. I've seen many changes in our way of living, consumption, and experience. Now I'm dedicated to investigating HF/E in our daily lives, bringing us a quality of life, as defined by WHO. What motivates me is to understand how users feel, engage when using information or device, walk around the cities, or get oriented in the space. And I'm still dreaming of an ideal world configured by systems and environments really accessible.

Accessibility issues - digital and physical - have been part of Ergonomics and Design discussions since the 1960s. Since 2005 the researcher has been involved in studies about people with disabilities and investigating the contribution and the role of Human Factors/ Ergonomics and Design. The current research consists of investigating issues of inclusion of disabled people, considering the diversity of profiles and their relations with the built environment, the information systems (including textual accessibility), the digital interfaces, the adaptation of products, and collaborative processes and projects, including these users to promote better and fair inclusion of this user's population into our society.

Traffic Safety campaigns are part of governments' communication and information about how to behave safely in the traffic environment. It is expensive and demands society's involvement. The main aspect of this investigation is the information design about traffic safety, from Brazilian Federal Government. This research aims to analyze the information comprehensibility considering traffic safety campaings, considering aspects of Plain Language. It is expected to develop guidelines for the design of this information, validating within the citizens.

As part of Brazilian Government health communication, there are campaigns of traffic safety, mainly during the Traffic National Week. In this context, traffic accidents are a health problem. WHO considered traffic accidents as one of the major impacts in countries economy and in 2011 defined 2011 to 2020 as the Decade of Action for Traffic Safety. Brazil is one of the countries engaged in this WHO movement committed .to reduce traffic accidents and deaths. This research aims to analyze the comprehensibility of digital artifacts as information during the training of new drivers, mainly the youngest, 18 y.old.

The texts must be easy to read and understand for the entire population to access the information and act accordingly. It is then understood that one of the responsibilities of the public sector is to inform citizens about the rights, duties, services, and transactions that concern them. In Brazil, the discussion and application of plain language are still limited. The understanding that Plain language should be mainly in the government's communications with citizens configures its nomenclature Citizen Language. Accompanying the advances in this area and the importance of scientific research for the citizen to be better served by the government, especially in the area of health, the present study is proposed which integrates Ergonomics, Information Design, and Plain Language. The main objective of the research is to analyze the comprehensibility of graphic and digital pieces aimed at disseminating health advice by the government in the light of Citizen Language.

Our PUC-Rio team joined the University of Southampton leadership and researchers from Bangladesh University Of Engineering & Technology, National University Of Civil Engineering (Vietnam), Strathmore University (Kenya), Tsinghua University (CHINA), Universidad De Las Americas (Ecuador). Funded by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research with Overseas Development Assistance money, the project has approached road safety as a complex public health issue that impacts upon all of our lives. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), road traffic collisions kill around 1.35 million people every year, with the majority of those fatalities occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), despite those settings having significantly lower motorization rates. Despite the greater need for LMICs, the majority of road safety research is still undertaken in high-income countries. It is also characterized by traditional approaches to understanding the problem, with collision analysis typically having a strong focus on the end-users and their immediate environment. The STARS (SocioTechnical Approach to Road Safety) project has looked beyond these immediate factors, applying systems thinking and methods to understanding the higher factors that shape road safety outcomes. (This is part of the full text of STARS project booklet, contact us for a free copy of the project booklet).

Publications

ALMEIDA, E. ; MONT'ALVÃO, C. . Museum accessibility ? Mobility and environment interaction for visually impaired visitors. In: Senses & Sensibility'19: Lost in (G)localization,, 2020, Lisboa. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference, Senses & Sensibility: Lost in (G)localization. Lisbon: Edições IADE, 2020. p. 204-212.

BOZZI, C.; NEVES, M.; MONT’ALVAO, C. Fashion E-Tail and the Impact of Returns: Mapping Processes and the Consumer Journey towards More Sustainable Practices. Sustainability 2022, 14, 5328. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095328

BOZZI, C.; NEVES, MARCO; MONT'ALVÃO, C. UX, Design, Sustainable Development and Online Selling and Buying of Women’s Clothes In: Handbook of usability and user experience. v. 2. Research and case studies.1 ed.Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 2022, v.2, p. 191-218.

BOZZI, C. ; MONT'ALVÃO, C. . The user experience (UX) on female apparel e-commerce websites in Brazil. WORK-A Journal of Prevention Assessment & Rehabilitation, v. 66, p. 945-962, 2020.

BOZZI FAYA, C.; NEVES, M.; MONT’ALVÃO, C. The effect of pandemic on e-commerce. Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies 2021. Chapter 7. Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-85539-0 (to be published).

MONT’ALVÃO, C.; DUARTE, E.; TELLES, J. Perceptions about the design of informative materials to fight COVID-19 in Portugal and Brazil. Information Design Journal, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.20027.mon

FISCHER, H. ; MONT'ALVÃO, C. ; RODRIGUES, E. S. . Evaluating the impact of Plain Language on the comprehensibility of e-government texts. In: Senses & Sensibility`19: Lost in (G)localization, 2020, Lisboa. Proceedings of no10th International Conference Senses & Sensibility 2019: Lost in (G)localization, 27 a 28 de novembro de 2019, Lisboa, Portugal. Lisboa, Portugal: EDIÇÕES IADE, Universidade Europeia, 2020. p. 288-296.

MONT'ALVÃO, C.; MAUES, M. Personified Virtual Assistants: Evaluating Users´Perception of Usability and UX In: Handbook of usability and user experience. v. 1. Methods and techniques. 1 ed. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 2022, v.1, p. 269-288.

MONT'ALVÃO, C.; CLEMENTE, L.; RIBEIRO, T. Information Design and Plain Language: An Inclusive Approach for Government Health Campaigns. N. L. Black et al. (Eds.): IEA 2021, LNNS 220, pp. 294–298, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74605-6_37

MONT’ALVÃO, C.; GUETHS GOMES, J. Visually impaired students and online education: the potential of inclusion from usability and user-experience (UX) approach. MXRio Design Conference 2021. (to be published)

MONT’ALVÃO, C.; ESTEVES, C.; DIAS, M. Aspects of Brazilian Pedestrian Behavior: A Questionnaire Study. N. L. Black et al. (Eds.): IEA 2021, LNNS 221, pp. 751–756, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74608-7_92.

MONT’ALVÃO, C.; TRINDADE, A. B. Entendendo o home office no isolamento social: uma pesquisa exploratória. MXRio Design Conference 2021. (to be published)

NUNES, L. ; MONT'ALVÃO, C . Sustainable Interaction Design: A Concept under Construction in Human-Computer Interaction. The International Journal of Design in Society, v. 12, p. 35-50, 2018.

RANGEL, M. M. ; MONT'ALVÃO, C. . Observation and records of spatial behavior for wayfinding: a case study in a hospital built environment. In: 64th International Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2020, Chicago, IL (virtual). Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: HFES, 2020.