3132 research outputs found
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OVER TIME: A Review & Exploration of Labour Practices Through Game Design and The Concept of Time (A Critique Through Playable Story).
Get PDFTime is a social construct. We rely on time. Our time is valuable and central to our day-to-day lives. And the company you work for knows that, creating a system that relies on productivity that in turn makes your time a scarce resource. Time is measured objectively but experienced subjectively and thus can be designed in the workplace to coerce and manipulate employees for capitalist gain by convincing us that our time is well spent in the pursuits of labour, leaving our leisure time by the wayside. Framed through iterative, critical, and research-through-design methods, this thesis comments on Western society’s culture of the exploitation of creative workers. This takes the form of a playable story whose theme of burnout in the creative workplace embodies the challenges workers face. OVER TIME is an interactive narrative depicting the day in the life of an office worker. It takes place in a physical installation replica of the character’s office space, played via an office computer to simulate the parallels between a fictional setting and its real life counterpart, in order to reinforce themes of time, exploitation and self-expression in a contemporary workplace
Queer Connections: Cultural Transmission and Intergenerational Relationships in the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community
Get PDFCultural transmission is the process by which cultural knowledge, norms, and values are shared, typically from one generation to the next. In cultural groups like the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, intergenerational relationships between community members may not be inherent. To understand how cultural transmission occurs within this community and the effect of intergenerational relationships, or a lack thereof, on this process, individual community members and experts working within the community were interviewed about their lived experiences and observations. The findings of the study demonstrate that intergenerational relationships are highly valued and sought out by 2SLGBTQIA+ people, but current barriers need to be addressed so they and other diverse relationships can be fostered more inclusively within the community
A Fool's Journey. The Promise and Peril of Storytelling for Organizations: A Settler's Meta Narrative
Get PDFMy intention was to consider the literature and practices around institutional storytelling in an effort to learn how to best harness the power of narrative in an organizational environment.
An analysis of the literature around organizational and business storytelling trumpeted the trend as a kind of sense-making compass. Yet embedded in many of these texts is a sense that the transformative and emancipatory power of storytelling has been beggared in this environment, reduced to a humble servant of profit and power.
Via a literature review as well as case studies of Kaapittiaq, Tim Hortons, the narrative of Canada, and reflective storytelling, I became convinced of the necessity of narrative deconstruction, arguing for a plurivocal practice in which storytelling is an instrument of discovery and self-reflection rather than that which produces a static product for commercial purposes.
In keeping with the ethos of the research, I chose to structure this paper in something akin to a narrative style, rather than a conventionally academic one. The intention is to bring the reader on a narrative (and cumulative) journey of discovery, building to the presentation of a storytelling tool at the end of the paper
Blood, Water & Bathurst Street: Navigating an active relationship to land, place, and community through textiles.
Get PDFBlood, Water, & Bathurst Street is about navigating an active relationship to land, place, and community through textiles. This project began with exploring my family’s multi-generational history here in this place now known as Toronto, and the broader Jewish community that has grown here. Beyond blood relations, I have sought to establish further connection and understanding of/with the lands and waters that have shaped these territories. Many Indigenous Peoples have dwelled, gathered, and journeyed through these lands for millennia, yet their stories and ongoing presence have been largely erased from public memory here in the city. The Map, made of an 18-metre-long scroll of wool fabric, encompasses Bathurst Street and its geographic surroundings, from the current shore line of Niigani-Gichigami (Lake Ontario) up to Steeles Avenue (the City of Toronto’s northern boundary). It is unequal parts of my family tree, topographic exploration, historical survey, storybook, and material research. The exhibition Chapter One: A Map is Born, on from March 8th-12th, 2023, served as the Map’s introduction to the public, where folks were invited to contribute their own narratives and knowledge, expressed through a variety of materials
Queer Desires: Colonial Photographic Portraits of the Indentured Labourers of Mauritius.
Get PDFThis Master of Fine Arts thesis investigates a photographic archive of indentured labourers whose portraits were taken for government record when photographic technology was in its nascency on the British colonial island of Mauritius. As a Mauritian-Canadian, queer, multidisciplinary artist-researcher, I will address ancestors through a unique cultural vantage point. I will use the method of research creation paired with post-colonial theory, intersectional feminism and queer theory to uncover the complex relationality hidden in the page of tome PG2 of the archive released to me by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Mauritius. The thesis includes three mixed media artworks which will provide a transtemporal link to the inhabitants of the archive
FRAYMER: Designing a simple web-based animation tool for communication & presentation
Get PDFAnimation plays both a conceptual role in art and a functional role in design. Easily accessible tools for creating and communicating ideas through animation have become more imperative as social media has reduced the barrier to becoming a digital content creator by providing a platform for these creators to easily share and present their ideas and creations.
Tools for creating animations haven’t changed much over time, maintaining the complexity necessary for catering to a large variety of animation styles and a multiplicity of use-cases required by animation professionals. These complex tools alienate novices and require spec
Curating Exhibitionary Affect: The importance of creating space to feel in a contemporary curatorial practice. A thesis paper to support the exhibitions Process (October 2022) and a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end (March/April 2023).
Get PDFThe answer as to why and how art makes us feel is elusive. This thesis does not intend to answer this question in full, but rather point to curatorial strategies that can aid in this outcome. I begin by defining affect as the space created between the viewer and the artwork that when engaged with, can allow for an intuitive emotive response. I then discuss methodologies of curating exhibitionary affect that transform the exhibition into an event site and the viewer’s encounter with art towards a dynamic experience. My practice-based curatorial research resulted in two exhibitions: Process (2022) featuring works by Beverley Freedman, Erin Stripe, mihyun maria kim, Reshmi Bisessar, Sara Shoghi, and Vicky Talwar; and a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end (2023) featuring the work of Ella Gonzales, Meg Ross, and Meichen Waxer. The works exhibited engage tactics of tension, revealing and resolve to encourage affect, as well as site-sensitivity and site-specificity to encourage the event. Both exhibitions ask the viewer to actively engage. Through a discussion of these works my thesis posits that by curating for exhibitionary affect one can disrupt hierarchical ways of viewing art – where the exhibition provides only one reading – to instead privilege the viewer’s individual interpretation based on an affective experience. I also argue that curating affective experiences acknowledges a multitude of ways of knowing and seeing, and is a way of curating towards accessibility.
Keywords: art, affect, exhibitionary affect, feeling, curation, curatorial practice, contemporary, exhibition
An Empathetic Design Framework for Humanity-Centered AI: A preventative approach to developing more holistic, reliable, and ethical ML products
Get PDFMachine Learning (ML), a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in a pattern of rapid growth over the last decade, simultaneously evolving through the intersection of the needs of businesses and individuals, together with the combined, exponential increase of computer power, data availability, and network infrastructure.
The rise of ML products and services has led to advances in vital sectors including healthcare, finance, automotive, security, and more. These include expediting enhanced diagnosis in patients, strengthening cybersecurity measures, manufacturing automation, or leading to new technologies like self-driving vehicles, robotics, digital assistants, and so-called ‘chatbots’. However, the rise in the development of AI-enabled products and services has not been all positive. In parallel, there have been numerous documented instances of harmful impacts on individuals, communities, and the broader society.
This project focuses on understanding and mitigating negative, unforeseen, and even unconscious consequences of AI/ML by interrogating the presence of bias in the Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) process. Our approach is to better identify and address vulnerabilities at specific phases in the development of an ML product or service. Using strategic foresight methods, this project explores emerging AI trends and develops an array of possible future scenarios, through which bias and other areas of concern are studied to better understand their potential impacts.
As a product of this investigation, we develop an Empathetic Design Framework (EDF), employing a set of lenses and a toolkit that can be effortlessly incorporated into an ML cross-functional team’s agile practice in a bid to better identify ML risks and weaknesses, and reduce the occurrence of negative future scenarios.
Finally, this research aims to identify appropriate and impactful insertion points within the MLOps process for utilizing the EDF to mitigate negative potential biases during the ML life cycle
Expanding the Design Research Toolkit to Include Futures Thinking
Get PDFThe world in which we design for is rapidly changing around us, design researchers need new methods to be able to make sense of the changing context of users, and to help inform decisions or de-risk uncertainties for organizations. Futures thinking offers a set of methods that may help design researchers inform strategic decisions about the possible futures of a product, service, industry, or experience.
The purpose of this research is to contribute to the growth of the design research practice by inquiring if and how futures thinking methods may benefit design researchers and/or design thinkers. This research project follows a design thinking approach to explore the area of focus, empathize with key users, and co-create how design researchers may apply futures thinking methods.
In this major research project, I will: compare the design research and futures thinking toolkits, develop an argument for what is driving design researchers towards integrating futures thinking methods, uncover how design researchers and design thinkers are currently encountering futures in their work, and co-create an expanded toolkit with futures thinkers.
The result of this research is an understanding of the potential value futures thinking may contribute to design research practice. As well as a framework for how design researchers (and/or designers who conduct research) may apply futures thinking methods as forms of research methods, throughout the design thinking process
Green Furniture: Sustainability, Consumer Choice, and Market Analysis in an Evolving Landscape
Get PDFAs sustainability increasingly gains in global prominence, the significance of sustainable furniture as a crucial element becomes evident. This MRP underscores the need for comprehensive efforts and the engagement of all stakeholders in shaping and influencing sustainable practices in the furniture industry. It delves into the multifaceted factors that influence consumer behaviour in the selection of furniture, with a specific focus on consumer motivation in the context of sustainable furniture adoption. It also examines the shifting patterns of consumption in the furniture industry and the role of governments and corporations in shaping consumer choice and building emotional connections.
Using the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a case study, this MRP critically evaluates both the positive and negative aspects of sustainability in the furniture industry and proposes steps to shift consumer choice and behaviour towards ecologically sustainable outcomes