Digital Commons Network^™

Cultural Aspects Of Global Industrial Design, 'A Diversification Among Cultures'., Mohamad Zamzuri, Jan Lundberg

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Global industrial design principles have recently gained momentum as one viable method of producing useful, usable and desirable products. However, cultural diversification existing between countries seems to be a tall hurdle facing designers. In short, this cultural difference might prevent the object in question from being widely accepted across the world, although it may have been categorized as being “universal” for the purpose of increasing the profit margin of the company. Therefore, the problems associated with this area of design should be addressed and elucidated in research, to avoid cultural disagreement in the future in product design. The aim of …

Designing A Methods Platform For Design And Design Research., Hans Kaspar Hugentobler, Wolfgang Jonas, Detlef Rahe

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Because of well-known deficiencies in design processes, design has been driven into a mostly executing role within the strategic process of corporate and social value creation. As both a consequence and reason, design is usually not included in the front-end phase of new product development processes, communication and corporate design, and its connectivity to other disciplines is weak. Nevertheless, we (still) believe that theory and methods, or: a knowledge-supported approach, are able to improve the quality of the process and the outcomes of designing as well as design's connectivity with other disciplines.

Beyond Regularity: Questions Concerning Usefulness., Terry Rosenberg

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper advances a motion that ‘usefulness’ is a regularity (Foucault) that haunts the programme of design and severely restricts it. It will highlight the way design practice is, in the main, constrained by narrow determination of its use(s), generally, and notions of ‘usefulness’ in particular. It will move to explain the way that design(ing) is flattened ontologically by embedded notions of ‘usefulness’ and that these embedded notions have set for design and its discourse a deontic straitjacket. That is, a set of obligations and duties that set a regular delimitation of design and thus rigid intentions for outcomes in …

Disciplining Creativity: Neoliberalism And Design Education In New Zealand., Amanda Bill

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Two decades of educational reform in New Zealand have resulted in one of the most market-oriented regimes of higher education in the OECD. In this environment, enrolments in design and other creative degree courses that seem to provide an opportunity for individual expression and self-development have greatly increased. However, representatives of traditional industry sectors complain that there are hardly any jobs for these graduates, and little in the way of career paths. The situation thus seems to confound human capital approaches to education policy, in which tactics such as high fees and student loans are meant to exert a conservative …

User Preferences For Personalities Of Entertainment Robots According To The Users' Psychological Types., Sona Kwak, Myung-Suk Kim

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a design process for constructing personality of an entertainment robot based on psychological types, and investigate user preferences for robot personalities according to the users’ psychological types. In this study, four temperaments derived from 16 personality types in a psychological type indicator, MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), were applied to design the personality of an entertainment robot. The case study and experiment yielded several results. First, the major experimenters match reactions with robot temperaments. From this result, we could see that robot temperaments are useful guidelines to design the entertainment robot’s personality. …

Designing Embodied Expressions., Thomas Van Rompay

DRS Biennial Conference Series

An intriguing aspect of designed objects is their expressiveness. After all, perceiving objects as expressive comes most natural, but accounting for why an object is expressive is quite another thing. Oftentimes, an object’s expression may be seen as foremost motivated by social or cultural conventions. A hospital, for example, is recognized as being a hospital in part as the result of conventions defining what a hospital should look like. Upon nearing a big white building, brightly lighted from within and showing off many large windows, it doesn’t take too much effort to figure out the building’s purpose. However, next to …

Design As Change Agent., Carlos Teixeira

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The goal of this study is to discuss the roles and responsibilities of designers in the process of envisioning and promoting change in people’s every day lives. According to Heskett (2002), “design is one of the basic characteristics of what it is to be human, and an essential determinant of the quality of human life. It affects everyone in every detail of every aspect of what they do throughout each day. As such, it matters profoundly. Very few aspects of the material environment are incapable of improvement in some significant way by greater attention being paid to their design.” This …

Profiling The Designer: How Are The Design Professions Perceived?, T W Allan Whitfield, Gillian Smith

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper draws upon the results of two large-scale investigations into the public’s perceptions of the design professions. The first was a comparative study involving matched samples of Australians and South Koreans. Carried out within the framework of occupational prestige assessment (e.g. Daniel, 1983), it sought to position the design professions in terms of social standing relative to a range of other professions and occupations. It also provided a comparison of how designers perceived themselves against how the public perceived them (Chung and Whitfield, 1999; Whitfield and Smith, 2003). The second was the most extensive field survey so far undertaken …

Designerly Research: Towards Design's Own Research Paradigm., Fatina Saikaly

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design research draws on different research paradigms from both the sciences and the humanities. Two empirical works about design research at the doctoral level demonstrated the emergence of a research paradigm distinct from research in the sciences and the humanities. The first empirical work was a comparative study of ten Ph.D. programmes in design. The selected cases were from different geographical-cultural contexts. The study of each case was divided into three parts: the study of the programme, the study of a selected Ph.D. thesis and an interview with the coordinator of the programme or with a Ph.D. supervisor. The second …

The Panoramic Narrative And The Production Of Historical Consciousness: This Is Australia., Denise Whitehouse

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper takes a cross-disciplinary approach drawing on developments in Australian historical and cultural studies to investigate the role of design in the production of national cultures and more specifically the construction of colonising histories. It argues that in modern settler nations such as Australia, graphic design has had a significant role in the shaping of the public imagination of nationhood. This paper investigates the historical involvement of the graphic designer in constructing the visual vocabulary and communication strategies of the modern panoramic narrative and its origins in 1930s when business and government turned to modern design to bring aesthetic …

She's A Store, She's So Much More: Sportsgirl, The Brand And The Social Construction Of Young Women In 1960s Australia., Nanette Carter

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores the emergence of one of Australia's first youth fashion brands, beginning with the development of its original flagship store and its advertising in Melbourne newspapers in the 1960s. This analysis is in terms of how the brand was inserted within the national culture with regard to the social roles presented to young women and the broader social and economic changes of the period. It explores the way the Sportsgirl brand participated in constructing for young Australian women, their increasing identification as independent, adventurous and in charge of their own sexuality. In doing so, it seeks to draw …

Interpreting Graphic Design: Cultural Imaginaries And Social Productions., Raymond Donovan, Leong K Chan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Graphic design influences and shapes the production and interpretation of cultural information and visual knowledge. The Australian Socio-Graphic AIDS Project (AGAP) locates graphic design as a social process in the production of epidemic knowledge, applying a textual-visual analysis to the images and messages of public health prevention campaigns, including brochures, posters and videos. It documents the influence of government policies and community-sector ideologies in the formulation of safer sex campaigns: how campaigns shape public knowledge of the epidemic; how graphic images generate social meanings about the epidemic; and how cultural responses influence designers in a morally charged arena. The research …

Designing Transmutational Worlds In Game Space., Troy Innocent

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Digital games are often situated within interactive 3D spaces that create the feeling of being in ‘another world’. The limitations of realtime simulation make it necessary for compromises to made in the representation of game worlds – it is not possible to recreate every detail of ‘reality’ within these worlds. So, they are abstractions of reality that rely on the player’s mind to fill in the gaps. This paper looks at principles of world design for digital games in terms of the most significant elements needed to ‘create a world’ in the players mind. The player becomes the subject addressed …

The Big Brand: Designing A National Identity System. A New Australian Flag And Supporting Ensigns., Russell Kennedy

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The paper tests the Advance Australia National Flag in the context of an extended visual identity program. The colonial flag system used by the Britain to brand its empire has provided an insight into the possible implementation of any new Australian flag design. The flag of the colonising country assumes a position of dominance in the canton or first quarter. The individual symbol or badge of the colony is then positioned in the field (prominent back ground colour) of the flag. If it is important for Australia to retain its state flags then any new Australian flag design should consider …

Re-Viewing The Heart: Making Sense Of Building Babel., Dorita Hannah

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The 'Heart of PQ' was the central thematic exhibition in the 2003 Prague Quadrennial (a four yearly international exposition on stage design and theatre architecture) that focussed on the senses-in-performance. As a site-specific installation within the Middle Hall of Prague's Industrial Palace it sought to challenge, disrupt and eliminate the borders that traditionally exist in theatre, so new relationships could be explored between the body and the built. The notion of gathering performers from a number of continents and placing them in a shared space to explore the limits of built form and their own bodies is, on one hand, …

Inquiry And Research In Design: A Contribution To The Mapping Of The Discipline's Development., Dennis P Doordan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper distinguishes between inquiry and research as activities increasingly important to the design community but often confused. Based on a review of material published in the journal Design Issues during the past twenty years, it describes an emerging culture of inquiry that compliments the research culture of design now well established within the global design community. The author argues that both are essential for the development of a diverse, relevant and respected design presence in the contemporary world. Research is an activity directed to the solution of specific problems or the refinement of data and knowledge in discrete identifiable …

A P300-Based Brain-Computer Interface: Testing An Alternative Method Of Communication, Eric W. Sellers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study evaluates the effectiveness of a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) system that operates by detecting a P300 elicited by one of four randomly presented stimuli (i.e., YES, NO, PASS, END). Two groups of participants were tested. The first group included three ALS patients that varied in degree of disability, but all retained the ability to communicate; the second group included three Non-ALS controls. Each participant participated in ten experimental sessions during a period of approximately 6 weeks. Sessions were conducted either at the participant's home or in the lab. During each run the participant's task was to attend to …

Meeting Notes 2004-11-17 , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.

Women, War And Peace: Mobilizing For Security And Justice In The 21st Centruy, Noeleen Heyzer

Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series

Table of Contents:

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice--p.4.
Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series--p.6.
Biography--p.10.
Interview--p.12.
Introduction by Dr. Dee. Aker--p.24.
Lecture--p.27.
Questions and Answers--p.44.
Related Resources--p.52.
About the University of San Diego--p.58.

The Advocate (Vol. 2, Issue 6)

Student Newspaper (Amicus, Advocate...)

No abstract provided.

The London Coffee Bar 'Problem' Of The 1950s - An Eclectic Design Challenge To The Universalism Of Modernism., Matthew Partington

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In his 1957 article, ‘Shoes, Hair and Coffee’, Toni del Renzio identified London coffee bars as one of the places where, ‘a real and genuine popular modern architecture is being created, as outstanding and as anonymous as the gipsy baroque of the fairground used to be. It is in undeniable opposition to the timid, dull and understated pretentiousness that does duty for modern English architecture.' This paper will compare this description of a ‘genuine popular modern architecture’ with other articles about coffee bars in the design and architecture journals of the mid nineteen fifties4.

Embodied Interaction - Designing Beyond The Physical-Digital Divide., Pelle Ehn, Per Linde

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The physical and digital worlds are wide apart. Each has its own design professionals: product designers and human-computer interaction experts. However, as computers are becoming ubiquitous, embedded in our everyday objects and environments and embodied in the way we experience them in our everyday lives, this divide becomes problematic. This dilemma is accentuated by the parallel threat of demassification, the potential loss of material and social properties when artefacts become digital. In this paper we argue for embodied interaction as a useful stance for designing beyond this physical-digital divide. This term has been coined by Paul Dourish in the phenomenological …

Investigating The Nature Of Design Thinking., Kees Dorst

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Many of the problems we face in today’s society are extremely complicated; they tend to spans many different disciplines, to be ill-structured, and their solution requires a creative, solution focussed approach. In other words, many problems we face today are bearing an ever closer resemblance to design problems. This realisation has led to an extensive study into the possibilities of developing a ‘design methodology of the social sciences’, where fields such as ‘lawmaking’ and ‘the making of a curriculum ’, have been described in design-like terms, and supported by design methods [Heffen et al. 1999, Visscher-Voerman, 1999]). The solution of …

Romanticism Reinforced: The Construction Of Nature Through 'Green' Advertising And The Implications For Ecodesign., Marie Sierra

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper makes a critical assessment of the construction of nature through advertising. Like any other subject, the complex and rich subject of nature can be portrayed metaphorically. Due to its complexity, the idea of nature is often depicted obliquely in advertising, rather than through direct pictorial representation. There is fertile ground for this approach in the advertising of home appliances – particularly appliances designed to be ‘green’, or what is referred to in design culture as ‘ecodesign’.

Kinds Of Anthropomorphic Form., Carl Disalvo, Jodi Forlizzi, Francine Gemperle

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper is a report on ongoing basic design research into anthropomorphic forms in design. With this research, we are building a core of design knowledge to inform both design studies and design practice. Our intention is to present an understanding of anthropomorphic forms that can be used for the interpretation and critique of existing forms and provide guidance in the use of anthropomorphic forms in new products. Towards these ends we are interested in three fundamental questions; what are the kinds of anthropomorphic forms, how are anthropomorphic forms created, and how are anthropomorphic forms used. In this paper we …

Design How-To-Know: Towards A Domain-Specific Ontology., Frances Joseph

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The title of this paper implies a repositioning of the notion of ‘design know how’ as tacit knowledge developed through practical experience into a questioning of the identity and being of design. This is not to valorise one form of knowing (through practice) over another (through cognition), but to imply a certain fuzziness about the definition, purpose and meaning of design. While this paper addresses issues of design, ontology and computation in relation to certain philosophical and theoretical positions, it is important to emphasise that my engagement comes from a practical involvement and concern with ‘design problems’ arising from the …

A Comparative Study On Colors In Traditional Palaces Of Korea, China And Japan., Young-Soon Park, Hyun-Jung Lee, Eun-Jeong Kim

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The purpose of this study is to find out the characteristics of colors in the traditional palaces in Korea, China and Japan. The architectural skills of Korea and Japan were primarily originated from China, but the architectural forms and skills of three nations are very different from each other. Therefore it is very meaningful to study the characteristics of traditional architectures among three nations. It is to be noticed that the common characteristics of the three palaces were natural colors from their own environments and culture based on humanism. However the color styles were revealed very different from each other. …

Beyond Desktop Usability: Web Site Usability And Its Evaluation., Stephen Ar Scrivener, Chao-Yang Yang, Andrée Woodcock

DRS Biennial Conference Series

An Internet questionnaire survey was conducted in order to explore whether web users’ and web designers’ conceptions of usability differ, and whether these conceptions are encompassed within conventional HCI usability. The primary results of the survey were that: 1 The users and designers had different viewpoints. For example, the users wanted web sites that provide diverse functions and information, whereas the designers thought web sites should be designed thematically. Similarly, the users valued information content over visual design, the designers vice versa. 2 Usability goals, such as stickiness (i.e., a web site’s ability to engender user attachment to it), attractiveness …

The Use Of Prototypes In Pre-Development Activities., Chris Conley

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Prototypes are commonly used in design and development activities to help understand aspects of an emerging design before it is complete. The use of prototypes before development begins, however, is essentially non-existent. Why is this so? Are prototypes simply a method for those who design and develop tangible artefacts? In spite of their wide spread use and reports of beneficial impact, there is surprisingly little theory or principles of prototyping. This lack of prototyping theory and principles may be one reason prototypes are not considered for use in a wider variety of situations such as strategy development or product planning. …

Articulating Knowledge From The Vikings To The Digital Age: Designing Digital Artifacts In Research., Dagny Stuedahl, Andrew Morrison, Ole Smørdal

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper discusses the design approach for participatory design of digital systems and routines for qualitative, cultural-historical research and reconstruction of a Viking boat. The digital system involves recording, digitalizing, editing, categorizing and archiving audio-visual empirical material.The design work involves adaption of heterogeneous technologies to help the researcher in his methodological and analytical work. Concepts on negotiaton from actor-network theory and on activities are used to suggest theoretical approach for participatory design of heterogeneous systems in research.