Showing papers in "Design Journal in 2008"

Tools Facilitating Multi-sensory Product Design

Abstract: During user–product interactions, all sensory modalities are open to receive information. Therefore, sensory impressions obtained through hearing, seeing, touching, tasting and smelling may all contribute to the user's product experience. This paper gives an overview of tools that can help designers to determine and obtain the desired forms of sensory stimulation for their designs. We discuss these tools along four topics: sensitizing designers, sampling objects with sensory qualities, making and using sensory building blocks, and communicating with others. For each topic and each modality, multiple tools are discussed that can all contribute to a multi-sensory design approach. Using this approach provides designers with ideas for new product functionalities and new ways to provide sensory feedback during user–product interaction. In addition, it improves coherence in the experiences that their designs evoke.

National Design Strategies and Country Competitive Economic Advantage

Abstract: This paper investigates the association between economic competitiveness and the existence of strategies for the promotion of design in different countries It presents the findings of a survey that identified where design programmes, support schemes and national design policies have been adopted Conclusions are developed comparing this map of design strategies with countries' economic sophistication and geographical position Evidence shows that more advanced economies have been exploiting design as an asset for their economic advantage and for the international promotion of their image In contrast, developing countries – with very few exceptions – have disregarded design as a tool for economic and social development

Sustainable Design: A Critique of the Current Tripolar Model

Abstract: ‘Tripolar model’ here refers to the model, often also called ‘3 P model: Profit/Planet/People’ or ‘3 E model: Economics/Environment/Equity’, which is very widely used as the reference model for any project in sustainability, including sustainable design. The purpose of the paper is to present a critique of this tripolar model as it is structured and used. The research is based on the empirical evidence that too many projects based on this model have run into serious difficulties or have failed. The critique of the model is carried out in two steps. The first concludes that there is a lack of complex intelligence in handling the systemic logic of the model. The second shows that the anthropological foundations of the model are fallacious. A corrected version of the model follows, with a renaming of the three poles: comprehensive economics, social equity and human creativity. The new model is then discussed with regard to the so-called ‘social threefolding’ principles of philosopher Rudolf Steiner (...

Designers Dancing within Hierarchies: The Importance of Non-hierarchical Power for Design Integration and Implementation

Abstract: Organizations, in order to take advantage of the specific competence of designers, need to change their members' hierarchical thinking and notion of power. We introduce Mary Parker Follett's theoretical power discourse, developed in the 1920s, to demonstrate an alternative view of power to classical management thinking, and relate Follett's notion of power with the characteristics of designers' competence. We suggest that one reason for the practical complications of integrating design as a strategic resource may be due to the difficulties of doing creative work within a hierarchical organization. Instead, we propose that managers and designers together develop an appreciation for a circular response and for following ‘the law of the situation’.

A Theoretic Framework of Factors Influencing Fashion Design in Hong Kong

Abstract: The fashion and textiles industry in Hong Kong is going through a rapid transformation period from production to design servicing. By investigating the design theory and design process of Hong Kong fashion designers, this study aimed to find out how they reacted to this phenomenon. A quantitative research method was adopted in this study. A questionnaire survey with factor analysis and the principal components method of SPSS was carried out to investigate the design theory of Hong Kong fashion designers. The results of this study indicated the definition of good fashion design in which ‘design qualities', ‘market value’ and ‘brand image’ were the three most important attributes, dominating in the design theories of Hong Kong fashion designers when creating new fashion.

The Parody of the Motley Cadaver: Displaying the funeral of fashion

Abstract: This paper considers the ephemeral, fugitive nature of fashion in the context of documenting and presenting the history of design. Garments breaking down physically defy their original functions of wearability, the ideal image of attractiveness and overt display. Extending the ephemeral confronts issues about the very nature of fashion, the design ideas that relate to a time and place. I propose a parallel exhibition dialogue and witness experience, which considers the detritus. This approach would perhaps create a path leading away from the traditional vista of the museum spectacle or the department store gaze. Within this context the deterioration of a garment is read other than a conservation issue. The radical and irreversible changes that occur through decay propose a framework to consider design, the continuing breakdown creates a disorder that cannot be contained, one that symbolically challenges the authority of the museum itself.

Problems or Opportunities?: Overcoming the Mental Barrier for Socially Responsible Design in Turkey

Abstract: Although industrial designers located in newly industrialized countries share similar, if not heavier, social, economic and environmental problems with their counterparts in advanced countries, not all of them have been forthcoming with original ideas or solutions to deal with them. This has been the case in Turkey, and this article seeks to reveal possible reasons for the shortage. The article argues that the process of late-comer industrialization, and the particular nature of design education as part of the modernization of the country, created a mental barrier for the Turkish design community which prevented it from developing genuine concepts and approaches in dealing with the most prominent problems. However, due to changing internal and external dynamics – such as the opening up of Turkish industry and society to global influences, and the level of technological development achieved by Turkish industry, there are signs that the Turkish design community has started to overcome this mental ba...

Ergonomic Design Intervention In Manual Incense Sticks Manufacturing

Abstract: This study focused on the incense stick (known as agarbatti locally) manufacturers of Ahmedabad in the Gujarat state of India, with an eye to improving productivity and facilitating the occupational health and safety of the workers involved in this profession. There were incidences of work-related musculoskeletal disorders amongst the workers – 33 per cent of the study's respondents complained of pain in the lumbosacral segment of the spinal cord and 30 per cent reported pain in the upper arm at the end of the day's work. Based on the observations, four workstation prototypes were fabricated. Each was tested in the field by actual workers, as well as in the laboratory. Only after a prototype was accepted in principle by the users was the next prototype fabricated. Based on user feedback, the final prototype was produced which was capable of increasing productivity by approximately 15 per cent and reducing pain in different parts of the body; this was only after 15 days of user testing.

Cities and the Destruction of Human Identity

Abstract: The next 20 to 25 years will see unprecedented growth in the size and scale of our cities. The year 2007 marked the first time in history that those living in an urban context outnumbered those living in rural environments; by 2030 this will reach a staggering 5 billion (or 70 per cent) of the world's population. The world stands on the brink of cities facing societal collapse, chaos and conflict. Architecture has always been considered to reflect its political, economic, social and cultural context; nowhere is this more evident than within the city. A call to democratize environments in line with a new global political ethos seems to favour a notion of non-identity as our cities become increasingly homogenized to meet the needs of diverse populations. Conflict theory contends that protection of our human identity is so profound that a threat to that identity will lead to conflict. This raises concerns about the destruction of human identity within our cities and the inevitable conflict that this ...

The value of knowledge transfer collaborations to design academics

Abstract: This paper examines how knowledge is transferred when academics collaborate with commercial partners to practise product design. A number of knowledge transfer models are considered, ranging from state-assisted ones to individual consultancies. Since the interrelationship of knowledge, research, practice and commerce has been controversial, the paper first examines the theoretical issues involved. The case studies chosen to illustrate these issues involve a) a collaboration that began as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership and continued as an Innovation Fellowship, and b) a consultancy between academics and a local company. The conclusions drawn by this paper are that the principal benefit of knowledge transfer collaborations is to provide a mechanism for design academics to develop both skills and knowledge without which, they might only claim an impoverished understanding of design. The principal threat is that such personal enlightenment may not be communicable to others. The setting up of knowled...

Following Will-O’-The-Wisps and chasing ghosts : design-centred research, sustainability and the bottom line

Abstract: The development of design for sustainability is considered within a design-centred research approach. This form of investigative activity is of particular interest to the design disciplines and here it is distinguished from other types of design research and discussed in terms of its potential relevance and contribution in advancing material culture in more sustainable directions. As its name suggests, this emerging form of design research within academia focuses especially on the activity of designing, and is complemented by more traditional primary and secondary source research methods. However, in order to advance this type of research activity, particularly in the challenging area of design for sustainability, it is necessary, at least temporarily, to disconnect design from the bottom line in order to more freely explore new ideas and new possibilities. A basis for design-centred research is outlined and supplemented by examples from the author's own research experiences.

Objects for Peaceful Disordering: Indigenous Designs and Practices of Protest

Abstract: What do a piece of plumbing pipe, some wire netting, some adhesive tape, two loops of nylon webbing and a karabiner have in common? Nothing, until they are assembled in a design. In turn, the object these components comprise comes into being only with the presence of human beings. These are the components of a device known as a ‘lock-on’; some sundry objects that you would find at a builders' merchant and some people's bodies – peace activists pursuing non-violent direct action. Peace activists use lock-ons to join themselves together by the arms to enhance the power of their passive resistance. This paper identifies a number of theoretical approaches to objects of this sort. It is intended to initiate a discussion of the lock-on as an example of an ‘indigenous’ design that has appeared without designers, evolving as part of the practice of peace protest (Langrish, 2004).The paper concentrates on the sense of ‘practice’ that is found in the sociological study of culture, tracing its use in the wor...

Perception and Deception: How Quantity and Quality of Sensory Information Affect Users' Perception of Office Chairs

Abstract: This paper introduces an approach for designing products with added affective appeal. We first establish the necessity for such an approach, given the complexity of existing tools and methods, and the growing need to take into account users' affective preferences in the design process. Secondly, we expose the theoretical framework behind our approach, grounded in a transfer of tools from sensory evaluation to qualify and quantify a product's key attributes. We present the results of two studies that allowed us to assess and validate the approach by applying it to the preliminary design phase of an office chair for Steelcase, a leader in the office furniture industry. Office chairs were found to be useful vehicles as people have a prolonged and intimate sensory interaction with this product. A comparison of users' affective reactions to a group of office chairs in different sensory situations allowed us to assess the relative weight of each sense in the perception of the product. Critical product a...

Killer Products in the Market Ecosystem: The Role of Design in Killer Products

Abstract: There is an obvious analogy between market space and the ecosystem. In this analogy, products might be regarded as species, market success as natural selection and so on. The market space has its ‘invisible hand’ in the same way as there are natural forces beyond control of humanity and we watch it in awe just as we watch – and try to predict – evolutionary processes. But we are not helpless with regard to the former and design is our best tool to intervene the market forces.From this fertile analogy, this paper proposes to examine killer products, comparing them with the ‘killer weed’, Caulerpa taxifolia, a type of alga, generally used as aquarium ornamentation and accidentally released into the Mediterranean Sea. This seaweed prevents other plants from growing, leading to the nickname ‘killer algae’. Its success may be harmful to the ecosystem as a whole.In this paper, several killer products and technologies are investigated, including the iPod, IBM PC, QWERTY keyboard and digital cameras among...

Postwar Visions of Apocalypse and Architectural Culture: The Architectural Review's Turn to Ecology

Abstract: In the post-war era, Hubert de Cronin Hastings, the owner and editor (until 1971) of the English periodical The Architectural Review (AR), saw mankind facing its demise through its own scientific creation, the atom bomb. Hastings's editorial policies for the AR were very much influenced by the prospect of impending nuclear disaster during the Cold War and the decline of the British Empire in a world divided into the mandates of two superpowers. While the post-war period brought mistrust of the promise of emancipation through technology and science for those like Hastings, for others there was all the more reason to believe in these ideals with the dawning of a consumerist society and the development of pop culture. Within this cultural context AR aimed to develop and sustain an environmental culture as a holistic strategy in order to respond to planning problems. Targeting not only architects but local and national authorities as well as the ‘man on the street’, AR launched a series of campaigns t...