Since the market entry of widely accessible generative AI (GenAI) tools (e.g., chat-based assistants and domain-specific copilots), these systems have rapidly become part of everyday work in many fields, ranging from knowledge work and education to marketing, consulting, design, operations, healthcare administration, legal work, and beyond. What started largely as text generation and Q&A has expanded into support for brainstorming, drafting, summarizing, planning, analysis, translation, and the creation of structured outputs (e.g., reports, presentations, code, spreadsheets).

Early research and practical observations suggest that people do not use GenAI tools in a uniform way: usage strategies, interaction patterns, verification behaviors, and perceived benefits vary depending on the individual, task type, work context, and the specific tool setup.

This thesis is intentionally framed as a topic area rather than a fixed topic: it investigates effective use of GenAI tools in real-world work and learning contexts across domains. The exact focus and target domain(s) will be defined later, together with the supervisor, depending on the student’s interests, background, and skills.

The thesis may explore one or more of the following directions (non-exhaustive):

• Usage strategies and interaction patterns: How people prompt, iterate, refine, and integrate GenAI outputs into their workflow
• Task-context dependency: Differences in effective use across tasks (e.g., ideation, writing, decision support, research/summarization, customer communication, planning, data interpretation, learning)
• Quality assurance and risk handling: Validation practices, trust calibration, handling hallucinations, bias, confidentiality/privacy concerns, and compliance constraints
• Tool ecosystem comparison: Chat-based assistants and other GenAI tools used in practice; reasons for choosing certain tools, workflows, or configurations
• Perceived productivity vs. actual effectiveness: What users consider “effective,” how they evaluate outcomes, and which trade-offs they accept (speed vs. quality, creativity vs. accuracy, convenience vs. risk)

To develop a qualitative, practice-grounded understanding of what “effective use” of GenAI tools looks like in real work and/or learning settings, and which strategies, conditions, and constraints shape this effectiveness. Depending on the agreed focus, the outcome may include a taxonomy of usage strategies, a set of user archetypes, a conceptual model of effective use, and/or evidence-based recommendations for practitioners and organizations.

The thesis should follow a qualitative research design, centered on:

• Semi-structured interviews with participants who regularly use GenAI tools (from one or multiple domains; e.g., different roles, experience levels, and organizational contexts)
• Qualitative analysis (e.g., thematic analysis, coding, or a grounded-theory-inspired approach—exact method to be agreed)

Candidate profile

• Interest in human–AI interaction, digital work practices, and empirical research
• Comfortable communicating with practitioners and conducting interviews in English (or local language, depending on context)
• Basic familiarity with qualitative methods is beneficial (but not required)
• Beneficial (depending on chosen domain): background in information systems, business, social sciences, HCI, psychology, communication, or a relevant applied field

Notes

This is intentionally framed as a topic area. The final research question(s), scope, and target population will be defined jointly during the initial phase of the thesis.

Relevant literature:

Burton-Jones, A., & Gallivan, M. J. (2007). Toward a Deeper Understanding of System Usage in Organizations: A Multilevel Perspective. In Source: MIS Quarterly (Vol. 31, Issue 4). [http://www.jstor.orgStableURL:http:/www.jstor.org/stable/25148815Accessed:30-03-201506:39UTC]http://www.jstor.orgStableURL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/25148815Accessed:30-03-201506:39UTC

Burton-Jones, A., & Grange, C. (2013). From use to effective use: A representation theory perspective. Information Systems Research, 24(3), 632–658. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1120.0444

Trieu, V. H., Burton-Jones, A., Green, P., & Cockcroft, S. (2022). APPLYING AND EXTENDING THE THEORY OF EFFECTIVE USE IN A BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE CONTEXT. MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems, 46(1), 645–678. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2022/14880

If this thesis topic description sounds interesting to you, please reach out to the topic owner Leon Müller (leon.mueller@unisg.ch).