Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

The Domestic Cooking Appliance: A Fundamental Re-Evaluation., Selby Coxon

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Central to this papers discussion is that a proliferation in kitchen ‘gadgetry’ has led to kitchen benches crowded with appliances: toasters, kettles, rice cookers, bread makers, electric woks and sundry objects that jostle for short-lived fashionable supremacy. Coinciding with this consumerism has been a rapid expansion in dietary choice. A wide range of food is available to the western palate that would have been unheard of a generation ago. Multiculturalism in countries, especially Australia, has led to the broadening of culinary tastes and with that a diversity of cooking techniques. Outside these culinary changes family and domestic structures are evolving. …

Hermeneutics And Cross-Cultural Design: Reflections On Community Consultation And Collaboration By Designers In Fairfield, Sydney., Susan Stewart

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper looks at design as cultural activity and cultural production. Specifically, it looks at design of the built-environment within the context of culturally diverse communities, especially those communities within which both recent migrants and more established residents are in the process of negotiating new, cross-cultural, local identities. What is the role of the designer within such contexts? As bearer of an authoritative western professional tradition, the designer is a powerful figure within any cross-cultural negotiation. Where do the responsibilities of such professionals lie? Traditionally the answers to such questions have been guided by conceptions of the designer as either …

Questioning Understanding: The Cultural Perception Of Visual Communication By Recent Immigrants To The U.S., Patricia Boman

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This research project documents the cultural perceptions and general comprehension of recent U.S. immigrants (immigrated within last 3 years) to visual communication designed to market a product or service. During interviews, participants will share their understanding of a variety of visual communication including: product advertisements, marketing brochures, packaging, and multimedia related to specific products and services ranging in quality and type from ordinary to luxury. Interview questions include but are not limited to the following: What does each example communicate to them? What do they think is the key idea or message of the example? Do they have a positive …

Bathing The Dog: Research-Based Practice At The Experimental Nexus Of Art And Design., Darragh O'Brien, Jo Dane

DRS Biennial Conference Series

There is much academic debate on the idea of design practice as research; Dickey (2002), for example, refers to research as “a fact-based activity” and design practice as “a series of subjective commitments”. Langer (1942) suggests that although objects may express ideas, those ideas are not presented as a legitimate form of language, thus cannot be compared with the discursive properties of the written word. For over fifty years, such comments have polarized academic opinion, suggesting that research and design practice are somehow mutually exclusive. The intention of this paper is to examine design research as a liminal pursuit where …

New Knowledge In Design: A Hermeneutic Perspective On Design Activity And The Production Of Knowledge., Sally Mclaughlin

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Most definitions of research refer to the concept of adding to, or developing, the knowledge of a domain. Activities and outcomes are recognised as research based on assumptions about what constitutes knowledge. The relationship of design to the production of knowledge can be problematic if we adopt what Heidegger referred to as a metaphysical view of the world. From a metaphysical point of view the scientist is a finder, a discoverer, while the designer is primarily a maker. The scientist uncovers truths about the world that complement existing representations of reality. The maker, on the other hand, applies knowledge and …

Incorporating Research Into Master Of Industrial Design Projects And Theses: Six Students With Six Design Research Paths., Lorraine Justice

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper serves the purpose of providing an overview of six graduate students projects and theses that incorporated traditional research methods throughout their learning process. An overview of the Master of Industrial Design Program is provided in order to understand how their studies are couched and regulated. The six students whose work is presented represent the varied paths and processes an individualized Master’s degree with design research takes. Following these project overviews are recommendations for those who are working to incorporate research methods into their design curriculum, and for those who want to prepare Masters students for doctoral studies in …

Indigenous Knowledge And Visual Philosophy., Norm Sheehan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents Indigenous Australian knowledge as a visual philosophy founded in a relational patterning ontology that is enmeshed at all levels within the mutual, living knowledge of the world. Visual design methodologies related to Indigenous Philosophy are then applied as an explanative visual ‘text’ that examines the nature of the appearances of things to visual perception. Then the visual artefacts of Aboriginal Australia are positioned as the philosophic texts of these many diverse and individuated yet related cultures. Visual Philosophy is then applied to contemporary understandings of design and human perception as a basis for further possibilities.

Creating A Space For Practicing Designers To Intellectualise; Bringing Theory To Life For Designers., Richelle Harun

DRS Biennial Conference Series

A number of barriers exist to engaging professional designers with discussions of theory, the industry is relatively young and design practice is both time pressured and fast changing, with designers moving rapidly from project to project. This is coupled with a lack of substantive provision of continual professional development which can isolate designers from contemporary debate. Additionally, designers have a preferred learning style that can disconnect them from theory, having a tendency to favour exploratory or trial and error methods rather than seek academic models. The remit of this research has been the integration of theory and practice focusing in …

Design Research In Sweden: Findings From A National Survey., Jan Bodin

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents findings from a national survey carried out in Sweden during the fall of 2003. At the time, no systematic study had been made in order to gather information about current design research among the Swedish academic society as a whole. A survey was sent out by e-mail in September 2003 via the newly formed network named Swedish Industrial Design Research and Education Agenda (SWIDREA). Due to the dynamic growth of the network additional responses will be added until the end of the year, which means that it is not possible to present the findings at present time. …

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, …

Innovation Planning Toolkit., Vijay Kumar

DRS Biennial Conference Series

To maintain leadership position, companies need to be continuously proactive in exploring new opportunities for innovation. Focusing on core offerings, customer support, and relationship management is a safe way to sustain business and maintain continued revenue flows. But complacency with the successes of core offerings and eagerness to serve the core customer base frequently leads to inaction in the search for new opportunities. Companies deliberately need to be in an active sensing mode during which new opportunities are continuously sought. An active innovation culture needs to evolve within organizations. This should be predominantly characterized by continuous exploration and search for …

Resisting Matter: Creating An Armature For Future Digital Practice., Inger Mewburn

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Until recently it was assumed that the 'digital stuff' of three dimensional digital models, although bound by the rigid co-ordinates of Cartesian space, was infinitely malleable. Now software tools can imbue digital models with simulated physical properties, making form through the relations between virtual forces. The forms generated by this process, resulting from the relations between mathematical algorithms have a bizzare birthing proces. Often ‘blobby’ or amorphous, they are startling - and strangely alluring - to a profession steeped in a history of design technique through representation which is dedicated to the idea of progressive refinement of form. Of particular …

Contextual Invention - A Multi-Disciplinary Approach To Develop Business Opportunities And Design Solutions., Girish Prabhu, David M Frohlich, Warren Greving

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper describes a new research methodology, which brings together ethnographic, business, design and technical research in a focused way. Various combinations of these disciplines have been used together in the past, both inside HP Labs and in the wider industry. However, all four disciplines are rarely harnessed together in the pursuit of innovation and new business opportunities. We aim to do this in a principled user- centered way, by using a deep understanding of user and cultural needs to drive design ideas, business modeling and technological investigations. This approach can be seen as an extension of Contextual Design in …

Designing The Process., Ype Cuperus

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design has many meanings and even more interpretations, practical if applied to the built environment, or cultural if applied as a means of cultural expression. This paper looks at the first option, design as a method to improve the built environment by intervention and transformation. Observations in the world of architectural design show that designing the ordinary and planning the design process is alien to the young designer. This paper discusses ways to create this awareness. It first describes design as exploring the possible, yet unexpected future: the expected future does not need to be design anymore (we already know …

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 …

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 …

Socio-Cultural Factors That Impact Upon Human-Centred Design In Botswana., Richie Moalosi, Vesna Popovic, Anne Hudson

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores the relationship between culture and human-centred design in Botswana, a topic on which there is little previous research. The paper develops a framework of cultural analysis, comparing traditional with contemporary variables in order to develop a set of core variables that can be applicable to product design. Content analysis methodology was used to extract traditional variables from Botswana folktales, and qualitative data analysis methods were used to analyse contemporary variables. The results indicated that there is more emphasis on non-material than material variables. The paper concludes with a discussion of how to develop cultural strategies that will …

Designing Text For The Screen: Setting Out The Criteria For The Legibility Of Type Designed To Be Read From The Computer Screen., Stuart Gluth

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The legibility of text on the computer screen appears to be one of the most important problems that designers have currently, or any communicators perhaps. It may be that the paperless office has not come about largely because of the difficulty of reading text on the screen. More forests of paper than ever seem to be being consumed just so that people can read the vastly increased amount of information that their computers give them access to. Nor are high tech solutions such as greater screen resolution or non-screen presentations a solution for the majority of users because of cost …

A Designer-Centred Method For Ergonomically-Informed In-Car Device Design., Eugene Chen, Andrée Woodcock, Stephen Ar Scrivener

DRS Biennial Conference Series

A gap has been identified in evaluation methods that can be used by in-car device designers to capture the usability problems of representative end users, during concept design. Usability information has a vital role to play in design, yet all too frequently, this information is only gathered once concepts are stable and mature. At this stage ergonomics information and recommendations cannot have a major role in influencing the final design. Additionally many evaluation methods fail to evaluate in-car devices in their context of use, i.e. as a secondary task. An evaluation method is needed for concept design, that can be …

What Is Design Knowledge?, Ulrik Lie

DRS Biennial Conference Series

How do designers move from believing, or assuming, to knowing in the course of action? In industrial design this move involves using theories under different ontology from different domains, and bridging them is an act that is epistemologically uncertain. The article discusses the nature of design knowledge, starting from a literature study and a model of the minimum knowledge needed for designing. Practising designers need to justify their assumptions in a large number of ways in order to arrive at a solution. If this amalgam of justificatory arguments is to be taken up by researchers in design methodology it poses …

Mobile Wireless Technology: Research And Design Of Interfaces For Individuals With Cognitive Impairments., Vicki Haberman, Michael Jones, James Mueller

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Using mobile wireless technology as a platform, a compensatory aid is being developed to support community re-entry for persons with cognitive impairments resulting from acquired brain injuries (ABI). A human-centered design approach is combined with research in other disciplines including computer science and rehabilitation engineering to help resolve the central concern: the design of a user interface that is both understandable and operable by individuals with significant cognitive impairments. It is expected that much of what is learned through this project will also be beneficial in enhancing usability of mobile wireless technologies for users without disabilities.

Design As A Device., Sidney Newton

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper will describe the collaborative research project as a case study in how design and other disciplines intersect. Critically, it will argue that what design brings to such a situation may have less to do with design as a particular methodology, and more to do with design as a new device for understanding and engaging with the material content of the project. The paper will argue that significant qualities otherwise (and typically) attributed to ‘the nature of design’, can in fact be accounted for through the phenomenological concept of ‘introducing’. This alternative account has clear implications for the future …

A Resolution To Ensure The Faculty Senate On The Georgia Southern University Campus Is Maintained Within The Hands Of Full-Time Instructional Faculty As Proposed By President Grube, Mark Welford

Faculty Senate: Index

No abstract provided.

A Resolution To Reduce Bias Tenure And Promotion Decisions Within The Unit And College, Mark Welford

Faculty Senate: Index

No abstract provided.

Developing Models Of Designing To Enable Practice., Robert Young

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Reconsideration of the nature of design and the exploration of the future scope of design practice and its role within society is recurrent within academe. This has been represented recently by discussion about the role of design in the development of services rather than products. This paper describes an investigation of complex system design, which led to the derivation of a content-based model of design practice. It also describes the process of determining the utility of the model, based on the perceptions of design practitioners.

Leading Business Pioneer Shares Secrets To Success, Grant Brashier

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss – Bill Rayburn, CEO of the nation's leading provider of software products for the collateral industry shared with University of Mississippi students several insights to running a successful business and revealed the company's plans for a campus recruiting session to fill job openings.

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.

Alaska Air Carrier Operator And Pilot Safety Practices And Attitudes: A Statewide Survey, Matthew D. Berman, Alexandra Hill, Stephanie Martin

ISER Reports

No abstract provided.

The French Expatriate Assignment: Helping Accompanying Spouses To Adapt By Assuming The Role Of Anthropologist, Angela Marsha Williams

Theses and Dissertations

A common practice of multinational companies is to temporarily transfer employees to international locations in order to exchange technology, launch new ventures, and facilitate communication within the company. To do this, multinational companies must make a number of decisions regarding their expatriate programs. Even though international companies would rather stay focused on the professional performance of their employees without having to "meddle" in personal and family affairs, recent research has shown that the adaptation of the accompanying spouse is one of the most critical factors in expatriate assignment success or failure. By studying the available literature on expatriate spouse adaptation, …