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The paper aims to investigate how a tablet's design features, namely, its navigation design and visual appearance, influence users' enjoyment, concentration and control, when using tablets for problem-solving, and thereafter how their core flow experiences impact their perceived performance and efficiency with problem-solving.

This study uses a field survey approach to engage 87 participants in a decision sciences class to use eTextbooks and a few other associated educational apps including CourseSmart app for e-notes and highlighting, sketchbook app and a calculator app in tablets to resolve class problems at a large US university.

This study finds that the tablet's interface design features (navigation and visual appearance) make users engrossed in their problem-solving processes with perceived enjoyment, concentration and control. This, in turn, impacts their perceived performance and efficiency. Moreover, visual appearance plays the most significant role in arousing users' affective emotions (i.e. enjoyment), while interface navigation is crucial to engage users' deep concentration (i.e. cognition) and control for problem-solving.

Modern tablets are being used widely in various sectors. More in-depth user flow experience design associated with tablet use for problem-solving contexts should be further advocated in order to provide more engaging and meaningful flow experiences to users.

This study shows that the design of the tablet interface can engage users in problem-solving processes in both affective and cognitive ways. It provides valuable insights on tablet interface design for problem-solving.

There is a paucity of knowledge on how visual sensory cues impact consumers’ purchase behaviour and their satisfaction, especially in Ramadhan street food bazaar context. This study aims to investigate the effect of Muslim consumer’s visual sensory cues on Ramadhan street food purchase behaviour and satisfaction.

This study surveyed 367 Malaysian Muslim consumers to depict their purchase behaviour and satisfaction based on visual sensory cues during their visit to the Ramadhan street food bazaar.

The findings show that visual sensory evaluations of texture and appearance influence Ramadhan street food bazaar customers’ purchase behaviour. Meanwhile, visual cues of texture and taste of the street bazaar food significantly influenced satisfaction.

The result offers practice guidelines for small food operators to enhance their product placement and display to encourage consumer purchase behaviour. The findings highlight the importance of visual cues in foodservice businesses and how they affect consumers’ desire to consume Ramadhan street bazaar’s food products.

Paying attention to food presentation would allow the sellers to obtain customers’ attention and purchase intention. Subsequently, it allows the Ramadhan street bazaar food sellers to be more competitive and effective in their business operation techniques and services, eventually impacting their survivability and sustainability.

The contribution presented here is the development of the system for qualitative prediction of garment appearance quality. The starting point for designing such a system is a qualitative evaluation of garment appearance quality, based on the study of relation of fabric mechanical properties and achieved quality level of garment appearance, as well as the definition of elements of a system for qualitative evaluation of garment appearance quality level, i.e. its fit.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the influence of spokesperson appearance (visual congruence) and the sounds contained in a spokesperson’s name (verbal congruence) on consumer perceptions of spokesperson–product fit.

Two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 ensured that verbal congruence impacted perceptions of spokesperson–product fit. Experiment 2 compared the effect of verbal congruence versus traditional match-up (visual congruence) on perceptions of spokesperson–product fit. The mediating role of spokesperson–product fit on attitude towards the advertisement and the moderating role of need for cognition (NFC) was also tested.

Findings indicate that verbal congruence influences consumer perceptions of fit, regardless of visual congruence. Perceptions of spokesperson–product fit also act as mediators between visual and verbal congruence and attitude towards the advertisement. However, verbal congruence did not influence consumer perceptions of spokesperson–product fit when the NFC was low.

This research has implications for advertisers and brand managers considering the creation of a name for a non-celebrity spokesperson or the development of a brand/spokes-character. However, this research is limited, as it examines only male names.

This research shows that perceptions of spokesperson and product fit are not only influenced by spokesperson appearance (visual congruence) but also by spokesperson name (verbal congruence). This research also identifies limitations of the applicability of phonetic symbolism theory by identifying a condition under which phonetic symbolism (verbal congruence) exerts no effects on perceptions of spokesperson–product fit.

Visual and subjective methods for evaluation of surface appearance irregularity of chemically bonded nonwovens are compared. The image analysis system LUCIA is used for estimation of characteristics describing appearance. The analysis of subjective and objective estimates of surface appearance irregularity is realized by the coefficient of variation and by the ANOVA type model.

The literature on product design/development (PD) has attempted to understand the consumer but has not provided a comprehensive framework for product marketers and designers. Thus, this paper aims to compile and link the main topics in the literature on PD to create a foundation for strategic development in this field.

This research adopted a “fit-for-purpose” methodology, a cross-referencing method and a meta-narrative approach that are appropriate for reviewing studies in a field involving complex topics and areas in which the literature is still developing.

To enhance the quality of product development, there is a need for PD strategy based on a clear understanding of many factors: the consumer; the complex interrelations among a product’s values, dimensions and personalities; PD theories; and other related variables.

This study found that PD studies should concentrate more on codifying strategies to enhance product development success. This is particularly important in view of consumers’ varied and changeable tastes in the global market and the differing insights of product marketers and designers.

This comprehensive systematic review is a unique study that contributes to future business-to-consumer and business-to-business research by compiling scattered and hidden strategies, theories and variables in the PD/development literature.

The purpose of this paper is to compare a set of product specifications to evaluate appearance and performance characteristics of denim jeans at three price categories, and identify any relationships between price and product quality.

This research is as a quasi-experimental laboratory study. The product specifications of jeans are identified. Next, the appearance and performance characteristics of jeans are examined initially and after one and five repeated laundering cycles. The data are analyzed within and between each price category to identify any possible relationship between price and product quality.

The price category of jeans does not necessarily reflect different dimensions of product quality. Although higher priced jeans had superior product specifications and visual appearance, they did not show superior performance with respect to all elements of fit, durability, and color performance when these three factors were measured through laboratory testing.

The limitations of this study from a research perspective include a small sample size, gender-focused sample selection. and the focus on only three retail categories. These limitations impact the generalizability of the results but could serve as a basis for similar studies. The evaluated product quality attributes were limited to intrinsic/measurable characteristics. Future studies should consider the extrinsic attributes of quality, especially as they are related to consumer’s purchasing decision.

Retailers in moderate and budget price categories can benefit from educating consumers about the quality attributes of jeans that would ultimately influence their post-purchase experience and are not necessarily related to the product’s price category. Educators can use this information to assist in teaching students about the multiple dimensions of materials and assembly choices, and how this will impact their final products as they are learning the apparel product development process.

The focus of this study on the quantification of intrinsic product attributes is unique and provides measurable data for product evaluation by consumer researchers and industry. The results of this research identify the strengths and weaknesses in the appearance and performance characteristics of jeans in different price categories, and how those may affect consumers’ purchase intention.

This introductory chapter starts off by discussing the differences and interconnections of visual sociology and urban sociology in their quest to understand human settlements. It then moves to argue for expanding the focus to other disciplines that are equally geared toward researching aspects of the city in visual and multimodal ways, since the urban context cannot be studied comprehensively without engaging a multitude of disciplines and trying to make productive connections between them. The chapter continues with a concise overview and discussion of each of the contributions in this first of two volumes of “Visual and Multimodal Urban Sociology” in the “Research in Urban Sociology” series. These twin volumes explore multiple ways in which the city and city life may be approached, studied, and expressed through visual and multimodal means and methods, thereby as much as possible including sensory experiences other than those related to seeing and hearing. It concludes with drawing some contours and challenges of visual and multimodal urban studies and the critical role of technology in advancing this cross-disciplinary field of inquiry.

This paper presents hyper‐lib, a model for an electronic library. The hyper‐lib philosophy is based on reproducing the spatial environment of a physical library, in order to exploit users' knowledge of the physical domain in using the electronic system. In the library environment, rooms, shelves, books and services are reproduced by simulating a three‐dimensional environment, where the user can interact with a collection of documents as if he or she were in a physical library. In addition to the physical library features, the hyper‐lib introduces a number of new properties, which result from its non‐physical nature and allow some of the limitations of traditional libraries, such as availability of books and delivery time, to be overcome. The hyper‐lib books are available in electronic form, following the hyper‐book model, which is based on the book metaphor. A formal definition of the hyper‐lib model as a dynamic system is given. The hyper‐lib model is defined in terms of structural and functional components. Moreover, the functional behaviour, i.e. how the system evolves under the effects of the functional components, is presented. The library structural components include the book collection, the librarian, the access mechanisms etc. The functional aspect is indispensable for describing the use of a dynamic and interactive system. In particular, a number of operators, which represent user services, allow the user to change the system state. We distinguish among general services, which are offered in any room of the library, and specific services, which are specific to a particular object or room in the library, such as the librarian, the catalogues, the hyper‐books, the book shelves etc.

This study aims to report the development and experimental evaluation of three innovative corrosion-resistant modified epoxy coatings, namely, nanocomposite/toughened, self-healing and hybrid epoxy coatings, for application on steel substrates.

The corrosion resistance of these coatings was evaluated in a highly corrosive environment of salt fog spray for 2,500 h of exposure. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in sustained exposure to NaCl in a saturated Ca(OH)2 solution, rust creepage measurements at the location of scribe formed in the coatings and adhesion strength test were used to assess the performance of the innovative coatings. Commercially available marine-grade protective epoxy coatings were used as the reference coatings.

The test results showed that the modified epoxy coatings exhibited excellent corrosion resistance when exposed to an aggressive environment for extended periods. The EIS measurements, rust creepage measurements, pull-off strength and visual appearance of the aged modified–epoxy–coated specimens confirmed the enhanced corrosion resistance of the modified epoxy coatings.

Among the three types of modified coatings, the hybrid epoxy coating stands out to be the best performer.