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1 – 10 of over 76000Sampsa Hyysalo and Mikael Johnson
“User” is the lingua franca term used across IT design, often critiqued for giving a reductionist portrayal of the human relationship with technologies. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
“User” is the lingua franca term used across IT design, often critiqued for giving a reductionist portrayal of the human relationship with technologies. The purpose of this paper is to argue that equating “user” with flesh and blood “people out there” is naïve. Not only that, it closes important options in conducting human-centered design.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conceptually elaborate a relational understanding of the user and integrate research findings on user representations found at the intersection of human-centered design and social studies of technology.
Findings
The user is best understood as a relational term that bridges between people out there and renditions of them relevant for design. A distinction between “user representations” and “engaged use” is a key distinction to clarify this further. Research to date demonstrates that R & D organizations have a wide range of user representations and positioning human-centered design to these would advance its likely yield.
Research limitations/implications
The strategic positioning of user studies and other human-centered design within R & D organizations is a growing research area that merits further research.
Practical implications
Descriptions of users would benefit from being more strategic in order to become viable amidst other design concerns. This can be aided by, for instance, visualizing the “users” that different fractions in the company rely on and compare these to the users indicated by human-centered design.
Originality/value
The paper makes an original reconceptualization of the user and integrates literature on user representations to open new options for conducting human-centered design.
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This paper proposes a bar‐system graph representation for structural topology optimization using a genetic algorithm (GA).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes a bar‐system graph representation for structural topology optimization using a genetic algorithm (GA).
Design/methodology/approach
Based on graph theory, a graph is first used to represent a skeletal structure consisting of joining paths in the design domain, each of which is represented by a chain subgraph with finite number of vertices. Based on the edges of this graph, a bar‐system representation is proposed to define all the bars and the resulting topology is obtained by mapping each bar with its corresponding thickness to the design domain which is discretized into a regular mesh. The design variables are thus reduced to the spatial distribution of the vertices and the thickness of each bar. This method combines the advantages of both continuum and ground structure optimization methods.
Findings
The overall procedure is applied to classical structural topology optimization problems and its good performance is illustrated in the numerical examples.
Originality/value
It is suggested that the present representation method is both physically meaningful and computationally effective in the framework of topological optimum design using GAs.
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Veronica Johansson and Jörgen Stenlund
Representations of time are commonly used to construct narratives in visualisations of data. However, since time is a value-laden concept, and no representation can provide a…
Abstract
Purpose
Representations of time are commonly used to construct narratives in visualisations of data. However, since time is a value-laden concept, and no representation can provide a full, objective account of “temporal reality”, they are also biased and political: reproducing and reinforcing certain views and values at the expense of alternative ones. This conceptual paper aims to explore expressions of temporal bias and politics in data visualisation, along with possibly mitigating user approaches and design strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents a theoretical framework rooted in a sociotechnical view of representations as biased and political, combined with perspectives from critical literacy, radical literacy and critical design. The framework provides a basis for discussion of various types and effects of temporal bias in visualisation. Empirical examples from previous research and public resources illustrate the arguments.
Findings
Four types of political effects of temporal bias in visualisations are presented, expressed as limitation of view, disregard of variation, oppression of social groups and misrepresentation of topic and suggest that appropriate critical and radical literacy approaches require users and designers to critique, contextualise, counter and cross beyond expressions of the same. Supporting critical design strategies involve the inclusion of multiple datasets and representations; broad access to flexible tools; and inclusive participation of marginalised groups.
Originality/value
The paper draws attention to a vital, yet little researched problem of temporal representation in visualisations of data. It offers a pioneering bridging of critical literacy, radical literacy and critical design and emphasises mutual rather than contradictory interests of the empirical sciences and humanities.
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Ahmet Hamurcu, Şebnem Timur and Kerem Rızvanoğlu
With the release of headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in 2016, fully immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has become available for industrial designers to represent…
Abstract
Purpose
With the release of headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in 2016, fully immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has become available for industrial designers to represent and communicate design ideas. However, how this development will affect industrial design education practice is not clear enough yet. The purpose of this study is to reveal and discuss the current status of using VR in industrial design education and potentials of it.
Design/methodology/approach
In the first part of the study, the use of computer technology in industrial design education and how VR can be positioned in the existing system is discussed by the acceptance of “design” as “representation”. In the second part, the literature review carried out to unveil and analyse the efforts for using VR in industrial design practice and education is presented. The results of the review are interpreted together with the design process in industrial design education.
Findings
VR has the potential for changing the operating ways of not only sketching, visualising, modelling, prototyping, presenting, demonstrating and evaluating design ideas, but also getting inspiration and collaborating in industrial design education. However, it is first necessary to solve the issue of how it will be integrated into industrial design education.
Originality/value
This paper presents the preliminary presumptions regarding the integration of VR into industrial design education that can contribute to future studies.
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R. Brahme and A. Mahdavi
It is important to provide building performance feedback to the designer as early as possible in the design process. However, many aspects of building performance are…
Abstract
It is important to provide building performance feedback to the designer as early as possible in the design process. However, many aspects of building performance are significantly affected by the design of the building’s technical systems (e.g., heating, airconditioning), which are typically configured in detail only in the later stages of design. The challenge is thus to find a method to use detailed simulation tools even during the early stages of design when values for many of the variables for the building’s technical systems are not yet available. In this paper, we demonstrate how this problem can be partially solved by use of differential representation for building and technical system, homology‐based automatic mapping of relevant information from the building to the technical system representation, and generative design agents which, with a minimal user‐input, can design and model the technical system. We conclude the paper with illustrative examples of detailed performance analysis of complex buildings and their heating, ventilation, and air‐conditioning systems, performed in early stages of design.
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This study investigated the design of three online public library catalogs in light of the cognitive ability and success of children ages five to eight.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the design of three online public library catalogs in light of the cognitive ability and success of children ages five to eight.
Methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental approach was employed to examine the influence of system design on children’s searching strategies and search success. Interviews were used to explore children’s rationale for using icons and taxonomies in the catalogs. Fifty one children from one public library participated in this study. Inferential statistics were utilized to whether significant differences existed between use of the catalogs and the children’s success in finding information.
Results
Use of images and text were helpful in searching the catalogs. Results of the ANOVA test indicated no significant difference among children’s searching success rates and the three catalogs. Additionally, the participants misidentified representations used in icons in all three catalogs and created valid search paths that did not produce results. There was a disconnect between the children’s cognitive abilities and the design representations of the three catalogs.
Limitations
The study took place in one location, thus one should not overgeneralize the findings. Use of assigned tasks may have affected children’s success rates. Children’s searching using printed cards of display screens from the three catalogs instead of real-time interaction with them is also a limitation.
Practical implications
Because of the children’s reliance on images, the choice of visual representations is crucial to successful searching. Interface designers should involve young users in the design of today’s online catalogs. They should also consider new forms of representations such as auditory icons, verbal mouse overs, and zooms.
Originality/value
In addition to addressing the need for research on young children’s information seeking and use of online catalogs in public libraries, this research focuses on the need for an additional layer of visual representation and highlights flaws in currently used catalog designs.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe the various movements from abstraction to actuality in the context of design, with particular reference to architecture, first in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the various movements from abstraction to actuality in the context of design, with particular reference to architecture, first in terms of the design process and second in terms of the interpretation of architecture by observers.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper focuses on the designers' use of forms of representation, such as drawings, with reference to the cybernetic understanding of conversation. This account is then used to discuss the representational properties of architecture itself and to relate this back to the design process.
Findings
It is argued that the forms of representation used by designers, such as drawings and physical models, have both abstract and actual properties and that this combination is important for their representational function. The ambiguity in the interpretation of drawings and models is not only useful in generating ideas but also appropriate given the ambiguity in the interpretation of the architecture they represent.
Originality/value
The division between the abstract (understood in terms of representation) and the actual is challenged. A connection is proposed between architecture itself as a form of representation and the representation used in its design.
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Senem Zeybekoglu and Hossein Sadri
Learning from traditional miniature painting and from recent studies on their modern and creative applications, the purpose of this paper is to identify the key qualifications of…
Abstract
Purpose
Learning from traditional miniature painting and from recent studies on their modern and creative applications, the purpose of this paper is to identify the key qualifications of miniature and possible ways for using miniature in urban design studios. Following discussions on the pedagogical and professional effects of using miniature in a design studio, the paper introduces De-Urban Design Studio’s philosophy and its experience in employing miniature as a way of representation as the case study.
Design/methodology/approach
Different from the urban design’s professional role which materialized in conventional architectural presentation, miniature appears as a representation way in the search for the appropriate media for the de-urban design’s activist model.
Findings
Expressing the philosophy of transition design and de-urbanization, and studying some of the miniatures produced in the De-Urban Design studio, this paper sheds light on the possibilities created by the usage of miniature in urban design studio as a communication medium in making the processes of design more inclusiveness, participatory and democratic.
Originality/value
The term miniatecture is used for the first time as a representation technique developed in the De-Urban Design Studio co-instructed by the authors of this paper.
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Jason Chong Lee, Shahtab Wahid, D. Scott McCrickard, C. M. Chewar and Ben Congleton
Decades of innovation in designing usable (and unusable) interfaces have resulted in a plethora of guidelines, usability methods, and other design tools. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Decades of innovation in designing usable (and unusable) interfaces have resulted in a plethora of guidelines, usability methods, and other design tools. The purpose of this research is to develop ways for novice developers to effectively leverage and contribute to the large and growing body of usability knowledge and methods.
Design/methodology/approach
This work presents the first extensive usage evaluation of an integrated design environment and knowledge management system, LINK‐UP. Key to this effort is the central design record (CDR), a design representation meant to prevent breakdowns occurring between design and evaluation phases.
Findings
The case study results show that a design knowledge IDE centered on the CDR can help novices make connections between requirements data, design representations and evaluation data and better understand how to leverage that information to improve designs.
Research limitations/implications
Future efforts are focusing on exploring the utility of this approach for practitioners—especially agile developers.
Practical implications
A useful process and toolset for teaching usability design to novice developers and students.
Originality/value
The CDR makes designs coherent and understandable, thus supporting a principled, guided development process critical for student developers.
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Paul A. Rodgers, Alastair C. Patterson and Derek R. Wilson
The actual success or failure of a product is measurable partiallyin terms of the commercial success of the organization producing it.Addresses how to estimate that success at the…
Abstract
The actual success or failure of a product is measurable partially in terms of the commercial success of the organization producing it. Addresses how to estimate that success at the concept stage of the design process, prior to detailed design, when there is not yet a physical artefact, and no definite knowledge of how the market will respond to it, but simply some representation of it, for example, design drawings and 3‐D models. Describes a method for approaching this problem by establishing attributes (in “user terms”) which a product must have to enable it to achieve success. Presents an example of a toothbrush, determines the measurable attributes required from this product and describes methods for their evaluation.
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