Geest, Dr. Thea van der

Contact:

Website: http://www.gw.utwente.nl

E-mail: t.m.vandergeest@gw.utwente.nl

Address: Cubicus, room C 210

Drienerlolaan 5

Postbus 217

7500 AE Enschede

Telephone: +31 (0)53 – 489 3330

+31 (0)53 – 489 3299 (secretary)

Fax: +31 (0)53 – 489 4259

Work information:

Thea’s research and lecturing is focused on effective, efficient and attractive communication through new media, such as web pages. How to present information and services in such a way that they work optimally for the intended users or visitors (usability)? And what if the users have special needs, for example due to disabilities, age, or lacking skills (accessibility)? Or if the content or function of web pages is to be adapted to the personal preferences or prior knowledge of the user (personalization)? Most of her research projects are in the domain of e-services for public and governmental organizations. A special interest is on how to assess and evaluate the effects of design decisions for e-services, both for the end-user and the involved organizations.

Expertise:

·	New media and web pages

·	Usability, accessibility and personalization of digital services

·	E- services for public and governmental organizations

Research projects:

Thea’s current research projects are B-dossier phase 3: personalised e-services (2008 - 2009) in cooperation with the Telematica Instituut and many public and private organisations. In this project, the Communication Studies researchers of the UT are responsible for pre-design and post-design user studies on acceptance, use and usability of new types of integrated, personalised e-government services. Other projects were the case at hand in 2008-2009 is expats, immigrating to The Netherlands and structuring e-services: themes or life events? (2008-2009) for the Belastingdienst and ICTU. How to organize and structure large informational websites, like the ones of the Belastingdienst? The assumption is that organizing along the line of recognizable life events of users will help them find their way. This assumption is being tested in this research project. Another project was digital skills and participation in society for visually impaired people (2007-2009) subsidised by the ZonMW InZicht program. What are at one hand the needs and at the other hand the ICT-related skills of people with visual impairments? How do they acquire those skills? In this project, both the training provided by vendors and care/support organisations is analysed, and visually impaired users conduct real life tasks which are essential for participation in society.

Courses:

·	Master level: Interface & Interaction design (Engels)

·	Master level: supervision thesis projects

·	Pre-master: Communicatiewetenschap (Dutch + Eng)

Recent publications:

van der Geest, T. M. (2006). Conducting usability studies with users who are elderly or have disabilities. Technical Communication, 53(1), 23-31.

van der Geest, T. M., & Loorbach, N. (2005). Testing the visual consistency of web sites. Technical Communication, 52(1), 27-36.

Klaassen, R., Karreman, J., & van der Geest, T. M. (2007). Designing government portal navigation around citizens’ needs. Springer Lecture Notes on Computer Science.