Browsing by Subject "Design"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 61
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    Aesthetic expressions: punk dress and the workplace.
    (2010-11) Sklar, Monica
    Work and non-work dress for individuals who identify with the punk subculture involves thoughtful manipulation of appearance. This study asked: What are punk individuals’ experiences concerning the apparel-bodyconstruct for their workplace environments? These individuals negotiate between aesthetic expressions of their subcultural identity and the role they believe they are expected to play at work. An online survey with 208 individual participants identified interview candidates. Participant suitability was based on fulltime employment, selfidentification with punk, demographics, workplace dress codes, and evidence of appearance labor (Peluchette, Karl, & Rust 2006). Interviews were conducted with 20 men and women, aged 26 – 45, and located in three major cities in the Midwestern United States. Interviewee professions ranged from law to education to sales. Interview topics included: commitment to punk and their profession, concern for others’ impressions, and aesthetic details. Data were analyzed using DeLong’s (1998) framework “Form, Viewer, and Context.” Literature incorporated punk dress, workplace dress, aesthetics, identity expression, postmodernism and globalization. All interviewees try to look “appropriate” for the workplace, which can be an obstacle for those whose dress expresses an ideology. Interviewees expressed that feeling “appropriate” and feeling like “oneself” are sometimes competing concepts, resulting in appearance labor and necessitating accommodations. Interviewees reported a balancing act of blending in and standing out, taking into consideration viewer interpretations and subsequent positive and negative outcomes. Efforts to wear “appropriate” dress included modifying one’s punk appearance by conceding to dress codes and using perceived nonconfrontational aesthetic choices. Dress is manipulated per context and features selectively revealing or concealing of punk symbols, with punk cues subtly coded to appear conventional. Some individuals develop two wardrobes representing work and non-work while others prefer one versatile wardrobe. Interviewees strive to push with the boundaries of workplace appropriateness while reaching toward satisfying aesthetic self-expression. How interviewees manipulate form was influenced by demographics and feelings of commitment to one’s profession. Multiple interviewees expressed a willingness to forego punk dress if their career incorporated ideas from punk ideology. They reported higher emotional comfort related to job satisfaction and status within the punk community and in the workplace.
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    AHL
    (2009-09-18) ByDesign
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    ATOM VR - Area Twinned Object Manipulation in Virtual Reality
    (2024-08) Chambers, Alex
    Virtual Reality (VR) is finding growing use in entertainment, training, and design as hardware capabilities improve and prices fall. However, it is limited by current interaction mechanisms which do not allow effective manipulation of objects outside of arm's reach. The common raycast and its variants cannot easily select occluded objects, while widget based manipulation techniques require close proximity and many steps to attain precision. We designed and tested a hybrid, bi-manual interaction technique called Area Twinned Object Manipulation (ATOM). ATOM builds upon World-in-Miniature by cloning a remote region near the user, allowing local interaction to easily affect remote objects. We designed and ran experiment software to evaluate ATOM's object selection performance against the Go-Go and raycast selection techniques using the Unity game engine and a Meta Quest 2 VR Headset. Our experimental analysis indicates that ATOM requires fewer interactions with extraneous objects than Go-Go and raycast, thus improving efficiency of interaction. ATOM particularly excels in conditions in which objects are occluded or are at distance and was shown to induce no additional time requirement over the existing techniques. The design of ATOM combines selection and manipulation into one action, removing the need for a second discrete manipulation step. Future work is needed to evaluate ATOM's manipulation capabilities when applied to environmental design tasks, as well as its potential in other contexts such as space searching.
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    Brain Tumor Program
    (2009-09-18) ByDesign
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    Bringing nature inside: improving the indoor experience
    (2024) Davidson, Maia
    In the modern world, United Stated people spend 90% of the day indoors, going against the innate desire all human beings possess to be connected with nature. Understanding how the connection to nature benefits individuals, and what this lost connection may be causing or negatively enhancing, is an important part of future design because improving the design of interior spaces will improve the health of those using it. Expanding and deepening the design toolkit to include tangible elements, such as using tall potted plants as a spatial divider, purposefully placed colorful plants as wayfinding elements, hanging plants as light diffusers, and many other design solutions, offers clear opportunity to add natural benefits, such as improved mental health, cleaner air, and expanded attention, to any project. This study reviewed the literature of nature-based benefits and major issues people are struggling with and determined that the disconnect between humans and the natural world is harming society, and that a change must occur. These findings were used to determine an equitable solution that could be incorporated into the design world. Realizing the issues affect those of all economic and social standing, an affordable, small-scale solution became the focus of this study. Offering opportunity for anyone to include potted plants in design makes this solution as attainable as it is effective. Encouraging design professionals and those who seek to do so on their own to incorporate plants into interior design is the first step towards a more impactful reconnection with nature.
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    Center for Genome Engineering
    (2009-08-21) ByDesign
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    Center for Neurobehavioral Development
    (2009-08-21) ByDesign
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    Choice, mobility, and place attachment: Minnesota's public school choice
    (2014-10) Choi, Youngeun
    Relationships between place and people are complex because places become specific and unique as we build memories, share stories, accumulate histories. Therefore, mobility and place attachment are often placed in opposite discussions. Considering the daily life and limited resources of low-income families, however, the relationship between place and people can be a love and hate relationships and the discussion on mobility and place attachment are not straightforward. The current study explored how inner-city low-income families with school-age children experience school choice. Particularly, the study attempted to examine the Choice Is Yours program that allows school mobility with the help of transportation in order to support for low-income families in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The primary purpose of the current study was to develop a better understanding of how low-income families perceive choice, place, mobility, and place attachment using the theoretical frameworks of mobility and place attachment. To understand and interpret the meanings of their perception and experiences, a phenomenological study was employed and in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents who participated the Choice Is Yours program. Conversations with the participants show that having choice allowed them not only to attain academic achievement but also to be aware of available resources, to grow ability to judge well, and to develop positive relationships with peers and school community. The participants expressed multi-layered emotions with places. Place attachment of the current study was associated with the experience of first-time homeownership, familiar and convenient environments, and close kin relationships that were located in the same neighborhood. This was related to moving decisions. Future study on the inclusion of non-choosers of the opportunity-based program in such neighborhoods would provide a better understanding the impact of choice and the perception of mobility and place attachment. This will broaden the discussion about the school choice program by connecting educational policy with housing policy.
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    Collaborative redesign of used clothes as a sustainable fashion solution: exploring consumer interest and experience.
    (2011-12) Janigo, Kristy Ann
    Consumers’ clothing disposal decisions have lasting effects because the decomposition process of certain materials can span several decades (Fletcher, 2008; Black, 2008). Unfortunately, only 48% of post-consumer used clothing is recycled (Chen & Burns, 2006). The primary aim of this mixed methods study was to explore the viability of a service or business involving consumers in redesigning their used garments as a sustainable alternative to disposal. Through focus groups discussions and questionnaires with closed-ended items, I sought to answer who potential redesign consumers are and therefore the appropriate target market for the service. I collaborated with participants to conceptualize practical, executable redesign plans for their garments. After all redesigned garments were returned, consumers provided their feedback in focus groups and questionnaires. These suggestions may be used to develop recommendations for future redesign businesses. A total of 27 mostly Caucasian (89%) women ages 18-62 participated, and 27 corresponding garment redesigns were completed. Although not motivated by environmental concerns to modify their clothing purchase behavior, the women were comfortable with used clothing and were interested in using a redesign service in the future. Participants indicated they were mostly satisfied with their redesigned garment and will continue to wear their garments for a mean of approximately two additional years. They were willing to pay $50 to $60 for the service. Many (52%) suggested redesign could be marketed as a social experience to commemorate life events (i.e., engagement or marriage) among women, similar to a Tupperware® or Mary Kay® event.
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    Consumer response to cause-related business strategies: sponsorship, transaction-based, event, and experiential
    (2013-08) Lee, Ji Young
    The purposes of this study were first, to investigate the impact of four different types of cause-related business strategies (CRBS) on consumer responses to an apparel brand. The four strategies investigated were classified based on Pine and Gilmore's (1998) four realms of experience. They were labeled sponsored-linked marketing, transaction-based cause-related marketing, cause-related event marketing, and cause-related experiential marketing. The consumer responses investigated were drawn from Curra´s-Pe´rez, Bigne´-Alcaniz, and Alvarado-Herrera's (2009) conceptual model of consumer identification with a socially responsible company that identified brand image, distinctiveness, brand attractiveness, customer-brand identification, attitude toward the brand, and customer loyalty as important antecedents to brand loyalty. The second purpose was to examine the relative effectiveness of CRBS as opposed to a commonly employed strategy (i.e., celebrity marketing) to establish whether the effects of CRBS on consumers were significantly different. Data was collected from consumer panels (n = 344) and undergraduates (n = 415). This process resulted in responses from 759 individuals that were used for primary data analysis. For each type of CRBS, there were significant positive relationships between corporate social responsibility image, brand distinctiveness, credibility, and attractiveness, customer-brand (C-B) identification, attitude toward the brand, and customer loyalty. The relationships of the variables were significantly different between each type of CRBS. Specifically, the effect of CSR image on brand distinctiveness, the effect of brand distinctiveness on brand attractiveness, the impact of brand attractiveness on C-B identification and the impact of C-B identification on attitude toward the brand were strongest in the cause-related event marketing condition followed by transaction-based cause-related marketing, cause-related experiential marketing, and sponsorship-linked marketing conditions. Third, the relationships of the dependent variables were significantly different between all types of CRBS and celebrity marketing suggesting participant's response to CRBS and celebrity marketing was different. Specifically, the effect of corporate social responsibility image on brand distinctiveness, credibility, attractiveness, C-B identification, attitude toward the brand, and customer loyalty was stronger for each type of CRBS condition than for the celebrity marketing condition. Theoretical and managerial implications and suggestions for future research based on the findings were provided.
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    Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System – Stop Sign Assist: Experiments to Validate Use of an In-Vehicle Interface Design
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2012-04) Becic, Ensar; Manser, Michael; Creaser, Janet; Donath, Max
    The three studies included in the current report examine the transition from an infrastructure-based rural intersection crossing assist system to one located inside a vehicle. The primary goals of the first study, conducted in a simulator, were to examine the effect of potentially confounding factors, such as the drivers’ familiarity with the assist system and the impact of cognitive load on the drivers’ performance. Next, we examined the efficacy of several different designs of such system to determine the optimal interface design to be used for the in-vehicle system. Finally, the optimal design of the system was examined in the third study, as a field test. The results showed that the use of the system under cognitively demanding conditions did not result in any adverse consequences, which suggested that the processing of the system required minimal cognitive resources. Additionally, the results showed that the benefits of the assist system, such as reduced probability of accepting a critical gap were exhibited under the limited visibility conditions when the perceptual task of determining an appropriate crossing gap became overly demanding. The results from the field study showed that the use of the assist system resulted in improved intersection crossing performance exhibited in increased likelihood of making a complete stop at the stop sign and showed a strong trend toward a decreased probability of accepting critical gaps. Additionally, the impact of the in-vehicle CICAS-SSA was equivalent for older and younger drivers; that is, both age groups benefited from the use of the system.
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    Cultural meaning of color in healthcare environments: a symbolic interaction approach.
    (2010-05) Kwon, Jain
    Color planning in today's healthcare environments is a challenge for interior designers due to the diverse occupants who may establish different meanings of environmental colors based on their backgrounds and life experiences. Researchers have shown the close relationship between color perception and patients' mental and/or emotional attitudes. Moreover, studies have shown that certain colors can affect some people as stressors while the same colors can be positive distractions to others. This exploratory qualitative study investigates the significance of culture in the ways people interpret and establish color meaning in healthcare environments. The theoretical framework of this study is based on Blumer's (1969; 2004) discussion on symbolic interaction between humans and environments. Specifically, the relationship between a role of `the self' and cultural influences was analyzed to investigate people's interpretation and establishment of color meaning in healthcare environments. A semi-structured interview questionnaire and a color palette instrument were developed and used to collect data from a sample of 13 female and 12 male Koreans living in Twin Cities, MN and ranging in age from 25 to 39. A research model based on the theoretical constructs of symbolic interaction--the self, objects, social interaction, and joint action--was used to formulate interview questions. Five color palettes were based on the five primary interior color combinations in the Korean tradition and used to assess the subjects' meaning assigned to color in the cultural context. The interview data were analyzed to determine the role of the constructs of symbolic interaction--the self, object, self-interaction, and social interaction--in Koreans' meaning establishment of color in healthcare environments. Findings include: 1) Color as an abstract object appeared to be related to self-interaction, and color as a physical object and a social object was related to social interaction; 2) the subjects' concepts of healthcare color were based on their personal experiences and cultural backgrounds. Care/warmness, stability, and vitality seemed to be established in the subjects' self-interaction, and hygiene status, comfort from familiarity, professionalism, and users' characteristics were established through the subjects' social interaction. The subjects did not seem to consider `healing' as a concept of healthcare color.
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    Describing the interface design team's collaborative design process using protocol analysis.
    (2012-05) Houle, Elizabeth J.
    Consumers are growing accustomed to well designed user experiences. They impact users at all levels and experiences. To achieve a well-designed experience is to understand users and interaction design projects. They are complex and rely on multidisciplinary professionals perspectives to define the process and their resulting product. Interdisciplinary collaboration creates an environment that incorporates broader perspectives and experiences resulting in more user-centered design. Interaction design teams include but are not limited to interface designers, analysts, and developers. My research of interaction design teams is principally concerned with the group dynamics of those multidisciplinary collaborations. In practice, however, the functions of gathering requirements, design and development are most often conducted as disparate, sequential activities rather than as a connected and cooperative effort. Requirements are incorporated into the project by designers, developers, and often project managers. Designers may hear about the client’s objectives via the project manager. As a result, interpretation, style and experience can influence the information collected from the client. In these situations, communication across disciplines can be problematic. Developers may have difficulty understanding how designers are interpreting the findings of their research. At the same time, designers generally have difficulty articulating what part those findings play in the creative process. Further, designers do not always design with thought to whether or not what they have created can be developed. The research conducted here evaluated interface design practice working within a design process that leads to productive collaboration between designers and developers. The inquiry was an empirical study involving the observation and analysis of the activities of a small team working on an actual design problem in practice. Function-Behavior Structure ontology, a protocol analysis scheme, was used to research two similar projects that used three face-to-face meetings to examine design sessions at different phases in the process. In this way, designers described their process and how they incorporated information about the project. The collaborative process was observed across developer and interface designer roles, to determine what part the process plays in the social construction of the design problem and in the design teams’ formulation of creative solutions to the problem. The findings from the two design projects indicate that the design teams’ process is similar if not the same across project work. Also, their adherence to a process appear to be the same even though the final design products were unique and the solution to the problem ended up being different. The importance of clear requirements and purpose for the project to be understood at the beginning was proven in the difference in time spent on understanding the problem and arriving at the solution.
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    Design for Good: A Core Professional Practice
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2013-08-09) Wolfe Wood, Sandra
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    Design functions in transformable garments for sustainability.
    (2012-07) Koo, Helen
    This study was designed as a bottom-up approach to understand what kind of changeable functions people desire in transformable garments by analyzing a wardrobe database, participants' perceptions of garment varieties, and their values related to transformable garments. The wardrobe database (2009-2011) was analyzed using data quantification and descriptive analysis. Seven style-conscious professional working women, between the ages of 20 and 40 were interviewed focusing on their perceptions and values related to tops. Versatility was the most important reason for preferring specific changeable design functions. Participants had three expectations for transformable garments: functional, hedonic, and social. Functional expectations included ease of matching, ease of layering, comfort, usability, ease of care, and durability. Among functional expectations, usability, care, and durability, were requirements for frequent and long-term use of transformable garments. Participants wanted to have fun and be able to experiment with various styles in hedonic expectations. Social expectations were context aptness, and modesty. In this study, several models regarding transformable garments and criteria for evaluating transformable garment design were suggested. Among candidates for changeable design functions, the most preferred functions were transforming colors/patterns and sleeve lengths. Transformable garments have the potential to lead consumers' natural engagement with sustainable acts by satisfying their various needs and wants. In an effort to motivate consumers to care more about the sustainability of their clothing, many researchers have suggested educating consumers. However, transformable garments are expected to influence consumers to wear these pieces over longer periods of time and more frequently due to their ability to serve multiple needs. Even though consumers may lack knowledge or indicate little concern about sustainability, transformable garments have the potential to encourage them to engage in sustainable behavior without their awareness. Designers can support this behavior by encouraging consumers to naturally consider versatile, transformable fashion while still satisfying their needs and wants.
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    Design, Business Models, and Embedded Values: Developing a mentor program management platform as a model of humane technology
    (2022-05) Wold, Ryan
    Mentor programs proliferate across society and the benefits to participants and the sponsoring organizations have been extensively documented, yet mentor program coordinators face many structural, financial, and technological challenges. These challenges have been exacerbated as technology continues to play an increasingly central role in the facilitation of mentor programs. In response to the technologization of mentor programs and the reality that mentor programs are validated but struggling, this dissertation explores how the principles of humane technology could be used to developa platform that helps mentor program coordinators navigate these challenges. The data from the first stage of a participatory design research process that included immersion in the world of mentor program management and interviews with mentor program coordinators from universities, government, non-profits, and startup accelerators, revealed that mentor program coordinators encounter a series of conflicts intrinsic to mentor program management, for example they encounter conflicting desires to provide participants more autonomy or more structure. As mentor program coordinators attempt to navigate the conflicts associated with sustaining a mentor program, they find themselves acting as part technology designer, part entrepreneur, part technical communicator, and part social justice advocate. This dissertation concludes by providing a critical reflection and recommendations for how mentor program coordinators can apply the principles of humane technology when making decisions about the design, business model, and embedded values of a mentor program.
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    Designing for Cognitive Assistance: Using Technology to Improve the Lives of People with Cognitive Decline
    (2021-07) Stebbings, Wade M
    Designing for cognitive decline using a tablet-based system to support failing memory, this project aims to mitigate the consequences of cognitive decline. The study occurs across four development iterations, resulting in four fully functional prototypes, using the author’s mother as the subject. The results of each iteration informs the decisions taken in the next, utilizing an agile-style methodology in its development process. Final results and observations include speculation about future applications and directions for this system.
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    Developing a measurement matrix for lean product design
    (2015-06) Sabzivand, Amin
    Today, many companies are familiar with the concepts of lean enterprise management and have applied the lean philosophy to their product design process. To study the impact of such practices, measurements need to be developed to evaluate the leanness of a company's product design. Overwhelming amount of literature on lean management and its application to new product development exist. However, most of them focus on the overall strategies and no consensus definition of lean product design exists, not to mention a measurement matrix for lean product design practices. In this thesis, a lean product design measurement matrix is developed based on a comprehensive review of literature in lean product designs. Factors that can be used to assess a company's lean product design practices are identified. The lean product design matrix developed in this study will help companies to measure and evaluate their lean product design process and therefore, focus on key elements needing improvement. It will also facilitate researches that study the impact of lean product design practices on a company's performance overall and in specific areas.