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A Control Based Approach To Artificial Design And Plan Generation, K. Alexiou, T. Zamenopoulos
A Control Based Approach To Artificial Design And Plan Generation, K. Alexiou, T. Zamenopoulos
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In this paper we discuss artificial plan designing as a research field that deals with the development and use of computational models to support the generation of design descriptions in architecture and urban planning. We discuss some crucial methodological issues and we present a model for artificial design generation based on learning control methodologies. The design problem is defined as a search for "coordinated" solutions (changes) that satisfy distributed domain requirements and views expressed by human or artificial agents. The model is simulated for a land use and layout plan design problem seen within the context of a hypothetical urban …
Understanding Design Iteration: Representations From An Empirical Study, R. S. Adams
Understanding Design Iteration: Representations From An Empirical Study, R. S. Adams
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Design is a cornerstone of the engineering profession and a prominent feature in how we educate engineers and accredit engineering programs. Design problems are often ambiguous, ill-structured, and may have multiple solutions. As a result, a designer’s understanding of the problem or possible solutions evolves through a process of iteration. Iteration is a symbolic feature in design models that represents a process of revisiting and resolving design conflicts. Although iteration is considered an integral part of design activity and a natural attribute of design competency, there is little research that explicitly operationalizes or represents iterative activity. The purpose of this …
The Rhetoric Of Research, M.A.R. Biggs
The Rhetoric Of Research, M.A.R. Biggs
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In 1993 Christopher Frayling, the Rector of the Royal College of Art in London, published an article about the nature of research in art and design. The present paper revisits his threefold distinction of "research-in art, research-through art and research-for art", and considers why Frayling found the third category to be problematic. The analytical methods used are linguistic (a constructionist approach to the rhetorical effect of construing various prepositions with "research"), and philosophical (a Wittgensteinian approach, distinguishing between socially agreed normative criteria, and non-normative indicators or symptoms). The paper argues that the instrumentality of terms such as "research" should be …
Developing A Method To Support Human Centered Designers In Forming Arguments: Intertwining Practice And Theory, M. Alrutz, B. Singer, T. Wahlig
Developing A Method To Support Human Centered Designers In Forming Arguments: Intertwining Practice And Theory, M. Alrutz, B. Singer, T. Wahlig
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper describes a design research project that was undertaken using a human-centered design approach. We first discuss why we believe our project combines an interesting mix of theory and practice. We then establish the locus of our research around one piece of the human-centered design process. To address a problem we call the “analysis-synthesis gap,” we present the Elito method as a solution. We then describe our process and results of testing a prototype of this new method. We conclude that our approach was one way of coming to rich conclusions about the theory and practice of the Elito …
A Very Strange Thing: Commodity Discourse In Cultural Theory And Design, P. Boradkar
A Very Strange Thing: Commodity Discourse In Cultural Theory And Design, P. Boradkar
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper attempts to bring to design dialogue an expanded meaning of the term “commodity” by revealing its presence and discussion in other disciplines via the writings of some of the predominant thinkers through history. Particularly germane to design are the notions of commodity fetishism and commodity aesthetics eloquently outlined in treatises by Karl Marx and Wolfgang Haug. Experiments in generating innovative forms largely perceived as imperative creative exercises in design are, according to Marxist thought, merely attempts to valorize capital. The redesign of product forms is labeled by Marxists as ‘aesthetic aging,’ and referred to as an activity with …
Barrier Free Bus Stop Design For Taipei Senior Citizens And Weaker Passengers, R. Chen, Z. Teng, K. Lee
Barrier Free Bus Stop Design For Taipei Senior Citizens And Weaker Passengers, R. Chen, Z. Teng, K. Lee
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The purpose of this project was to provide barrier free bus stops for Taipei senior citizens and passengers with traffic difficulties e.g. blind, deaf and people with moving problems. The improved solution of a barrier-free environment consists of three aspects, which are a waiting zone, an oncoming bus information and assistive devices for weaker passengers. This study began with the investigation of the present contextual situation of Taipei City bus transportation systems, by using methodologies of observation, interviews, and documentation of literature. In order to select the most effective solution, a well-defined Ranking and Weighting method was then developed to …
The Use Of The Internet By Architectural Practices In The Uk, M. Fedeski, B. Sidawi
The Use Of The Internet By Architectural Practices In The Uk, M. Fedeski, B. Sidawi
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Since its evolution in 1962, the Internet has provided new services for people and enriched their life and knowledge. Earlier research has shown that the architectural profession in the UK has lagged behind other businesses in adopting and using new technologies and is only slowly absorbing the new innovations brought by the Internet. This lag coincides with a slip in the architect's lead role in the design team. The research conducted at Cardiff University aims to examine how architectural practices are interacting with the Internet and to investigate any problems they are having in its use. Architectural practices in the …
An Interpretive Framework For Research On The History Of Materials, D. P. Doordan
An Interpretive Framework For Research On The History Of Materials, D. P. Doordan
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper describes an interpretive framework that can be applied to the history of materials in the modern era based on a triad of critical terms: fabrication, application and appreciation. Fabrication deals with the initial stages in the life cycle of materials. It refers to the extraction, refining and preparation of materials for initial use. Application deals with transformation of materials into products. Appreciation deals with the reception of materials by the entire community of users who come into contact with the material. In contrast to deterministic approaches to materials, the framework described here accepts the problematic nature of materiality …
Maple/D: A Systematic Method For The Architect Of The Future, M. Fendl
Maple/D: A Systematic Method For The Architect Of The Future, M. Fendl
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper presents a systematic method for architects of complex buildings tasks working in interdisciplinary groups called MAPLE/D Method of Architectural Planning and Design. MAPLE/D was developed within the framework of an extensive research project sponsored by the DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The concept of MAPLE/D is based on • the think tool of Creative Thinking which claims to separate and simultaneously combine analytical-theoretical and creative synthesising-practical tasks, • the combination of five developed models: the Scientific Criteria Model, the Stakeholder Model, the Issue Model, the Process Model and the Competency Model and • a number of methodological tools for the …
Automobile Instrument Panels For The Real World, D. Formosa
Automobile Instrument Panels For The Real World, D. Formosa
DRS Biennial Conference Series
A design research study was conducted to investigate a topic that many are calling an imminent crisis – the needs of older drivers. Undertaken in conjunction with the Ergonomics and Biomechanics Department at New York University and the Design Department at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, this study explores automobile instrument panel design and the driving capabilities of younger and older drivers. The study looks at the following factors pertinent to the design of instrument panels: 1) the affect of deterred visual attention on vehicle control. 2) drivers' abilities to reach for the instrument panel without looking. 3) …
Designing Within A Computer-Mediated-Communications Environment: A Current Investigation., J. Fraser
Designing Within A Computer-Mediated-Communications Environment: A Current Investigation., J. Fraser
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper describes ongoing research that is located within the context of the changing culture of the design classroom and the rapid growth in the exploitation of telecommunication networks on teaching and learning. The research investigates the use of ICT for international collaboration in the design classroom and the implications this might have for design curriculum development. Design education could benefit from the 'added value' of communication technology as could design students from being exposed to cross-cultural and international perspectives. If developing technology is to impact successfully on educational design practice then design teachers need to adopt a professional attitude …
Theory Construction In Design Research. Criteria, Approaches, And Methods., K. Friedman
Theory Construction In Design Research. Criteria, Approaches, And Methods., K. Friedman
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Design involves creating something new or transforming a less desirable situation to a preferred situation. To do this, designers must know how things work and why. Understanding how things work and why requires explanation, and it sometimes requires prediction. To explain and predict, we must construct and test theories. Theories are propositions or sets of propositions that allow us to analyze or explain subjects. Some theories are complex and sophisticated. Others are simple. Theory can be described in many ways. In its most basic form, a theory is a model. It is an illustration describing how something works by showing …
An Innovative Approach To The Aesthetic Design, F. Giannini, M. Monti
An Innovative Approach To The Aesthetic Design, F. Giannini, M. Monti
DRS Biennial Conference Series
As the aesthetic aspect of a product is becoming more and more important in customers' decisions, there is an increasing need of tools able to express and preserve the styling intent during the product development cycle, while offering an interaction with the user much more adherent to his mentality. The European Project FIORES-II (Character Preservation and Modelling in Aesthetic and Engineering Design) is aimed at creating innovative CAD tools capable to capture and preserve the product aesthetic character and make it accessible in a multi criteria approach for styling and engineering design optimisation. In order to explore the possible relationships …
Product Charisma, J. Gotzsch
Product Charisma, J. Gotzsch
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Consumers are attracted by product designs that feel “alive” and that contain surprise elements. Meaningful product attributes are an important way to differentiate a product from the competitor’s products. Companies in mature markets, especially, have a competitive advantage when they succeed in integrating this “emotional value” or “experience” into the product design. This paper presents a classification of the various messages that a product can convey. The different product messages are visualised by means of a schema in which three groups of messages are distinguished. These three groups consist of messages about the product itself, about the company and about …
Folding, Blending And Implicate Order: Reconceptualisation In Design Education, A. Howe, P. Dillon
Folding, Blending And Implicate Order: Reconceptualisation In Design Education, A. Howe, P. Dillon
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In this paper we consider some of the rich body of work of the mathematician, quantum physicist and thinker David Bohm. Bohm’s ideas have both direct and tangential relevance to design. We review Bohm’s notions of implicate and explicate order as metaphors for the totality of design and the relationship of its parts. There are parallels with initial inception and then realisation through the subsequent stages of design. If one starts with Bohm’s position that the universe has an implicate order, then design is one way of unfolding that order to make it explicate. Design ideas are enfolded around us …
Comparison Between Communication Instruments For People With Speech Impediments And The Efficiency Of Gui Environments, J-S. Jang
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Communication is a basic desire for all humankind, and it is believed that no special groups should suffer from a cultural lag in communication. This study focuses on special groups like people with an acoustic disturbance, and those with a normal sense of hearing who are able only to communicate through sign and finger languages. Among the major difficulties encountered during communication, there were individual differences in the understanding of texts and in the expressive method of gestures. To solve these basic problems, this study largely consisted of three stages. Firstly, the illustrations used in the sign and finger language …
A Study In Making A Software Development Process Visual, S. Kim
A Study In Making A Software Development Process Visual, S. Kim
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Recently, it has been more important for software designers to do the part in developing usercentered software. They produce visual document to help communication among developers. Visual diagram to analyze user need factors is based on user scenario. Case study of distributed virtualreality services in architectural process can show a sample of developing process visually. It is important to produce visual document of one combined opinion among developers in process of defining development boundary, developing main concept, and selecting development system. Visual document created by software designer is a step to recognize design factors in the process of collecting design …
Common Ground - A Product Or A Process?, W. Jonas
Common Ground - A Product Or A Process?, W. Jonas
DRS Biennial Conference Series
What does the Common Ground metaphor mean: solid rock, fertile soil, or swampy lowlands? Are we mapping the terrain or are we just constructing it because it would be comfortable to have one? We are in a historical moment, 40 years after the first conference on design methods, initiating the short “design science decade”, when other disciplines realize the fragile, fluid, historical character of their “grounds”. On the lists and in conferences there are fierce debates, yet mainly concerning details of the respective positions. On the other hand ambitious perspectives are proclaimed, without being rooted in the community. Contributions reveal …
Deciphering Myths In Design: Towards Restoring The Materiality Of The Object Through The Technique Of Re-Sketching, A. Kurtgözü
Deciphering Myths In Design: Towards Restoring The Materiality Of The Object Through The Technique Of Re-Sketching, A. Kurtgözü
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Architecture or Revolution. Revolution can be avoided. Le Corbusier
Distributed Design Teams: Embedded One-On-One Conversations In One-To-Many, A. Larsson, P. Törlind, A. Mabogunje, A. Milne
Distributed Design Teams: Embedded One-On-One Conversations In One-To-Many, A. Larsson, P. Törlind, A. Mabogunje, A. Milne
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Engineering design is fundamentally social, requiring a lot of interaction and communication between the people involved. Additionally, good design often relies upon the ability of a crossfunctional team to create a shared understanding of the task, the process and the respective roles of its members. The negotiation and bargaining for common ground are essential in the design process. It is important to provide tools and methods so that also geographically distributed design teams are given the opportunity to engage in such social interactions. This paper presents a study of interpersonal communication within the Distributed Team Innovation (DTI) framework; a joint …
Building On Virtual Common Ground: Design Participation For The Network Age, S. Little, A. Ando
Building On Virtual Common Ground: Design Participation For The Network Age, S. Little, A. Ando
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper describes a set of action research initiatives intended to disseminate the technical skills necessary to participation in an increasingly globalised design discourse. It starts by examining the shifting relationship between design, production and consumption triggered by globalisation. An account of partnerships between a network of “experts” and a range of “users” follows. This is premised on the use of available infrastructure and the sharing of modest technical skills. This has allowed partners in peripheral locations to embark on the more rewarding process of social learning and exploration of available ICTs without first having to climb a steep technical …
Intervention Strategies For Alleviating Problems In International Co-Operative Design Projects, L-C. Lee, A. Woodcock, S.A.R. Scrivener
Intervention Strategies For Alleviating Problems In International Co-Operative Design Projects, L-C. Lee, A. Woodcock, S.A.R. Scrivener
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Small design teams engaged on co-operative work in the international arena typically find themselves beset by problems relating to time schedules, inadequate briefs, information flow and communication, project management, language and cultural issues. Such problems, when arising in projects of short duration, and not having the benefits of dedicated management, may increase project length, decrease the efficiency and satisfaction of project members (and reduce their willingness to participate in such ventures again) and reduce the extent to which the finished design meets the initial requirements. This paper outlines a series of low cost, high impact intervention strategies to assist design …
Are ‘The Reflective Practitioner’ And ‘Learning Cycles’ Suitable Foundations For Theories About Designing And Design Cognition, T. Love
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper challenges the use of the concepts ‘reflective practice’ and ‘learning cycles’ as a basis for analysing designing, for building coherent theories about human designing, and for developing design methodologies. It develops the argument via two paths: a review of the original formulation of the concepts of ‘reflective practice/practitioners’ and ‘learning cycles’; and an analysis of the implications of recent findings in the areas of brain and neurology research for building theories about designing. The paper suggests researchers have over extended the use of the reflective practice and learning cycle concepts: concepts that were devised as relatively coarse structural …
The Aesthetic Of Precision In Virtual Design What Are The Implications Of Precision In The Use Of Computers In The Modelling Of Architecture And Interior Design?, T. Loveday
DRS Biennial Conference Series
It is suspected in design education, that the use of computer representations of design, especially 3D modelling, tends to limit design outcomes in some ways while at the same time appearing to offer greater opportunities to explore new ideas in others. Virtual space in design becomes a province of isolation, often noted for its limited view of design. Precision itself is a style of argument (rhetoric) for design, conventionally accepted in such pictures as working drawings. The precision of the drawing itself is denied in order to make way for precision in the concept. The return of the æsthetic of …
A ‘Social Model’ Of Design: Issues Of Practice And Research, V. Margolin, S. Margolin
A ‘Social Model’ Of Design: Issues Of Practice And Research, V. Margolin, S. Margolin
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Compared to the “market model,” little theorizing has been done to produce a model of design for social need. This paper discusses a process of social service intervention that can address the product needs of vulnerable populations. This process follows a problem-solving approach whereby a professional or professional team works collaboratively with clients to improve their quality of life. A number of options for how product designers might work with such an intervention team are explored. The authors then outline a program of research. A multi-faceted approach to address questions related to social design would include survey research and interviews, …
A Product Design Process Model That Can Redefine Business Strategies, D-B. Luh
A Product Design Process Model That Can Redefine Business Strategies, D-B. Luh
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Manzini pointed out that “traditionally, ideas follow organizations; in the future, organizations follow ideas.” In a highly competing business environment, a company’s innovation capability defines its sustainability and good new product ideas are a key ingredient to company success. Industrial design deals mainly with new product development, in which innovation ideas are central. Designers view themselves as idea creators. But, why should future organizations follow the ideas proposed by designers? If designers’ ideas are to be followed by organizations, then a different design process thinking that can redefine company goals or suggest different business strategies is necessary. As a response, …
A Research Into The Thinking Modes In Creative Design Process, Y. Nagai, H. Noguchi
A Research Into The Thinking Modes In Creative Design Process, Y. Nagai, H. Noguchi
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The authors made four design experiments to know how student designers create design solutions in translating goal description to its visual form. Firstly, in experiment 1 and 2, several thinking types were found in the sketches of the subjects, and then confirmed that they could sum up to two thinking modes (Metaphor mode and Form-making mode) depending on the difficulty in translating the goal description to its visual form. In experiment 3, it was found that the subjects took varied ways with changing thinking modes to reach final sketches depending on the difficulties of goal descriptions. Lastly, in experiment 4, …
Verbal Language And Sketching, T. Y. Pan, R. M. Newman, S. Porter, M. Tovey
Verbal Language And Sketching, T. Y. Pan, R. M. Newman, S. Porter, M. Tovey
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper attempts to identify designers’ sketches in different forms for a classification system by use of verbal language. Designers have a creative vocabulary, which has rich meanings in design communication. This study was carried out with the cooperation of 11 academic staff in the domain of industrial design. It was concluded that none of verbal language was found descriptive enough for the purpose of separating sketches into different forms to support a classification system. While this study has not produced a possible means for classification of sketches using verbal language, the methodology employed has proved interesting for future investigative …
Developing Design Research: The Study Of Research As A Tool For Research, S. Pizzocaro
Developing Design Research: The Study Of Research As A Tool For Research, S. Pizzocaro
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper will propose that learning - as occurring in all those circumstances whereby agents have an uncompleted understanding of the context in which they operate - has been an effective driving force that has characterised the reflection on design research itself. Some “forms of research” as “forms of learning” acquire even greater importance in those evolutionary environments - intended in the most generic terms - where heterogeneous agents display different forms of rationality, where there is a persistent appearance of novelties deriving from technological, behavioural and organisational innovations driven by the agents themselves, where out-of-equilibrium interactions may frequently occur …
General Strategic Knowledge Models And Their Interaction With Domain-Specific Knowledge In Design, V. Popovic
General Strategic Knowledge Models And Their Interaction With Domain-Specific Knowledge In Design, V. Popovic
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This research concentrates on the modelling of general process knowledge that is understood to be represented as a common strategic knowledge relevant to the various design domains, such as product and information design. Its objective is to illustrate the connections between general knowledge and strategies and how they interact with the domain–specific design knowledge. The knowledge identification in this research is based on the study of designers' sketches generated during the early stage (conceptual stage) of the design process. The applications of general and goal–limited strategies are analysed and compared within the domain of product design and information design.The findings …