3132 research outputs found
Sort by
Business Ideation for Creative Entrepreneurs
Get PDFThe primary area of investigation is the overlap between the Canadian Creative Economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The digital environment is constantly changing, and businesses need to adapt and plan for possible futures. This research will focus on small business owners in the creative industries as the primary audience. Canadian entrepreneurs will benefit from the research findings to take full advantage of the new tools to discover untapped business opportunities. The goal of the toolkit developed in this project is to invite creative entrepreneurs to reflect on their existing business model and envision new possible futures. It provides a simple approach to generate alternative business models using prompts focusing on three main pillars: offering, audience, and revenue streams. By using prompts, the toolkit stimulates a conversation that encourages entrepreneurs to engage in problem-solving and explore innovative approaches to leverage new solutions. Through this process, the toolkit aims to facilitate discovery and inspire creative entrepreneurs to consider new ways of approaching their business endeavors
Future of Well-being- The Metaverse Era
Get PDFThis preliminary research uses various system frameworks to delve into the ways in which Virtual Worlds may negatively impact the psychological well-being of its users and examines the underlying motivations driving this behavior. Secondly, it proposes an update to the limited definition of ‘Problematic Internet Use’ and moves towards a more concurrent definition of ‘Problematic Virtual Use’ or ‘PVU’ as the phenomenon that not just includes problematic online behavior but also the problematic use of social media, gaming, consumerism, and the future of immersive technologies. Third, it proposes a framework to identify problematic behavior patterns ‘The User Type Quadrant’, and finally proposes 3 innovative strategies to mitigate use of virtual worlds at the detriment of real-life connectivity and well-being – User Quadrant, Affinity Profile and The Attachment Blueprint.
This project hopes to create a change in the way online behavior of individuals and systems is understood and responded to in light of advancing technologies
The Future of Healthy Living: Improving the impact of urban living environments on residents
Get PDFHealthy living is always a significant part of community well-being. The quality of human living spaces plays an important role in promoting health and wellbeing. Increasingly, there are many mental and physical health concerns in multicultural, complex urban living environments. Living environments, which include dwellings and community areas, become important examples when considering potential leveraging points to improve the quality of healthy urban living. Considering the current rapid technological development and cultural shifts, there are many significant changes in people’s lifestyles that will affect their living space needs. This project begins by describing the current development of residential living space in urban cities, such as Toronto, and analyzing the dynamics at play and their patterns of social support. Utilizing foresight methods, systemic analysis, and generative research methodology, this project will research urban ecologies to understand the relationship between humans and their living spaces and how space could shape their wellbeing, highlighting the physical and mental issues that impact people today in urban city living spaces. Through an investigation of various aspects of current urban development patterns, possible future directions and solutions for the living environment may be proposed. This research will focus on intervention strategies and key design principles for future residential design innovations as a guide, catalyst, and opportunity for future residential design inspiration
ondan-bundan: inquiring on culture from this and thats
Get PDFThe installation ondan-bundan: inquiring on culture from this and thats explores the intra- actions within Azerbaijan’s continuously changing identity, by fragmenting projections of Soviet Azerbaijani films onto found objects. This research brings into conversation scenes from the films Arşın Mal Alan (Rza Tahmasib and Nikolay Leshchenko, 1945), Bir Cənub Şəhərində (Eldar Quliyev, 1969) and Ötən İlin Son Gecəsi (Gülbəniz Əzimzadə, 1983) to reflect on the construction of visual narratives as cultural identifiers in Azerbaijan. It combines Homi K. Bhabha’s theory on culture’s hybridity, alongside feminist theories from Nira Yuval-Davis and Giuliana Bruno to propose a textility of culture. One that derives from found remnants, fragments, reconstructions, refractions, and haphazards
Improving the Resilience of SMEs: Succession Planning for Canadian Family-Run Small Businesses
Get PDFCanadian Family-Run Small Businesses, the most prevalent business type in the private sector economy, are increasingly undergoing succession planning, with the support of advisors. Yet, there is limited available research of their distinct characteristics, needs, behaviours, and actions as they navigate this critical business process.
This paper seeks to increase knowledge of and suggest improvements to succession planning for Canadian family-run small businesses and their advisors. Alongside a literature review, the paper provides three mini case studies of family-run small businesses in Ontario, Canada who are currently or have undergone succession planning within the last five years. It also incorporates the perspective of accredited advisors who provide succession planning services to Canadian family-run small businesses.
The paper unlocks three key areas of findings. First, the paper identifies that ownership, employee loyalty, family dynamics, and reliance on the business for income are distinct characteristics of Canadian family-run small businesses which influence their succession planning. Second, a proposed step-by-step process is shared for planning which starts when the successors are young, leverages sensemaking as a key planning tool, and recognizes the role of advisors in enabling stakeholders to reconcile economic and non-economic goals and complete the succession. Third, the paper stresses further efforts to understand the role of gender and advisory bias in the process as well as the emergence of interest amongst exiting Canadian-family run small business owners in employee ownership as a viable model
The Craft(y) Revival: Community and Knowledge-Sharing in Textile-based Crafts
Get PDFThe Craft(y) Revival: Community and Knowledge-Sharing in Textile-based Crafts is a thesis exhibition and curatorial paper that celebrates contemporary modes of knowledge-sharing between textile-craft practitioners, while also connecting contemporary practices to earlier models of knowledge-sharing and community within the discipline. In the twenty-first century, with the widespread adoption of the internet and the rise of social media, the manner in which knowledge has been shared has evolved to crafters' needs and reshaped their process in creating.
Including work by artists Lizz Aston, Amy Bagshaw, and Sarah Zanchetta, in addition to community participants, this thesis explores the contemporary role of online networks as a method of fostering community in textile-based crafts, with a focus on North America. I look to earlier moments of communal practice, and particularly feminist and queer community in fibre art histories, identifying parallels and divergences between contemporary textile-based craft communities and previous such communities. In this thesis, I hope to reveal the potential of online community and knowledge-sharing methods in the current revival of craft and DIY practices, highlighting the contribution of communal knowledge-sharing methods and the resulting production of community
Bonding Over Distances: Building Social Presence Using Mixed Reality for Transnational Families
Get PDFSparked by the frustrations experienced in transnational family communication and inspired by an interest in exploring the potentials of a mixed reality (MR) future landscape, this study investigates the primary research question: how can we use mixed reality to build social presence for transnational family communication?
This study reviews literature and contextual works from relevant fields, including presence and social presence, mixed reality, transnational relationships (inter-family and human-space relationships), and technology for social presence for transnational families. Then, the researcher situates this study at the intersection of the before mentioned categories.
Utilizing the Research through Design methodology and paired user testing methods, this study describes 4 iterative MR prototypes for building social presence for transnational families, highlighting each prototype’s relation to a secondary research question, exploration goals, features, performance evaluation, and takeaways for the next iteration. Then, it documents and analyzes data collected from in-depth user testing sessions with 6 transnational family pairs totaling 12 participants, each with one member living locally (in Toronto), and the other overseas. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected from different components of the user testing, including observation notes from paired-up live connection sessions for collaborative tasks, interviews, and online surveys.
This study contributes to theory at the overlapping fields of social presence, mixed reality research, transnational family relationship, and human-space relationship. The mixed reality prototypes, design frameworks, and evaluation criteria for designing mixed reality spaces to build social presence for transnational families also provide significance to design practice
Futures of Data Ownership: Defining Data Policies in Canadian Context
Get PDFThe importance of data is increasing along with its inflation in our world today. In today's world, data is becoming the primary source for innovation, knowledge, insight, and a competitive and financial advantage in the race of information procurement. This interest in acquiring and exploiting data and the current concerns regarding the privacy and security of information raises the question of who should own the data and how policies can preserve data ownership. There is a growing awareness that companies benefit disproportionately from collecting and selling personal information, driving the desire for greater individual control of personal data. As technology progresses exponentially, there is a dire need to regulate Tech organizations.
With the increasing use of personal data by tech companies, data privacy and ownership concerns have become more significant in today's society. Although governments worldwide have introduced privacy regulations to protect citizens' data, there is still a need for policies and legislation that safeguard citizens' rights, allow consumers to control their data, and implement strict measures in case of data breaches or violation of data rights.
The research project "Futures of Data Ownership - Informing Data Policies in Canadian Context" aims to explore emerging technological shifts and promote ethical use and data protection by developing data policies that consider the Canadian context. The research will employ primary and secondary research methods, including horizon scanning, semi-structured interviews, and a literature review, to inform policy and strategy development. In conclusion, the research project informs potential policies and legislation that regulate tech organizations and protect data ownership, ensuring a secure and trustworthy digital future for all
Reframing reality: How social media shapes our perception and challenges our agency
Get PDFSocial media has become an integral part of our everyday lives, providing us with a constant stream of information and social interaction. By shaping the way people view the world, influencing beliefs, opinions, and behaviours, social media impacts our understanding of reality. The blurring of lines between fact and fiction can have far reaching consequences on our agency.
This paper explores the impact of social media on people's perception of reality through the lens of ontological design. It examines ontological design to understand its principles and frameworks that articulate the relationship between people and phenomena. It also explores the limits of individual agency, and how social media constrains our ability to understand reality.
This research begins with a literature review of three parts: ontological design, agency, and social media, which are then analysed using the hermeneutic circle framework, and iterative inquiry framework leveraging Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. The paper synthesizes insights on how social media is effective at influencing people, the way it can amplify tools of control, and why it continues to operate largely unchecked despite being viewed as a dangerous technology that causes harm in many societies around the world. Finally, it concludes with a set of principles for the agency and wellbeing of people and communities in the age of social media