Showing papers in "Design Journal in 2019"

Abstract: This paper responds to contemporary design contexts that frequently contain complex interdependencies of human and non-human actants. To adequately represent these perspectives requires a shift tow...

Abstract: This paper contributes by clearly identifying the shortcoming of design thinking as well as pinpointing where to begin in terms of achieving a more solid conceptualization of the concept. T...

Abstract: (2019). Creativity 4.0. Empowering creative process for digitally enhanced people. The Design Journal: Vol. 22, Running with Scissors: 13th International Conference of the European Academy of Design, Dundee, 10-12th April, 2019, edited by Louise Valentine, Joanna Bletcher and Leon Cruickshank, pp. 2119-2131.

Abstract: This paper aims to explore the mechanism of involving customers as designers and decision-makers in developing new product. This study describes results from in-depth case studies with three compan...

Abstract: The proposed research offers an integrated methodology fusing material-driven design process with biotechnological tools, to explore the potential of myceliumbased composites as sustainable alternatives in design and architecture applications. The ecological role of saprophytic fungi as organic matter decomposers in is recently harnessed to construct highly porous materials made with regional pruning waste bound by fungal mycelium. This study aims to establish a primary framework to imply mycelium composites in circular production scenarios. According to literature, the physio-mechanical performances of mycelium are affected by parameters such as substrate content, incubation conditions and fabrication process. Our study explores how substrate composition affect mycelium development and derivative material performance. The relations between visual, chemical, and physical properties of mycelium composites were inspected. Results indicate clear variance in material properties of assorted compositions tested. By altering these variables, myceliumbased composites can be inherently modified to suit diverse implications.

Abstract: This article aims to contrast positive interpretations of enterprise in creative work, which are characterised by freedom, autonomy and choice with less optimistic accounts of the nature of enterprise in the creative industries. By examining extant literature, it illustrates the entrepreneurial responses of designers to instable and dynamic market conditions. It charts how designers adapt to market forces by reconciling creative and commercial pressures, enhancing their labour mobility and commercialising their own labour potential. This article argues that designer’s normative feelings about their work enable them to reconcile the challenging aspects of their work.

Abstract: This paper investigates how non-experts perceive digital design, and which psychological dimensions are underlying this perception of design. It thus constructs a measurement instrument to analyse ...

Abstract: (2019). Addressing the Dialogue between Design, Sorting and Recycling in a Circular Economy. The Design Journal: Vol. 22, Running with Scissors: 13th International Conference of the European Academy of Design, Dundee, 10-12th April, 2019, edited by Louise Valentine, Joanna Bletcher and Leon Cruickshank, pp. 997-1013.

Abstract: Improving graphics education may begin with understanding best practices for providing, receiving, and improving formative feedback. Challenges related to anonymity, efficiency, and validity in pee...

Abstract: More organizations are adopting customer-centric innovation practices to increase business value; however, very little is known about the factors driving customer-centric innovation or the conditio...

Abstract: Since the turn of the century we see a renewed interest in the impact of hospital environments on children’s well-being. With policy largely built around adult assumptions, knowledge about these environments from young people’s perspectives is limited. Participatory visual research is considered helpful to explore people’s perspectives in other than solely verbal ways. Conducting it with children in sensitive and hard-to-enter contexts like hospital wards, however, poses important ethical questions. Discussions tend to contrast procedural ethics with ethics in the field, showing how the former are unfitted for this kind of research. This paper takes a more constructive approach by reflecting on what we can learn from these ethical encounters while preparing and conducting a pilot study. We argue that exploring, rather than closing, the experienced gap between design research and healthcare ethical protocols establishes a shared space of reflection that offers a stepping stone to link both.

Abstract: Traditional craft is often perceived as going against the flow of technological, economic and societal progress. However, emergent research is rediscovering the nature of craft and its potential fo...

Abstract: To stay within the planetary boundaries, we have to take responsibility, and this includes designers. This requires new perspectives on design. In this work, we focus on a co-design project with indigenous communities. Within such communities, indigenous knowledge is central. Indigenous knowledge acknowledges that the world is alive and that we, as humans, are merely a small part. Central in our approach is Sheehan's respectful design, which ensures a central place for indigenous knowledge in the design process. However, Sheehan's approach does not state in pragmatic terms how such a design approach can be achieved. Some of the co-design processes we engaged in led to respectful design spaces, others did not. This helped us to identify patterns of dynamics that are essential for respectful design. At the core of our findings lies the observation that in order to reach a respectful design space, in which indigenous knowledge is embedded, a shared dialogical space between community and designer is essential.

Abstract: This paper explores different approaches taken when ‘wearing two hats’; that of academic researcher and the industry entrepreneur. It considers the barriers and opportunities in combining these two roles in order to acquire new knowledge. To understand how future researchers could best do this and why this might be desirable, the paper presents Author1’s insights from field research experience; wearing both hats within a textile industry context. A literature review, reflective practice and an annotated portfolio method enabled the authors to identify three approaches – Divide, Switch and Blend. These form a model for researching with any two hats on: Divide entails wearing both hats separately on different occasions; Switch is wearing both hats but interchanging between the two on a single occasion; Blend is wearing both hats simultaneously. The authors conclude that fluidity between approaches and an understanding of the dominant hat is vital.

Abstract: Effective environmental risk management and risk reduction requires an inherently interdisciplinary and cross-sector approach to communication design. The challenging global impact of this area can only be addressed by increasing skills capacity in communication design across disciplines, a challenge which itself requires the design and delivery of new expert training. This paper reports on the design of and findings from an interdisciplinary, problem-based workshop to build risk communication skills, held at the World Bank’s Understanding Risk 2018 conference, Mexico City. The workshop combined high competence interdisciplinary participants (including designers) with detailed real-world scenarios in a 24-hour ‘pressure cooker’ working environment, designed by a team of interdisciplinary young professionals. The results show engagement from participants across the disciplines involved, who produced outcomes with a community education and user-centred focus. The workshop highlighted that more direct, critical, engagement from the design community is needed in educating about, and delivering, environmental risk communication.

Abstract: There is growing interest in service design to support transformation in mental healthcare. Early research in this area has shown some promising results, but has also revealed the contentious nature of this work. A better understanding of the complexity of design in mental health is needed to support the development of approaches that are appropriate for this context. As such, the aim of this paper is to examine areas of contention and related strategies employed when designing for mental health transformation. To realize this aim, a qualitative multiple case study of ten service design initiatives in mental health contexts was conducted. The analysis revealed five interconnected contentious issues: organizational constraints; ensuring meaningful participation; culture clashes; power dynamics; and systems approaches. These contentious issues are detailed and related strategies from various cases are put forward, providing a rich foundation for the ongoing development of service design approaches in mental health.

Abstract: (2019). Synthesizing Opposites: Technical Rationality and Pragmatism in Design. The Design Journal: Vol. 22, Running with Scissors: 13th International Conference of the European Academy of Design, Dundee, 10-12th April, 2019, edited by Louise Valentine, Joanna Bletcher and Leon Cruickshank, pp. 2031-2044.

Abstract: Architects today still rely heavily on intuition when attempting to handle more emotional, well-being-related design requests of clients. It seems that newly formed design demands present challenge...

Abstract: Increasingly universities are seeking to play a more active role in translating their fundamental scientific discoveries into large-scale, practical impact in the world. In the field of med...

Abstract: The paper explores protective equipment for work in extreme environments manifested in a proposal for a haptic feedback system for astronauts. It follows the thesis that the safety of astronauts wearing Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) suits, whether in space or on planetary surfaces, is connected to their ability to interact with their environments, their equipment and suits, and their coworkers. The project emphasises the use of new technologies to enhance the quality of said interactions. Focusing on manned exploration and construction activity in space, qualitative research methods are employed to gain an overview of the factors that dictate work in space, endeavours in design and architecture for space, and research into the ways humans interact with their surroundings. Lastly, a conceptual prototype was made to explore the possibilities of exploring a language of haptic feedback to complement other systems and to mediate the sensory filters imposed by the modern space suit.

Abstract: Systemic Design (SD) has demonstrated over the years the ability to create eco-opportunities for innovation in the manufacturing sector. Despite SD projects high value, the implementation of these complex projects is difficult, although this can boost local economies preventing waste creation to reach a sustainable local development. This research investigates the relationship between design, entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability, questioning how best support emerging businesses created by SD, and reflecting on the incubation services that are needed to develop eco-opportunities. To sustain this thesis is analysed a project for the textile industry developed by master students in SD under the framework of RETRACE European project for Piedmont Region (Italy), the area on which the SD research group is reflecting with policymakers. The result is the definition of guidelines to ease SD projects implementation and design a new Systemic Incubator for local eco-entrepreneurship, highlighting the strategic role of systemic design.

Abstract: This paper focuses on Gugging’s model of therapeutic care for mental illness. It introduces the constantly evolving concept of Gugging and its holistic methodology as a sustainable, humane, creative alternative to the predominant model currently adopted in Scotland. Primary research fieldwork is carried out through participation, residency and collaborative processes, in Austria. Gugging advocates an empathetic, person-centred model of healthcare connecting to principles of on-going design for mental health. The theme and concept of Gugging’s process underpins the exploratory nature and creative processes of Falling UP, which itself is a unique, holistic creative intervention, constantly evolving, adapted and honed through practice-based doctoral research; offering a radical rethink of how mental healthcare can be conceptualized and considered in Scotland. In this paper, both Gugging and Falling UP are presented as integral to the lead author’s ongoing recovery from mental illness and his ever-developing relationship to it.

Abstract: Although the concept of intuition is quite popular within design research today, it still needs to be thoroughly investigated. The paper in this sense aims to discuss the concept of intuition and e...

Abstract: (2019). Code Blue. Design and the Political/Resuscitating Civics. The Design Journal: Vol. 22, Running with Scissors: 13th International Conference of the European Academy of Design, Dundee, 10-12th April, 2019, edited by Louise Valentine, Joanna Bletcher and Leon Cruickshank, pp. 1333-1344.

Abstract: Collective activities such as crowdfunding, competitions, jams and hackathons are gaining more attention in innovation management. However, within the design domain such activities are often considered as a way for mass generation of ideas, rather than processes for developing proper design solutions. Information acquisition, gaining sufficient knowledge and generating feasible ideas are among the main challenges of collective design. In this study we applied three strategies of rapid design, informed participation, and knowledge sharing to overcome these challenges. During a one- week design hackathon, we conducted a collective design project in which three teams of participants conducted autoethnography research, shared their findings by an idea crowdsourcing platform, and tested their 3D printed prototypes with potential users. Although the tests showed efficiency of rapid design and informed participation strategy, we did not find knowledge sharing effective, mainly due to the absence of collaboration among teams.

Abstract: (2019). Design Education. University-industry collaboration, a case study. The Design Journal: Vol. 22, Running with Scissors: 13th International Conference of the European Academy of Design, Dundee, 10-12th April, 2019, edited by Louise Valentine, Joanna Bletcher and Leon Cruickshank, pp. 1317-1332.

Abstract: Despite accumulative social and technological innovation, the design industry continues to face significant obstacles when addressing issues of sustainability. Climate change and other systemic ecological problems demands shifts on an order of magnitude well beyond the trajectory of business-as-usual. I will argue that these complex problems require addressing the epistemological error in knowledge systems reproducing unsustainable designed worlds. Ecological literacy is a basis for nature-inspired design. Ecologically engaged knowledge must inform design strategies across the psychological, the social and the environmental domains. With the expansive three ecologies perspective, interventions at the intersection of design and economics can enable systems transitions. This theoretical work informs a framing of the current epoch in ways that create a foundation for the creation of regenerative, distributed and redirected design economies.

Abstract: The last decade has witnessed a demographic change on unprecedented scale - people are living longer and with more complex, long term conditions. This paper presents a programme which seeks to rethink how palliative and end of life care can be provided equitably, efficiently and sustainably for future generations. It explores the methodological approach undertaken by university researchers, to engage communities in conversations around a topic often seen as taboo. The community engagement focuses on understanding what is important to individuals in life, care, and end of life. A methodology, named the Life Cafe, has been developed to gather research in an informal manner within community groups and familiar environments. The Life Cafe comprises critical artefacts, activities and resources, co-developed with community members developed to answer the research questions. The Life Cafe has become a product that can be used across different services to establish what matters to individuals and enable difficult conversations.

Abstract: As humans migrate into cities, the opportunity for interactions between individuals and nature diminishes. Nature encounters in cities, are increasingly occurring in human managed wildlife areas e.g. city parks or reserves, offering a polarised perception of biodiversity. This alienation of nature is termed, by Robert M Pyle, as the ‘extinction of experience’. When people are no longer actively engaged in nature, a lack of awareness and knowledge towards local wildlife arises, resulting in demands to reconnect people to nature. The paper documents the Animal Diplomacy Bureau (ADB), a series of designed game experiments providing people with agency over their nature. The games offer means for players to gain in-depth knowledge about local wildlife purposes in city parks, whilst creating a platform to discuss their concerns about a ‘more-than human city’. The games use digital & non-digital roleplay envisioning alternate worlds, site and species- specific stories, a mix of cooperative and competitive group dynamics and in-depth discussions. The process opened up the agency for how players would approach the issue of engaging nature to provoke new design responses. The study developed a framework for playful and self-exploratory design approaches bridging people to nature. The game's methods were developed with expert peers, design led research and a series of public engagements. ADB's framework, transformed research tools into instruments of agency by giving players the knowledge to understand and be directly involved in the imagining of a more wildlife friendly city. The authors believe the lessons can be translated into other fields.

Abstract: Textile making is known to improve wellbeing (Vercillo, 2012; Kenning, 2015) and according to Yair (2011), group crafting activities can also produce multiple therapeutic, cognitive and social benefits. By engaging in group crafts with textiles, individuals can give, be active, learn, take notice and connect with others – all factors associated with wellbeing (Aked & Thomson, 2011). However, as a relatively new phenomenon (Kenning, 2015) this has not yet been analysed in detail using wellbeing scales or matrices. This paper discusses three textile-based craft workshops as case studies where wellbeing factors pertaining to social interaction and connectedness were observed and measured. Workshops weremeasured quantitatively using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) and qualitatively, through thematic analysis of conversation. Our results align with related works, demonstrating an overall increase in wellbeing following participation in textile crafting and explores new territory for wellbeing studies.