Abstract

This thesis addresses the complexities of task implementation, focusing on personalized barriers encountered in diverse contexts. It introduces the TASKS framework as a novel deductive approach to analyze and overcome these barriers. The framework, grounded in the interplay between tasks and an implementer’s Affect, Skills, Knowledge, and Stress, offers a structured method to identify and address personalized implementation barriers. The thesis validates the framework through three distinct case studies: enhancing designer creativity in design processes, identifying personalized barriers in hypertension self-management, and understanding stakeholder behavior in sustainable product design. Each case study illuminates the framework’s efficacy in different scenarios – from creative design practices, healthcare challenges, to environmental sustainability in product design. The findings demonstrate the framework's versatility in categorizing barriers into emotional, logical, knowledge, and resource categories, and its effectiveness in providing tailored solutions. This research contributes to implementation science by offering a comprehensive tool for understanding and tackling personalized barriers in various task implementations, emphasizing the importance of customizing strategies to individual needs and contexts. The thesis not only enriches our understanding of task implementation but also sets the stage for future research directions, including developing tools for streamlined barrier analysis, exploring dynamic problem-solving methods, and team design and healthcare systems, aiming to enhance the practical applicability and scalability of the TASKS framework.