Re:Research

5 primary works

Teaching and Learning Design

Published 15 May 2019

Just as the term design has been going through change, growth and expansion of meaning, and interpretation in practice and education – the same can be said for design research. The traditional boundaries of design are dissolving and connections are being established with other fields at an exponential rate. Based on the proceedings from the 2017 International Association of Societies of Design Research conference, Re:Research is an edited collection that showcases a curated selection of 83 papers – just over half of the works presented at the conference. With topics ranging from the introduction of design in the primary education sector to designing information for Artificial Intelligence systems, this book collection demonstrates the diverse perspectives of design and design research. Divided into seven thematic volumes, this collection maps out where the field of design research is now.

 

 

 

Opening a Design Education Pipeline from University to K-12 and Back

•       Peter Scupelli, Doris Wells-Papanek, Judy Brooks, Arnold Wasserman

 

To prepare students to imagine desirable futures amidst current planetary-level challenges, design educators must think and act in new ways. In this paper, we describe a pilot study that illustrates how educators might teach K-12 students and university design students to situate their making within transitional times in a volatile and exponentially changing world. We describe how to best situate students to align design thinking and learning with future foresight. Here we present a pilot test and evaluate how a university-level Design Futures course content, approach, and scaffolded instructional materials – can be adapted for use in K-12 Design Learning Challenges. We describe the K-12 design-based learning challenges/experiences developed and implemented by the Design Learning Network (DLN). The Design Futures course we describe in this paper is a required course for third-year undergraduate students in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. The “x” signifies a different type of design that aligns short-term action with long-term goals. The course integrates design thinking and learning with long-horizon future scenario foresight. Broadly speaking, we ask how might portions of a design course be taught and experienced by teachers and students of two different demographics: within the university (Design Undergraduates) and in K-12 (via DLN). This pilot study is descriptive in nature; in future work, we seek to assess learning outcomes across university and K-12 courses. We believe the approach described is relevant for lifelong learners (e.g., post-graduate-level, career development, transitional adult education).

 

Re-Clarifying Design Problems Through Questions for Secondary School Children: An Example Based on Design Problem Identification in Singapore Pre-Tertiary Design Education

•       Wei Leong, Leon Loh, Hwee Mui, Grace Kwek, Wei Leong Lee

 

It is believed that secondary school students often define design problems in the design coursework superficially due to various reasons such as lack of exposure, inexperience and the lack of research skills. Questioning techniques have long been associated with the development of critical thinking. Based on this context and assumption, the current study aimed to explore the use of questioning techniques to enable pre-tertiary students to improve their understanding of design problems by using questions to critique their thinking and decision-making processes and in turn, generate more effective design solutions. A qualitative approach is adopted in this study to identify the trajectories of students during design problem identification and clarification process. Using student design journals as a form of record for action and thoughts, they are analyzed and supplemented by hearing survey with the teacher-in-charge. From the study, the following points can be concluded: (1) questions can be a useful tool to facilitate a better understanding of the design problem. (2) The process of identification and clarification of design problem is important in the development of critical thinking skills and social-emotional skills of the students. (3) It is important that students are given time and opportunity to find out the problems by themselves. (4) Teachers can be important role models as students may pick up questioning techniques from teacher–student discussions. (5) Departmental reviews and built-in professional development time for weekly reviews on teaching and learning strategies are necessary for the continual improvement D&T education.

 

Surveying Stakeholders: Research Informing Design Curriculum

•       Andrea Quam

 

Fundamental to design education is the creation and structure of curriculum. Neither the creation of design curriculum, nor the revaluation of existing curriculum is well documented. With no clear documentation of precedent, best practices are left open to debate. This paper and presentation will discuss the use of a survey as a research tool to assess existing curriculum at Iowa State University in the United States. This tool allowed the needs and perspectives of the program’s diverse stakeholders to be better understood. Utilizing survey methods, research revealed the convergence and divergence of stakeholders’ philosophies, theories and needs in relation to design curriculum. Accreditation and professional licensing provide base level of guidelines for design curriculum in the United States. However, each program’s curricular structure beyond these guidelines is a complicated balance of resources, facilities, faculty and the type of institution in which it is housed. Once established, a program’s curriculum is rarely reassessed as a whole, but instead updated with the hasty addition of classes upon an existing curricular structure. Curriculum is infrequently re-addressed, and when it is, it is typically based on the experience and opinions of a select group of faculty. This paper presents how a survey was developed to collect data to inform curricular decision-making, enabling the reduction of faculty bias and speculation in the process. Lessons learned from the development of this research tool will be shared so it might be replicated at other institutions, and be efficiently repeated periodically to ensure currency of a program’s curriculum.

 

New Challenges when Teaching UX Students to Sketch and Prototype

•       Joep Frens, Jodi Forlizzi, John Zimmerman

 

In this paper we report on new challenges when teaching User Experience (UX) students how to sketch and prototype their designs. We argue that UX students sketch and prototype differently than other design students, and we discuss how changes in the field necessitate a response in education. We describe sketching and prototyping as a continuum that students successfully traverse when they follow a process of “double loop learning.” We highlight three new challenges: (1) New computational design materials, (2) new maker tools and (3) changes within the tech industry. We explore these three challenges through examples from our students, and we outline strategies for sketching and prototyping in this new reality. We conclude that this is a starting point for further work on keeping education up to speed with practice.

 

How to Teach Industrial Design?: A Case Study of College Education for Design Beginners

•       Joomyung Rhi

 

Industrial design education has existed for a long time as part of the university system, but the curriculum and contents of each subject vary considerably from school to school. In recent years, the introduction of new concepts that change the definition of design has blurred the boundaries of design, making the curriculum different. Establishing a standard curriculum to address these challenges is an important task, but it is necessary to fully understand how design education actually takes place and to share content with educators. This paper aims to contribute to the debate on industrial design education by fully disclosing the process and results of the first stage of industrial design education of a university by autobiographical method. The first course, Product Design Practice 1, is a studio class based on a task feedback iteration system. Students are required to submit assignments showing weekly progress. The instructor reviewed the assignments submitted before the class and gave written comments in class. In addition, details of the design process and method that are difficult to identify as novice students are learned through twelve case studies and applied to the project. This Task Feedback Repeating Class system gives students the opportunity to implement design ability while gaining detailed skills with a comprehensive view. Through this process, the researcher got a reflection on the class and implications for the improvement of the class.

 

Preliminary Study on the Learning Pressure of Undergraduate Industrial Design Students

      - Wenzhi Chen

 

Learning pressure affects students’ learning process and performance. Industrial design education emphasizes that operations on real design problems that have heavy working loads may cause learning pressure. The purpose of this study is to explore the issues causing learning pressure and the pressure management strategies of undergraduate industrial design students. There were 297 students who participated in the questionnaire survey. The main findings are as follows: First, learning pressure includes academic pressure, peer pressure, self-expectations, time pressure, financial pressure, pressure from instructors, external pressure, future career, pressure from parents, resource pressure, achievement and situational pressure. In addition, the main learning pressure is caused by finance, time, resources, external issues and future career. Second, the pressure management strategies include problem solving, procrastination and escape, help seeking, leisure, emotional management and self-adjustment. The most useful strategy for managing pressure is leisure, and procrastination and escape is the least useful strategy. Third, all learning pressures are significantly correlated with procrastination and escape strategy, but the coefficients are low. The results can be a reference for industrial design education and related research.

 

Rewarding Risk: Exploring How to Encourage Learning that Comes from Taking Risks

•       Dennis Cheatham

 

High-stakes testing that became the norm after the “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001 helped condition students to strive for correct answers for clear problems, all on the first try. However, the iterative process inherent in designing requires risk-taking to conduct a trial-and-error process of defining problems and exploring possible solutions. This design research project was operated with Miami University Graphic Design students to test their willingness to take risks in their coursework to achieve their self-defined measures of success. Students identified that improving their skills was how they defined success. An interaction design assignment involving front-end coding was modified to test students’ comfort taking risks to grow their skills. Most students took risks in the assignment to grow their interaction design skills. The project revealed that closer attention to student motivation when developing learning experiences could help students make the transition to practicing design as an iterative process fraught with risk.

 

An Analysis of the Educational Value of PBL Design Workshops

•       Ikjoon Chang, Suhong Hwang

 

The purpose of this study is to plan and operate design-workshops based on project-based learning (PBL), and examine their educational value for students. The PBL workshop encourages direct participation from students and produces educational value, and it is important to raise the interest level of workshops to elicit proactive participation. The workshop in this study was carried out over 2 weeks in January 2017 at Korea’s Yonsei University. The workshop was composed of eight teams of students from three countries, including Korea, China and Japan, and the course was primarily divided into two sessions. The workshop participants examined in this thesis were notably satisfied with the elements of the course meant to garner interest. In the questionnaire results, participants also indicated that they obtained ample educational value through the workshop. An important element of the workshop was to connect the participants with businesses, which is also an important component of design education. Despite this, participants expressed a relatively lower level of satisfaction compared to other elements of the workshop. The results and analysis of this study will hopefully become a meaningful resource for educators when designing workshops in the future.

 

Collaborative Design Education with Industry: Student Perspective by Reflection

      - Nathan Kotlarewski, Louise Wallis, Michael Lee, Gregory Nolan, Megan Last

 

This study suggests that student reflection on academic and industry collaborative projects can enhance student’s understanding on the design process to solve live industry problems. It contributes to the body of design literature to support students learning of explicit and implicit knowledge. A 2017 learning by-making (LBM) unit in the School of Architecture and Design, at the University of Tasmania, Australia, developed a unit for students to collaborate with Neville Smith Forest Products Pty. Ltd (NSFP). NSFP is a local Tasmanian timber product manufacturer who currently stockpiles out-of-grade timber that has limited market applications. Undergraduate design students from second- and third-year Furniture, Interior and Architecture degrees collaborated with NSFP to value-add to their out-of-grade resource in the LBM unit. A series of design challenges, observations of industry practice and access to out-of-grade timber from NSFP exposed students to live industry problems and provided them the opportunity to build professional design skills. Students reflected on the collaborative LBM unit in a reflection journal, which was used to provide evidence of their learning experiences. The collaborative environment between academia and industry allowed students to acquire an understanding of timber product manufacturing that helped them develop empathy toward the industry problem and influence the development of new products. This study presents how student reflections influenced a change in their design process as they progressed through sequential design challenges to address an industry problem by adopting Valkenburg and Dorst reflective learning framework.

 

Interdisciplinary Trends in Design Education: The Analysis of Master Dissertation of College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University

•       Lisha Ren, Yan Wang

 

This paper expounds the background of Chinese design education as well as the orientation of the design education of Tongji University in the new times, it also collects 458 Master Thesis of College of Design and Innovation during 2010–2016 as analyzed sample. Based on the coding of subject classification, quantitative analysis and content analysis are made in order to understand the interdisciplinary education status of College of Design and Innovation from the two perspectives: the overall cross-disciplinary performance and the relationship between different cross-disciplinary directions.

 

From ANT to Material Agency: A Design and Science Research Workshop

•       Anne-Lyse Renon, A. De Montbron, Annie Gentes, Julien Bobroff

 

This paper studies a design workshop that investigates complex collaboration between fundamental physics and design. Our research focuses on how students create original artifacts that bridge the gap between disciplines that have very little in common. Our goal is to study the micro-evolutions of their projects. Elaborating first on Actor Network Theory we study how students’ projects evolved over time and through a diversity of inputs and media. Throughout this longitudinal study, we use then a semiotic and pragmatic approach to observe three “aesthetical formations”: translation, composition and stabilization. These formations suggest that the question of material agency developed in the field of archeology and cognitive science need to be considered in the design field to explain metamorphoses from the brief to the final realizations.

 

Philosophical Frameworks and Design Processes

Published 22 May 2019

Just as the term design has been going through change, growth and expansion of meaning, and interpretation in practice and education – the same can be said for design research. The traditional boundaries of design are dissolving and connections are being established with other fields at an exponential rate. Based on the proceedings from the IASDR 2017 Conference, Re:Research is an edited collection that showcases a curated selection of 83 papers – just over half of the works presented at the conference. With topics ranging from the introduction of design in the primary education sector to designing information for Artificial Intelligence systems, this book collection demonstrates the diverse perspectives of design and design research. Divided into seven thematic volumes, this collection maps out where the field of design research is now.

 

Two Blind Spots in Design Thinking

• Estelle Berger

 

From the 1980s, design thinking has emerged in companies as a method for practical and creative problem solving, based on designers’ way of thinking, integrated into a rational and iterative model to accompany the process. In companies, design thinking helped valuing creative teamwork, though not necessarily professional designers’ expertise. By pointing out two blind spots in design thinking models, as currently understood and implemented, this paper aims at shedding light on two rarely described traits of designers’ self. The first relies in problem framing, a breaking point that deeply escapes determinism. The second blind spot questions the post project process. We thus seek to portray designers’ singularity, in order to stimulate critical reflection and encourage the opening-up to design culture. Companies and organizations willing to make the most of designers’ expertise would gain acknowledging their critical heteronomy to foster innovation based on strong and disruptive visions, beyond an out-of-date problem-solving approach to design.

 

Creating Different Modes of Existence: Toward an Ontological Ethics of Design

• Jamie Brassett

 

This paper will address some design concerns relating to philosopher Étienne Souriau’s work Les différents modes d’existence (2009). This has important bearings upon design because, first, this philosophical attitude thinks of designing not as an act of forming objects with identity and meaning, but rather as a process of delivering things that allow for a multiplicity of creative remodulation of our very existences. Secondly, Souriau unpicks the concept of a being existing as a unified identity and redefines existence as a creative act of nonstop production of a variety of modes of existence. In doing this he not only moves ontological considerations to the fore of philosophical discussions away from epistemological ones, but does so in such a way as to align with attitudes to ethics that relate it to ontology – notably the work of Spinoza. (This places Souriau in a philosophical lineage that leads back, for example, to Nietzsche and Whitehead, and forward [from his era] to Deleuze and Guattari.) In thinking both ontology and ethics together, this paper will introduce a different approach to the ethics of design.

 

Investigating Ideation Flexibility through Incremental to Radical Heuristics

• Ian Baker, Daniel Sevier, Seda McKilligan, Kathryn W. Jablokow, Shanna R. Daly, Eli M. Silk

 

The concept of design thinking has received increasing attention during recent years, particularly from managers around the world. However, despite being the subject of a vast number of articles and books stating its importance, the effectiveness of this approach is unclear, as the claims about the concept are not grounded on empirical studies or evaluations. In this study, we investigated the perceptions of six design thinking methods of 21 managers in the agriculture industry as they explored employee- and business-related problems and solutions using these tools in a 6-hour workshop. The results from pre and post-survey responses suggest that the managers agreed on the value design thinking could bring to their own domains and were able to articulate on how they can use them in solving problems. We conclude by proposing directions for research to further explore adaptation of design thinking for the management practice context.

 

Design Research and Innovation Model Using Layered Clusters of Displaced Prototypes

    - Juan de la Rosa, Stan Ruecker

 

The ability of design to recognize the wicked problems inside complex systems and find possible ways to modify them, has led other disciplines to try to understand the design process and apply it to many areas of knowledge not traditionally associated with design. In additional, design’s creative solutions and ability to innovate have made designers a valuable resource in the contemporary economy. Nevertheless, there is still an unnecessarily constraining polemic about the meaning and model of the process of academic research in the field of design, the ways in which design research should be conducted and the specific knowledge that is produced with the design research process. This paper tries to broaden the discourse by describing the prototype as a basic element of the process of design, since it is connected to a specific type of knowledge and based on the working skills of the designer; it also proposes a model of the use of prototypes as a research tool based on four different theoretical concepts whose importance in the field of design has been strongly established by different academic communities around the world. These are embodied knowledge, displacement, complexity and that we learn about the world through transforming it. Pursuing these models, we develop a process to intentionally produce designerly knowledge of complex dynamic systems, using layered clusters of displaced prototypes.

 

Solution-Generation Design Profiles: Reflection on “Reflection in Action”

    - Shoshi Bar-Eli

 

Solution-generation design behavior in general, and “reflection-in-action” in particular, can serve to differentiate designers, recognizing their personal reflecting when designing. In psychology, reflection is found a more robust tool to enhance task performance after feedback from a personal “device” that generates the process itself while interacting with visual representation. Differences among students’ interior design processes appear in their solution-generation design behavior. A “think aloud” experiment identified solution generation behavior profiles. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies showed how design characteristics unite, forming patterns of design behavior. A comprehensive picture of designers’ differences emerged. The research aimed:

• to identify individual design students’ solution-generation profiles based on design characteristics;
• to show how reflection-in-action appearing in the profiles can serve to predict how novice designers learn and act when solving a design problem;
• to enhance the uniqueness of reflection-in-action for designers as distinct from reflection in other fields.

 

Four distinct solution-generation profiles emerged, each showing a different type of reflective acts. Identifying reflection-in-action type can robustly predict how designers develop design solutions and help develop pedagogical concepts, strategies and tools.

 

Let’s Get Divorced: Pragmatic and Critical Constructive Design Research

• Jodi Forlizzi, Ilpo Koskinen, Paul Hekkert, John Zimmerman

 

Over the last two decades, constructive design research (CDR) –also known as Research through Design – has become an accepted mode of scholarly inquiry within the design research community. CDR is a broad term encompassing almost any kind of research that uses design action as a mode of inquiry. It has been described as having three distinct genres: lab, field and showroom. The lab and field genres typically take a pragmatic stance, making things as a way of investigating what preferred futures might be. In contrast, research done following the showroom approach (more commonly known as critical design [CD], speculative design or design fictions) offers a polemic and sometimes also a critique of the current state embodied in an artifact. Recently, we have observed a growing conflict within the design research community between pragmatic and critical researchers. To help reduce this conflict, we call for a divorce between CD and pragmatic CDR. We clarify how CDR and CD exist along a continuum. We conclude with suggestions for the design research community, about how each unique research approach can be used singly or in combination and how they can push the boundaries of academic design research in new collaboration with different disciplines.

 

Critical and Speculative Design Practice and Semiotics: Meaning-Crafting for Futures Ready Brands

    - Malex Salamanques

 

This article concerns the use of critical design practices within the context of commercial semiotics, arguing that incorporating practices from a critical design approach is valuable for client brands, but also an important means with which to incite brands to consider more deeply their role in shaping the future. As an alternative to the oppositional approach frequently taken by critical design practitioners, working through design practices collaboratively alongside client brands creates potential for the radical changes sought by many of the movement’s vanguard. A case study of recent work with a corporate client demonstrates the practical effects of using critical design practice within a commercial setting, proving the complementarity between critical design practice and commercial semiotics – where the confluence of the thinking brought new value to improve product design for example – and points to the value of using current leading edge thinking within the design community.

 

Beyond Forecasting: A Design-Inspired Foresight Approach for Preferable Futures

    - Jorn Buhring, Ilpo Koskinen

 

This paper engages with the literature to present different perspectives between forecasting and foresight in strategic design, while drawing insights derived from futures studies that can be applied in form of a design-inspired foresight approach for designers and interdisciplinary innovation teams increasingly called upon to help envisage preferable futures. Demonstrating this process in applied research, relevant examples are drawn from a 2016 Financial Services industry futures study to the year 2030. While the financial services industry exemplifies an ideal case for design-inspired foresight, the aims of this paper are primarily to establish the peculiarities between traditional forecasting applications and a design-inspired foresight visioning approach as strategic design activities for selecting preferable futures. Underlining the contribution of this paper is the value of design futures thinking as a creative and divergent thought process, which has the potential to respond to the much broader organizational reforms needed to sustain in today’s rapidly evolving business environment.

 

Developing DIVE, a Design-Led Futures Technique for SMEs

• Ricardo Mejia Sarmiento, Gert Pasman, Erik Jan Hultink, Pieter Jan Stappers

 

Futures techniques have long been used in large enterprises as designerly means to explore the future and guide innovation. In the automotive industry, for instance, the development of concept cars is a technique which has repeatedly proven its value. However, while big companies have broadly embraced futures techniques, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have lagged behind in applying them, largely because they are too resource-intensive and poorly suited to the SMEs’ needs and idiosyncrasies. To address this issue, we developed DIVE: Design, Innovation, Vision, and Exploration, a design-led futures technique for SMEs. Its development began with an inquiry into concept cars in the automotive industry and concept products and services in other industries. We then combined the insights derived from these design practices with elements of the existing techniques of critical design and design fiction into the creation of DIVE’s preliminary first version, which was then applied and evaluated in two iterations with SMEs, resulting in DIVE’s alpha version. After both iterations in context, it seems that DIVE suits the SMEs because of its compact and inexpensive activities which emphasize making and storytelling. Although the results of these activities might be less flashy than concept cars, these simple prototypes and videos help SMEs internalize and share a clear image of a preferable future, commonly known as vision. Developing DIVE thus helped us explore how design can support SMEs in envisioning the future in the context of innovation.

 

Mapping for Mindsets of Possibility During Home Downsizing

• Lisa Otto

 

How can design orient people to an expanded sense of future possibility? Design researchers are beginning to recognize design’s potential role not solely in producing products, services and strategies but, instead, in shifting mindsets and behaviors. This shift requires a different view of the design practice, from engaging users to gather insights to be implemented, to that process as the actual material of the design. Borrowing from the framework of practice-oriented design, a first step in these processes is expanding participants’ understanding of future possibilities. In opening future possibilities, one recognizes an expanded range of futures and, ideally, engages in dialog with other people and their range of possibilities. This paper introduces mapping activities that are intended to reframe participants’ perception of possible futures. This study conducted pilot workshops with participants who were downsizing their home and struggling with decisions about their things and spaces. This paper argues that working with people already engaged in life transitions such as downsizing presents a rich opportunity for these futuring [sic] methods, as they are already beginning to grapple with designing for possible futures. These methods provide a stake in the ground for future exploration of potential methods to engender mindsets of possibility and engage in trialing methods like living labs.

 

Storytelling Technique for Building Use-Case Scenarios for Design Development

• Sukwoo Jang, Ki-young Nam

 

Numerous studies have dealt with what kind of value narrative can have for creating a more effective design process. However, there is lack of consideration of storytelling techniques on a stage-by-stage level, where each stage of storytelling technique can draw attention to detailed content for creating use-case scenarios for design development. This research aims to identify the potential implications for design development by using storytelling techniques. For the empirical research, two types of workshops were conducted in order to select the most appropriate storytelling technique for building use-case scenarios, and to determine the relationship between the two methods. Afterwards, co-occurrence analysis was conducted to examine how each step of storytelling technique can help designers develop an enriched content of use-case scenario. Subsequently, the major findings of this research are further discussed, dealing with how each of the storytelling technique steps can help designers to incorporate important issues when building use-case scenarios for design development. These issues are: alternative and competitor’s solution which can aid designers to create better design features; status quo bias of user which can help the designer investigate the occurring reason of the issue; and finally, social/political values of user which have the potential of guiding designers to create strengthened user experience. The results of this research help designers and design researchers concentrate on crucial factors such as the alternative or competitor’s solution, the status quo bias of user, and social/political values of the user when dealing with issues of building use-case scenarios.

 

Group Storymaking: Understanding an Unfamiliar Target Group through Participatory Storytelling

• Hankyung Kim, Soonju Lee, Youn-kyung Lim

 

Based on a sound research plan, qualitative user data help designers understand needs, behaviors and frustrations of a target user group. However, when a design team attempts to design for unfamiliar target groups, it is extremely difficult to accurately observe and understand them by simply using traditional research methods such as interviews and observation. As a result, the quality of user research data can be called into a question, which leads to unsatisfying design solutions. Inspired by a fiction writer’s technique of generating stories together with readers, we present the new method, Group Storymaking that supports designers to quickly gain broad and clear understanding of an unfamiliar target group throughout a story-making activity with actual users. We envision Group Storymaking as a new user study method that designers can easily implement to learn about an unfamiliar target, involving actual users in a research process with less time and cost commitment.

 

Animation as a Creative Tool: Insights into the Complex

• Ian Balmain Hewitt, David A. Parkinson, Kevin H. Hilton

 

A Design for Service (DfS) approach has been linked with impacts that significantly alter touchpoints, services and organizational culture. However, there is no model with which to assess the extent to which these impacts can be considered transformational. In the absence of such a model, the authors have reviewed literature on subjects including the transformational potential of design; characteristics of transformational design; transformational change; and organizational change. From this review, six indicators of transformational change in design projects have been identified: evidence of nontraditional transformative design objects; evidence of a new perspective; evidence of a community of advocates; evidence of design capability; evidence of new power dynamics; and evidence of new organizational standards. These indicators, along with an assessment scale, have been used to successfully review the findings from a doctoral study exploring the impact of the DfS approach in Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) organizations. This paper presents this model as a first-step to establishing a method to helpfully gauge the extent of transformational impact in design projects.

Design and the Creation of Social Value

Published 22 May 2019

Just as the term design has been going through change, growth and expansion of meaning, and interpretation in practice and education – the same can be said for design research. The traditional boundaries of design are dissolving and connections are being established with other fields at an exponential rate. Based on the proceedings from the IASDR 2017 Conference, Re:Research is an edited collection that showcases a curated selection of 83 papers – just over half of the works presented at the conference. With topics ranging from the introduction of design in the primary education sector to designing information for Artificial Intelligence systems, this book collection demonstrates the diverse perspectives of design and design research. Divided into seven thematic volumes, this collection maps out where the field of design research is now.

 

Understanding Everyday Design

•       Soyoung Kim, Kwangmin Cho, Chajoong Kim

 

The more society gets complicated and developed, the more demand for various products. As a result, we are living in a flood of various products. However, considering how people consume and use products in their daily life, it is not difficult to find people transforming, changing the original purpose or adding value to existing products instead of buying new ones. This phenomenon has been defined as everyday design. In a sense that everyday design provides a better understanding of actual uses in real context, it deserves to be studied. Therefore, this paper attempts to figure out an underlying mechanism of everyday design. For this, a conceptual framework was developed, whose focus was on what triggers everyday design, what goals are set and how a product is transformed. The conceptual framework was validated with a photographic inventory of users’ everyday design in our daily life. The conceptual framework could provide a better understanding of everyday design in a systematic way. If it is considered in the product development process, it could contribute to an increase of use satisfaction as well as sustainable design. The limitations and a further study are discussed at the end of the paper.

 

Social Value Creation through Multidisciplinary Design Education

•       Steven Kyffin, Mersha Aftab, Nicholas Spencer

 

The paper proposes that design with a multidisciplinary student cohort as active partners can play the role of bringing the four different stakeholder groupings, namely, government, industry, society and academia together within the creative consortia, and create innovation for the greater good of the society. By studying a selection of social innovation projects undertaken by multidisciplinary student teams as connector-integrators, which engaged with companies, government bodies and community groups, we have examined a combination of “four” different activities across different economic and cultural (human experience) contexts to assess their different degrees of appropriateness in creating future value. We apply these methods to establish “creative consortia,” which has enabled us to reframe the context of the problem space. We believe that the creative consortia has the potential to create more relevance in the solution space, greater engagement in realizing the proposition into the future and a higher opportunity for integration of such future principles into emerging government policy, and national innovation agendas.

 

Taking Aim at “wicked problems”: A Practical Philosophy for Educating Designers in the Making of Wise Decisions

•       Paul Emmerson, Robert Young

 

Today’s design pedagogies lack the characteristics for redressing the nature of the “wicked problems” they attempt to solve, such as sustainability. We argue it is not fair for future generations to suffer the systemic effects of our unsustainable consumer culture, partly resulting from today’s design professionals’ decisions, which ensue because design is an amoral discipline lacking a systemic perspective. To rectify design’s characteristic failings, as part of a PhD study, we report a new pedagogical architecture founded as the synthesis of the practices of design and civics, forming the relationship design-as-civics (DaC): a practical philosophy. We position DaC as a reflexive, systemic radical political praxis for every citizen, possessing the explicit teleological goal to achieve the “good life” for all. DaC takes a transdisciplinary approach. It integrates the discoveries of cognitive science and linguistics to expose how we construct our understanding of the world interpreting metaphors and frames, which we utilize to “aim” DaC. Alongside shared social practice theory (SSP) and insights from developmental psychology that reveal the distinctly human capacity of “shared intentionality” engendering humankind’s willingness for cooperation and empathy for fairness. That living in a fairer society is desired by people from rival political perspectives, with egalitarian societies reporting lower environmental impact lifestyles and more willingness for transitioning toward sustainment. Thus, it is humankind’s cooperative behavior and aligning values that provides the foundational rationale of DaC’s SSP goal to achieve the “good life” through the ongoing critical examination of its “aim” of resolving “fairness between citizens.”

 

Developing a Matrix for “Designerly Way of Creating Shared Value” (DCSV): Four Examples of CSV via Perspectives of Design

•       Kyulee Kim

 

Today, while profit maximization is still the bedrock of the capitalist model, people have embraced the idea of social contribution as a useful strategy in businesses. In this recent movement, Creating Shared Value (CSV) strives for a win-win solution that creates both social and business value. While in its early stage, CSV is showing promise and potential; society is witnessing a paradigm shift from practices of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) to CSV which is more sustainable and effective approach. Since Porter and Kramer originally introduced the concept in 2011, CSV’s application has expanded to many areas of business management, but it has not been discussed comprehensively in design research as of yet. The title of this paper, “Designerly Way of Creating Shared Value” (DCSV) is inspired by Nigel Cross’s famous book, Designerly way of knowing (2006). “Designerly” is an adjective describing “how” designers think and behave that is different from professionals in scientific disciplines. The aim of this paper is to propose a new matrix illustrating the link between creating shared value and design, and to systemically describe the existing examples of DCSV. The paper will begin with an introduction to the concept of CSV followed by a brief literature review on CSV in design research. The second part will focus on demonstrating the new DCSV matrix by illustrating the four examples that exemplify it.

 

Design for Social Innovation – Digital Technologies and Local Communities

•       Teresa Franqueira, Gonçalo Gomes

 

Abstract

The use and democratization of new digital technologies have given visibility to groups of people and grassroots organizations that can be considered agents of change in the transition to a more sustainable world. Design plays an important role in the definition of strategies and in the development of innovative solutions to tackle some of the contemporary problems society faces. This paper aims to show several projects developed over the last 5 years in the subject Design for Social Innovation at the Master in Design and the Master in Engineering and Product Design at the University of Aveiro, and its relation to the new social media and technologies. By using Service Design tools to improve Social Innovations and the integration of new digital technologies, we design new and improved solutions to foster sustainable development. The creation of a DESIS Lab has also allowed to develop innovative design solutions within local communities. The methodology used is based on Learning-by-Doing with an important and relevant initial phase using ethnographic methods. The results are showed as academic projects that can be applied and replicated in different contexts.

 

The Extent of Transformation: Measuring the Impact of Design in VCS Organizations

•       Laura E. Warwick, Robert A. Young

 

A Design for Service (DfS) approach has been linked with impacts that significantly alter touchpoints, services and organizational culture. However, there is no model with which to assess the extent to which these impacts can be considered transformational. In the absence of such a model, the authors have reviewed literature on subjects including the transformational potential of design; characteristics of transformational design; transformational change; and organizational change. From this review, six indicators of transformational change in design projects have been identified: evidence of nontraditional transformative design objects; evidence of a new perspective; evidence of a community of advocates; evidence of design capability; evidence of new power dynamics; and evidence of new organizational standards. These indicators, along with an assessment scale, have been used to successfully review the findings from a doctoral study exploring the impact of the DfS approach in Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) organizations. This paper presents this model as a first-step to establishing a method to helpfully gauge the extent of transformational impact in design projects.

 

Applying Design Thinking for Business Model Innovation for a Nonprofit Organization – Case Study: Art á la Carte

•       Alison Miyauchi, Scott Cressman

 

The challenges facing many small nonprofit organizations are increasing at a greater rate than the internal capacities of many within this sector are able to address effectively. This situation has small nonprofits questioning their sustainability and ability to deliver their services in the long term. Often these small nonprofit organizations are working within a business model and communications paradigm that has remained unchanged for decades and one which is proving no longer effective in attracting awareness, engagement and support. Many of these organizations are facing a critical failure requiring significant business model innovation to achieve both their short-, mid- and long-term goals. Design thinking is an avenue for nonprofits to achieve business model innovation by developing new, unique concepts supporting an organization’s viability and the processes for bringing those concepts to fruition. This case study outlines the design thinking process applied to business model innovation for a small, 22-year-old, nonprofit approaching critical business failure.

 

Generative Design Research for Sustainability: Exemplary Cases for the Adaptation of the EC Guide Tool and the ERM Method

•       Mert Kulaksız, Itır Güngör Boncukçu, Dilruba Oğur, İsmail Yavuz Paksoy, Senem Turhan, Çağla Doğan

 

This paper presents the main process of a graduate course entitled “Generative Design Research for Sustainability” offered in the Department of Industrial Design at Middle East Technical University in the spring semester of 2015/2016 through exemplary design research cases conducted by the graduate students at the doctoral level. These cases focus on the adaptation of the generative tool and the method, namely Experience Chart (EC) Guide tool and Experience Reflection Modelling (ERM) method, in line with the graduate students’ particular research topics. First, the paper provides the course objectives, outcomes and process, then, it explains the EC Guide tool and the ERM method to be adapted and implemented within the context of the course. Then, these generative tool and method, and their adaptations are demonstrated through the exemplary cases (i.e. efficient use of working environment in design studios, lighting practices in kitchen environment, and interactive prototyping practice) selected from the submitted assignments considering their quality, originality and comprehensiveness. The main emphasis of this paper is on the adaptation and implementation of the EC Guide tool and the ERM method through providing the experiences, insights and suggestions of the graduate students who are also the co-authors of the paper. Based on that review, major conclusions and findings are presented through comparing and contrasting these cases for the future development of the course.

 

Beyond Greener Things: Sustainability within Communication Design Practice

•       Niki Wallace, Robert Crocker

 

This paper reviews contemporary communication design practice in Australia through a series of interviews with practitioners, conducted to better understand the place of sustainability in contemporary practice. It is especially concerned with the expectations and experience of designers, and their attitudes toward sustainability in practice, and the contrast between designing “greener things” and establishing more sustainable outcomes for their clients through deeper collaboration. The paper is part of a larger PhD project attempting to establish ways of expanding the understanding of sustainability for communication designers.

 

Craft and Design for Sustainability: Leverage for Change

•       Xiaofang Zhan, Stuart Walker

 

Traditional craft has been relegated to the margins in modern culture, being perceived as out step with technological, economic and societal progress. However, emergent research is rediscovering the nature of craft and its potential for contributing to design practice in conjunction with developments in science and technology. Through the analyses of craft and sustainability, strong connections are revealed as well as some incompatibilities. The contribution of this paper is to (a) map a systemic view of craft and (b) establish a theoretical understanding of the relationship between craft and a holistic understanding of sustainability. Drawing on recent research that proposes three areas of leverage for sustainability, we argue that craft, as a system of making, knowing and being, has significant potential to contribute actively and tangibly to the transitional conditions, thereby serving as an agency for sustainable transformation.

 

Nature-Inspired Organizational Design Framework for Open Collaboration Platform Development

•       Sojung Kim, Joon Sang Baek

 

Over the last two decades, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations have increasingly adopted open collaboration, such as open innovation and crowdsourcing, as a strategy for innovation. Information and communication technology (ICT) has played a major role in forming open collaboration communities, but organizational design also needs to be considered to encourage the active participation and collaboration of actors. Nonetheless, organizational design aspect has seldom been addressed in developing open collaboration platforms. In this research, an organizational design framework for open collaboration was developed through a nature-inspired design approach. This framework suggests that the self-organization mechanism of social insects provides inspirations for the design of the platform, especially in terms of setting simple rules to induce behaviors of the actors and facilitating interactions among them. Since the open collaboration strategy depends on external actors who are not in employment relationship, an organization cannot force their contribution. Accordingly, the organization’s capability to induce the spontaneous participation of actors is essential, and it implies the potential role of designers in platform design based on a thorough understanding of actors. We thus claim that designers can bring a new perspective to organizational design. Open collaboration platforms serve as an exemplar in which designers contribute to the design of an organizational environment that fosters collaboration.

Design and Living Well

Published 22 May 2019

Just as the term design has been going through change, growth and expansion of meaning, and interpretation in practice and education – the same can be said for design research. The traditional boundaries of design are dissolving and connections are being established with other fields at an exponential rate. Based on the proceedings from the IASDR 2017 Conference, Re:Research is an edited collection that showcases a curated selection of 83 papers – just over half of the works presented at the conference. With topics ranging from the introduction of design in the primary education sector to designing information for Artificial Intelligence systems, this book collection demonstrates the diverse perspectives of design and design research. Divided into seven thematic volumes, this collection maps out where the field of design research is now.

Using Frameworks to Cross Interdisciplinary Boundaries: Addressing Wellness
• Traci Rose Rider

Increasing interest is seen at the intersection of architecture and health. The built environment has become associated with a number of negative health outcomes including obesity, cancers and diabetes. Engaging design students in these inquiries surrounding health is integral in preparing them for future practice. This paper reviews the conceptual development and tested implementation of an interdisciplinary course focusing on the well-being and overall health of the occupant, using primary and secondary framework structures in the vein of Groat and Wang’s logical argumentation. The reviewed course engages interdisciplinary teams composed of students from the School of Architecture, the College of Engineering and the College of Natural Resources, with private practice. The course puts forth an effort to break out of the conventional pedagogical structure found in architectural education, primarily the studio and large lecture spaces. The course has been specifically designed to: (1) establish a framework for common content relating to health in the built environment across disciplinary boundaries; (2) build meaningful partnerships between interdisciplinary student groups; and (3) establish a common vocabulary between architectural education and aligned disciplines regarding health and the built environment. The course structure, activities and assessments are reviewed, proposing a solid framework for including integrated design and themes of health in architectural education.

Qualities of Public Health: Toward an Analysis of Aesthetic Features of Public Policies
• Sébastien Proulx, Philippe Gauthier, Yaprak Hamarat

Design is gaining popularity as a way to address complex social problems in various fields of practices. Strangely, public health which, by nature, is concerned by such kinds of problems, remains foreign to this way of thinking. Building on the increasing popularity of design in policy-making, we stress that public health could also benefit from this conceptual yet pragmatic framework. To open a critical perspective about the potential of design for public health, we examine four design projects that address social determinants of health and whose outcomes promote healthy living habits. Finally, we argue that the interest of design for public health lies on its concern for the users’ aesthetic experience emerging of its encounter with the touchpoints that embody health policies. This contribution ought to act as a stepping stone to open a debate about design as offering a critical perspective for the practice and study of public health.

Participatory Design for Behavior Change: An Integrative Approach to Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Fernando Carvalho, Gyuchan Thomas Jun, Val Mitchell

Behavior insights have been extensively applied to public policy and service design. The potential for an expanded use of behavior change to healthcare quality improvement has been underlined in the England’s National Health Service Five-Year Forward View report, in which staff behavior is connected to the quality of care delivered to patients and better clinical practice. Improving the quality of healthcare service delivery involves adopting improvement cycles that are conducted by multiple agents through systematic processes of change and evaluation. Despite the recognition that some of the recurring challenges to improve healthcare services are behavioral in essence, there is insufficient evidence about how behavioral insights can be successfully applied to quality improvement in healthcare. Simultaneously, the discussion on how to better engage participants in intervention design, and how to better enable participation are not seen as fundamental components of behavior change frameworks. This paper presents an integrative approach, stemming from comprehensive literature review and an ongoing case study, in which participatory design is used as the conduit to activate stakeholder engagement in the application of a behavior change framework, aiming to improve the processes of diagnosing and managing urinary tract infection in the emergency department of a hospital in England. Preliminary findings show positive results regarding the combined use of participatory design and behavior change tools in the development of a shared-vision of the challenges in question, and the collaborative establishment of priorities of action, potential solution routes and evaluation strategies.

Development of a Design Competence Model for Learners of Human-Centered Design
• Christi Zuber

Learning a new competence and attempting to perform it within an organization not only takes time, but it is heavily influenced by the real-world context of day-to-day work culture and individual perceptions. The little-understood world of learning Human-Centered Design (HCD) within an organization is studied over 1 year in inside of a group of healthcare organizations through a training and mentoring program called the “Innovation Catalyst Program.” Deep insights and personal narratives are gathered by studying learners and their coaches in real-time observations and conversations. A dynamic story unfolds as those who are learning creative approaches for organizational innovation are coached by those with many years of experience on the topic. These same participants provide feedback on the frameworks generated. The result of this Longitudinal Grounded Theory field study is a new actionable model for understanding experiences and approaches to learning HCD within the context of an organization, a novel approach to assessing development, and ultimately, a way to empower individuals with the mindsets and skillsets of HCD for real-world challenges.

 

Health Education that Breaks through Language Barriers: Prototyping and Evaluation of Child Care-Related ICT Self-Learning Resource
• Toshinori Anzai, Kazuyo Matsuura, Takanobu Yakubo, Tomoko Mikami, Kouta Uemura

This paper explores the findings of a study into the telecommunications environment in Mongolia. It was hoped that an effective self-learning resource for the prevention of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) in infants for distribution to parents in that country could be created and evaluated using these findings. Based on a field survey conducted in Mongolia, the most effective format this resource should take was identified. A prototype was created that featured video taken from both a third-person and parent’s (first-person) perspective. After further evaluation, this prototype is to undergo revisions that will be assessed in Japan and Mongolia before a final version is distributed utilizing information and communication technologies (ICT). It was found that a visual message that did not rely on written language was the most effective means of communicating the desired message. With input from nursing staff in Mongolia, the Sapporo City University School of Design and School of Nursing came to leverage their respective strengths to create an effective prototype that will be used as the basis for a resource for relaying this preventive information to the target audience.

Empowering the Preschool Children: A Service Platform Design Aiming at the Communication of Balanced Diet Information
• Xing Zhou

Childhood obesity increases the risk of obesity in adulthood and is associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing in China. It is necessary to develop an intervention project for preschool children. Based on a service design project aiming at the communication of balanced diet information to the preschool children in China, this paper discusses how to take advantage of the digital platform and game-based learning to empower the preschool children. It argues for the importance of the DIKW hierarchy for empowerment. It also proposes an innovative model to involve new stakeholders into the whole system and to improve the viability of the project.

Snack Food Package Design: Exploratory Study on Children’s Snack Choices and Design Elements
- Sunghyun R. Kang, Debra Satterfield, Nora Ladjahasan

Packaging is an essential element of design for both consumers and businesses. Product packaging functions both as a communication tool for product information and for brand messages. In addition, the role of visual elements and messages on snack packages are not well understood. This is particularly true from the standpoint of influencing the selection of snack food in children, even though there has been growth in the economic power of children as a consumer group. Therefore, this study examines: (1) the role of design variables such as typography, images and the stylistic combination of these visual elements in affecting children’s snack food selection; (2) the role of health messages on children’s snack food selections; and (3) the role of perceived “healthiness” in influencing children’s snack food selections. Digitally simulated snack package images were created and sixty children ages 9–13 were recruited for this study. From these design variables, “preferred-selections” and “perceived healthy-selection” of children in this age group were identified.

Breaking through Fuzzy Positioning: Diverse Design Communication Strategies for Older Adults’ Healthcare Wearables
- Chen Li, Chang-Franw Lee

In this study, based on the perception of older adults, fuzzy positioning of healthcare wearables and impacts of differentiated product positioning on human considerations and design communication strategies are studied. Empirical researches are performed by adopting both quantitative research (248 questionnaires for clustering and regression analysis) and qualitative research (15 cases for in-depth interview). The perceptions of older adults on product positioning are divided into three types: Tech-Aid, Fash-Acc and Fash-Tech. Results indicate that the influential human considerations for each positioning were different from each other. Through coding and storyline analysis, diverse communication strategies are found for each positioning. The outcomes for each type are as follows. For Tech-Aid, wherein older adults lay emphasis on usefulness, ease of use and privacy, the designers can adopt a calm communication strategy by giving priority to older adults’ control power, fitting symptoms, user-friendly and cautious interconnection. For Fash-Acc, wherein older adults focus on personal image, aesthetic appearance and ease of use, an active communication strategy for modeling a style for elderly fashion that agrees with aesthetic appreciation and simplified operation can be adopted. For Fash-Tech, wherein older adults require to integrate usefulness, ease of use, aesthetic appearance, comfort, privacy and self-image, a persuasive communication strategy can be used, through which designers can offer older adults more data insights and entertainment, along with data association, and in the meantime, reduce data interferences and pay attention to style modality and appropriate display with context fusion and contact comfort.

Developing Design Criteria for iPad Stands to Meet the Needs of Older Adults in Group Settings
• Sonja Pedell, Jeanie Beh, Gianni Renda, Emily Wright

This paper details the evaluation process undertaken to create criteria for the development of an iPad stand for elderly users. Emphasis is on the requirements elicitation stage with end users in the field. Thirty-two elderly participants taking part in the activity group as part of the Ageing-Well program of a City Council in a cosmopolitan area in Australia were part of an evaluation in which three existing iPad stands were trialed. While commercially available stands are abundant, specific problems such as reduced grip, basic technical understanding of the stand, and concerns surrounding stability were encountered within the group. Observation and semistructured interviews were undertaken with the cohort to determine factors surrounding the suitability and uptake of these stands by elderly users – most of them with some disabilities – with findings suggesting that current tablet stands require fine levels of dexterity, which may not be appropriate for elderly users where such a device is needed. While usability in setting up the stand and use is a strong factor, aesthetics and material qualities are equally important for enjoyable use. In addition, the use of iPads in social activities between two or more older adults has specific demands in terms of visibility of screen, sturdiness and easy movement that is not considered by current tablet stands. The paper ends with proposing design recommendations. Further research is required to develop a suitable solution and refines these.

Innovative Handle Design and Evaluation of Woks for Middle-Aged and Elderly People
• Fong-Gong Wu, Yu-Chi Lin, Hsiao-Han Sun

With the enhancement of medical technology and human living standards, the world is showing a trajectory toward an aging society. The elders generally suffer from degeneration, which may cause problems in their daily lives. Aging has since become a major issue of scientific researches. Elders in Taiwan mostly live alone or with a partner. Because eating out is not a habit, cooking often plays an important role in their lives. Due to the degeneration happening to their bodies, the danger during cooking activities increases. Therefore, it is necessary for them to seek help from assistive devices. In this research, we will make assistive design models that help elders use woks. The designs are for the task we have chosen from our investigation. We will also evaluate the effect of the aids objectively using the EMG system, and collect the iEMG value for evaluation. The iEMG values were collected from four muscles (FDC, FCR, biceps and deltoids). Eight middle-aged participants who will become elders in the near future were invited to participate in the experiment. Four design solutions were chosen from seven working models. The design solutions were all helpful to the task, and the performances of the stove design solutions are significantly better than the original wok. The degrees of hand trembling while performing tasks were also measured; however, the differences were not significant.

Designing with and for People with Dementia: Developing a Mindful Interdisciplinary Co-Design Methodology
• Kristina Niedderer, Isabelle Tournier, Donna Maria Coleston-Shields, Michael Craven, Julie Gosling, Julia A. Garde, Ben Salter, Michaelle Bosse, Ingeborg Griffioen

This paper reports on the development of a mindful interdisciplinary design methodology in the context of the MinD project research into designing for and with people with dementia, which takes the particular focus on supporting the subjective well-being and self-empowerment of people with early to mid-stage dementia in social context. Existing research is for the most part focused on functional support and safe-keeping from the perspective of the carer. References to decision-making and empowerment are predominantly related to action planning for dementia care or advance care planning. References to care and social interaction show that caregivers tend to take a deficit-oriented perspective, and occupation of people with dementia is often associated with doing “something” with little focus on the meaningfulness of the activity. Furthermore, caregivers and people with dementia tend to differ in their perspectives, e.g. on assistive devices, which might offer support. The MinD project, has therefore developed an interdisciplinary co-design methodology in which the voices to people with dementia contribute to better understanding and developing mindful design solutions that support people with dementia with regard to their the subjective well-being and self-empowerment a well as meaningful and equitable social engagement. This paper discussed the design methodological framework and methods developed for the data collection and design development phases of the project, and their rationale. It thus makes a contribution to interdisciplinary methodologies in the area of design for health.

Assessing a Rehabilitation Living Lab Research Project: The Meta-Analysis of an Inclusive Environment for People with Disabilities
• Tiiu Poldma, Sylvain Bertin, Sara Ahmed, Guylaine Le Dorze, Keiko Shikako-Thomas

This paper presents the results of a research based Living Lab experience, where people participate together as users, researchers, stakeholders and collaborators working to effect change to improve social inclusion and social participation for persons with functional difficulties. The Rehabilitation Living Lab in the Mall (RehabMall) transforms an urban shopping mall into an interdisciplinary, multi-sectorial research platform that supports multiple projects investigating what constitutes an accessible and inclusive environment for people with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities. We present an overview of the RehabMALL Living Lab, the contexts of the project and the project meta-analysis to present the salient issues emerging from the projects that were done. Grounded in a design research approach, and inspired by the Ecological Systems Theory of Bronfenbrenner (1979), the investigations conducted focus on subjective and inter-subjective experiences within understanding obstacles and facilitators that frame how people experience going to the mall, and how the physical, cognitive and virtual environments that support these activities might be better served. Disability is defined within the framework of the “World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning.” The overview of the project is presented with particular attention to the various collaborations and partnerships created alongside the issues that emerge in terms of results, and how people might be better served when public spaces are designed with their input and within a perspective of universal design.

 

Design Discourse on Culture and Society

Published 22 May 2019

Just as the term design has been going through change, growth and expansion of meaning, and interpretation in practice and education – the same can be said for design research. The traditional boundaries of design are dissolving and connections are being established with other fields at an exponential rate. Based on the proceedings from the IASDR 2017 Conference, Re:Research is an edited collection that showcases a curated selection of 83 papers – just over half of the works presented at the conference. With topics ranging from the introduction of design in the primary education sector to designing information for Artificial Intelligence systems, this book collection demonstrates the diverse perspectives of design and design research. Divided into seven thematic volumes, this collection maps out where the field of design research is now.

Cultura: A Communication Toolkit for Designers to Gain Empathic Insights Across Cultural Boundaries

    - Chen Hao, Annemiek van Boeijen, Pieter Jan Stappers

 

Designing successful products and services that people like requires an understanding of the context and the aspirations of those people. Over the past decade, a range of methods has been developed to help designers gain such empathy. These have worked well when designer and target user share a cultural context. However, designers often find it difficult to empathize with the user insights of individuals from a culture beyond their first-hand experience. To help designers step beyond this limitation, those user insights need to be placed in a larger understanding of the cultural context. In this paper, we present Cultura: a toolkit that uses nine cultural aspects based on cultural models, informing designers about user insights in a broader cultural context. The toolkit was evaluated in design sessions with four design teams. The findings indicate that Cultura provides inspiration and motivation for designers to gain empathic insights into users beyond their own cultural boundaries and to make effective designs for people.

 

Graphic Designers as Cultural Innovators: Case Studies of Henry Steiner and Kan Tai Keung

•       Tian Yao, Ilpo Koskinen

 

It is common to see graphic design copies of foreign models or other Chinese designers. These designers are apathetic toward the work and neglect its ongoing challenges, including the need for constant innovation. In contrast, there are masters who use Chinese culture in creative ways and achieve outstanding reputations all over the world. The reasons design masters choose Chinese culture as a theme for their graphic work and the unique ways in which they symbolize cultural resources and knowledge are explored and explained in this study. This study also illustrates how traditional culture can become a potential innovative strategy by applying a systematic and culture-based methodology. The case studies presented concern the first generation of graphic designers in Hong Kong: Henry Steiner and Kan Tai Keung. The preliminary results of the two case studies show very positive outcomes for cultural interpretation becoming a new innovative stream of graphic design.

 

Cultural Differences in Aesthetic Preferences: Does Product-to-Context Match Matter?

•       Tseng-Ping Chiu, Carolyn Yoon, Shinobu Kitayama, Colleen Seifert

 

Western cultures focus on salient objects and use categorization for purposes of organizing the environment (an analytic view), whereas, East Asians cultures focus more holistically on relationships and similarities among objects when organizing the environment (a holistic view). Previous research has shown that cognitive approaches differ between cultures: European Americans prefer an analytic style, and East Asians tend to use a holistic style. However, little is known about how cultural differences in cognition relate to aesthetic preferences. In this paper, we explored whether cultural differences arise in preferences for products set in matching vs. mismatching contexts. Participants in a laboratory experiment included European Americans and East Asians. Individually, they viewed images of a variety of furniture products (chairs, coffee tables and floor lamps) and rated their aesthetic appeal. Each product type appeared in three different contexts: matching (target product shown in its usual in-home context); mismatched (target product shown in an unusual in-home context) and neutral (the target product shown on a white background). For both cultural groups, products were judged to be more aesthetically pleasing in the matching than in the mismatched context. However, ratings for products in mismatching contexts were significantly higher among East Asians. Our findings suggest that those with holistic views (East Asians) are more tolerant of mismatches than are those with more analytic views (European Americans). The implications for product and marketing design include greater attention to context presentation.

 

Discourses on Japanese Lifestyle in Early Modern Design: A Turning Point from Westernization to Modern Design

•       Yoshimune Ishikawa

 

Low-seated chairs for tatami mats that are characteristic of Japanese-style interior appeared after late 1940s. This article focuses on the ambivalence between Western lifestyles and Japanese lifestyles by tracing the comments of designers, critics, magazines and so forth to clarify a background of them. The introduction of chairs in Japan was actually involved, by definition, in a dichotomy between sitting on the floor and in chairs, which therefore was far from the domestic practicality of lifestyles among the public. Then we have to observe the two points for the introduction of chairs to break through this rigid situation: (1) how did the public establish definition of chairs outside the Westernization? This article grasps the fact that the artisans and early designers accumulated their experience of producing chairs from scratch, through trial and error. (2) How did the relation between sitting on the floor and in chairs break out of the dichotomy, through ambivalence? This article focuses on the fact that the public enjoyed the physical relaxation offered by the mix of sitting on the floor and in chairs. This constituted the domestic practicality of chairs for the Japanese. Therefore, such experiences of making and using chairs can be summarized as the awakening of a universe in the distance between the floor and the seat-height of Western chairs. It was a new frontier for Japanese designers, and low-seated chairs were born in this space. This article concludes that it marked the transition from Westernization to Japanese modern design.

 

Using Practice-Led Industrial/Product Design Research to Explore Opportunities to Support Manufacturing-Related Enterprise in Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) Countries

•        Mark Evans, Timothy Whitehead

 

The profession of industrial/product design has the capacity to support wealth generation through a product-driven supply chain that extends across services that include manufacturing, distribution, sales and maintenance. Moving away from the more typical manufacturing approaches of developed countries, where the resources available to support designers employ advanced technologies and materials, this paper discusses an on-going UK Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project to explore ways in which industrial/product design can provide opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment in countries on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) List and receive Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). Through practice-lad research with participants from Uganda, Kenya, Indonesia and Turkey; industrial/product design educators/researchers/practitioners shared knowledge and expertise and engaged in creative activity to translate propositions into proposals with the potential for manufacture in each of the four countries. The findings, articulated product visualizations, indicate significant potential to support manufacturing in countries in a variety of levels of economic development by adding value to the packaging of traditional foods; integrating low-cost imported components to add value to indigenous crafts and materials; producing contemporary furniture designs using materials that can be considered as traditional materials; and employing unorthodox and unexpected materials.

 

Preserving Craft Heritage by Forging Rural–Urban Connections

•       Haodan Tan, Huaxin Wei, Eli Blevis

 

This study aims to explore the difficulties of preserving cultural heritage in rural areas and to inform better designs of computer systems to support such preservation. In this case study, we observed and documented craft cultures in three rural villages in China. Our methods include photo-ethnography, interview and observation. From analyzing various types of data, we were able to identify issues of cultural heritage preservation, including cultural identity and values. We propose a conceptual system design for an installation and software connecting rural craftspeople and people who appreciate crafts, as a means of fostering a mutual relationship of support and appreciation. We believe this relationship can help preserve cultural heritage in rural areas. Some of the system installation elements were prototyped in scale models. The paper’s primary contribution is the design field research, analysis of design field research and conceptualization.

 

Designing Language Learning for Migrant Workers’ Workplace Integration

•       Young-ae Hahn, Nyamsuren Gombodoo

 

The number of migrant workers in South Korea is on the rise, but their inadequate Korean language skills prevent them from being promoted at work, or fairly treated as respected members of the society. In this study, in collaboration with a government-authorized language educational facility for immigrants, the authors investigated (a) challenges in migrant workers’ Korean as a second language learning, and (b) design principles of lessons and learning materials specifically targeted to their needs. Student and teacher interview data confirmed that the workers’ limited time for study, weak motivation, Korean colleagues’ indifferent attitude and limited teaching resources at educational facilities are major barriers to achieving higher levels of linguistic skills. From the data, the authors identified four design principles: personalized content, community participation, portability of materials and micro learning modules. Informal lessons via Facebook, factory safety signs and portable writing drill booklets are designed as on-going experimentations of the principles.

 

Designing One-Flat Church as Small-Scale Community Space in Densely Populated Urban Environment to Perform Both Sacred and Contemporary Functions

•       Louis Poon Shek Wing

 

This research is based on the scenario in the context of Hong Kong, in which church has been built in densely populated urban environment restricted in flat space. The research objectives were: (1) firstly to investigate the relationship between theology and spatial design in Hong Kong Protestant church; (2) secondly, to analyze the issue of the lack of design with respect to sacred identity in the church of Hong Kong that leads to an unappealing and non-sacred appearance of Protestant church; (3) and finally, to establish theoretical standpoints on designing sacred space with contemporary quality without surrendering of the sacred identity. The aims of the research were to understand the influence of secularization to the rationale of church design and to generate an appropriate identity of church with a theoretical standpoint to serve the contemporary community effectively. In order to meet these objectives, the study comprised of a qualitative site observations of 171 churches, which provided comparative figures for the study of churches incorporated with design elements or no design elements. In Hong Kong approximately 775 one-flat churches, which are 66% of the total number of Protestant churches, are located in different layers of vertical space within this vertical city. When churches provide social services in the same limited space, the identity of church is surrendered to the need of the social community. This study endeavors to facilitate church design with the focus on the immanence quality in order to encounter the different spatial limitations in church design.

 

Design Dialogs as a Specific Mode of Communication: About the Ongoing Exploration of Solution Space

•       Terry van Dijk, Matthew Cook

 

Decision-making with respect to urban design is a particular arena where designerly modes of interaction are used, but placed in the specific context of coordination across a variation of actors. The planning literature that describes how urban design is included in decision-making is poorly connected to design literature. This paper laments this disconnection and shows where design theories reflect planning theories, and where they can further complement in order to create a richer understanding of urban planning.

 

Urban Planning in the Middle East: Analyzing Al-Tahrir Square as a Public–Political Space in Iraq

•       Rasha Al-Tameemi

 

Al-Tahrir Square, surrounded by commercial crowded streets, financial headquarters, and governmental institutions is one of the most iconic squares in Baghdad. It is part of daily life for many Iraqi people due to its central location, which is characterized by busy roads with honking cars. In this essay, I am going to explore Al-Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq as a venue of rebellion for Iraqi people. Since 2015, Iraqi people from diverse backgrounds have been gathering in the square to protest for their rights every Friday. It has been the site of many historical events in Iraq although it has been established as a social place. I will explore the sociopolitical significance of Al-Tahrir Square by connecting the history of the place with how it has been changed since 1961 when the Freedom Monument was first open to the public. The research addresses the urban landscape of Al-Tahrir Square and its transformation over time, taking into consideration the political issues that affect it. I will analyze policies and regulations that have discouraged people from gathering in the Square to prevent political threats to the government and suggest ways to create safer spaces and mixed used attractions, modify the natural landscape of Al-Ummah Garden to make it more connected to the Square, and revitalize the existing kaleidoscope for closer proximity to Tigris River.