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4839 research outputs found
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Born alone, but not lonely: Rethinking public space design for Chinese one-child generation’s affinity for solitude
No full textUnderstanding the psychological needs of users is crucial for public space designers and healthy city planners. However, there is currently less atten-tion paid to the need for solitude in public spaces, despite psychological re-search demonstrating the positive impact of public space use on physical and mental health. With the only-child generation becoming the main pro-ductive generation in Chinese society, it is important to determine their psychological needs regarding public space use. This study aimed to address this issue by using questionnaire studies. Participants (n=521) aged between 10 and 25 completed an online questionnaire survey. The results indicated that the young generation of only children in China has a greater affinity for solitude than non-only children. However, both groups showed considerable demand for solitary public spaces. These findings suggest that more quality public spaces are needed to foster positive solitude in China, given the sub-stantial only-child population
Polyphonic Speculations
No full text\u27Polyphonic Speculations\u27 unites plurality and possibility; two powerful concepts for Design Research. \u27Polyphony,\u27 in the Bakhtinian sense, encourages a dynamic, dialogical interplay of voices, viewpoints, and ideologies. Different perspectives, positions, politics. Different values, ethics, aesthetics. Multiple forms, multiple disciplines, even multiple identities. While ‘Speculation\u27 alludes to what we don\u27t know about the future, the present, or the past, here it recognises plurality in the rich histories of speculative design research, multiple interpretations of the present, and a multiplicity of possible futures. As a practical apparatus, Green et al (2023) refer to Polyphonic Speculation as, “a tool for collectively speculating in relation to complex challenges, through a process of speculative design, dialogue and reflection”, or more generally, “dialogue between design researchers speculating through design on a common topic.” Yet it is a nascent concept. ‘Polyphonic Speculation’ is open to being operationalised as a tool for Reflection and (Re)imagination, or for imaginative dialogue around themes of Resistance and Recovery and beyond. We invite a broad range of contributions, from critical engagement with underlying concepts of polyphony and/or speculation, to examples of work that intersects with existing notions of polyphony and/or speculation. Submissions to this track might include: Resistance to existing conceptualisations of polyphonic speculation. Reflections on the parameters of polyphony in the context of speculative design. Examples of polyphonic speculation(s) in practice. Critical perspectives that (re)imagine the polyphonic landscape(s) of Design Research. Perspectives on how polyphonic and/or speculative design can help galvanise resistance or recovery
Co-design for change: Propositions and dilemmas
No full textCo-design has been widely applied to develop interventions supporting behavior change. While numerous co-design propositions have been developed, applying these in practice often leads to difficulties and tensions. This study aims to review the co-design propositions and understand the dilemmas when applying them. A literature review was conducted, and twelve co-design propositions were identified after qualitative analysis. The study found that some co-design propositions conflict because they align with an idealistic versus a realistic perspective. By studying these conflicts in-depth, seven dilemmas were identified at the intersection of realist and idealist propositions. Implications of the findings on design for behavior change were discussed, and this paper serves as a starting point to help researchers and practitioners identify, articulate, and navigate these dilemmas to achieve successful co-design outcomes
Historical evolution of age-friendly transitions in the Yangfangdian community in Beijing: A multi-level perspective
No full textThe issue of transition and transformation of communities has a long history. Particularly in today\u27s context of increasing aging trends, cities and communities are facing unprecedented multiple challenges that drive the transition to a more inclusive and sustainable future to enable community stakeholders to have a higher quality of life experience and to fulfil their visions for the future. This paper systemically reveals insights from the past of the ageing issue in the Yangfangdian community in Beijing through a multi- level perspective (MLP) framework created with local residents, a museum and design students to understand the historical foundations of the issue and its multiple dimensions (landscape, regime, and niche) to inform community residents’ long-term visions of the future and systemic design interventions for the present day
\u27Design Your Menopause Life\u27 as a Pathway to Successful Ageing
No full textThe ‘Menopause - a Pathway to successful ageing - or not?’ research explores the life stage experience leading up to and following menopause. Menopause is defined as a moment in time 12 months after someone’s final period, Peri menopause is a time in someone’s life leading up to menopause but when symptoms or changes can be experienced. This research focusses on a time in a typical female’s lifespan whereby they are managing life and career of family responsibilities bringing up children while experiencing symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause. It is well documented how exercise and health awareness can optimise and affect our health and wellbeing - our Physical, Emotional and Mental (PhEM) health can be supported through activity, exercise, social engagement, and education. The ‘Design your menopause life’ (DYML) solution is envisioned as a digital and physical solution to empower women as they experience peri and menopause symptoms
MealSense: A Fiction About Datafication and Algorithms in Commoning Food
No full textCommoning is on the rise as a socio-economic practice advancing the outlook of more just food systems. While smaller commoning operations can predominantly rely on informal arrangements, tracking and monitoring the conditions of the use of resources becomes vital for larger operations. This paper explores the datafication of hunger, pleasure, ingredients, cooking and spoiled food for crafting imaginaries of commoning-based algorithmic food futures. To address not only frictions around datafication but also gainful proposals, the paper mobilizes concepts of ‘unwieldy data’, ‘good enough data’, and ‘minimal feasible datafication’. It uses fiction writing as a method to amalgamate scholarly references in the field of citizen sensing and smart city critique with preliminary learnings from a speculative city-making project into an infrastructural proposal. The text aims to prompt a wider debate about the potentials and pitfalls of algorithmic governance and datafication in infrastructures for the urban-scale distribution of material resources, such as food
An alternative design ethics of otherness-centered: Caring for intelligent artifacts
No full textThe advent of emerging technologies has introduced intelligent artifacts as distinctive moral agents. While care ethics has expanded to include animals, ecology, and public policy, it remains silent on the ethical dimensions of caring for intelligent artifacts. Intelligent artifacts and their digital remnants highlight uncertainties in the human-machine relationship and accentuate the otherness of objects. Given the inherent otherness of objects, there is a clear need to clarify this new ethical relationship between humans and objects. This paper advocates for otherness-centered design ethics, an extension of traditional care ethics to incorporate intelligent artifacts as non-human Others. Based on object-turn ethics, the paper proposes three strategies for caring for intelligent artifacts. This ethical approach goes beyond anthropocentrism by redefining the moral status of the object of care, expanding the moral constituency of human ethical responsibility
Experiential futures through immersive design fiction
No full textA key political challenge of addressing climate change has been that, despite its deep involvement with so many aspects of our society, its threat can at times feel abstracted from our daily lives— a gap futurists lament as the “experiential gulf” between our ability to imagine the future and our capacity to experience it. Immersive Design Fiction Experiences (IDFEs) use virtual reality as a way of bridging this experiential gulf by positioning participants as embodied subjects within a virtual storyworld. With IDFEs designers can explore a rich palette of experiential phenomena—such as speculative social rituals, embodied interactions with objects, and explorations of environments. Drawing from a range of pedagogical examples teaching IDFEs in the design classroom, the paper argues that IDFEs enable participants and creators alike to activate their imagination with and through body, unlocking new kinds of inferential activity and new pathways for critically unpacking social implications
Translational Design: Enabling impact in complex, multi-stakeholder research projects through design
No full textTranslational research converts the knowledge generated through basic research into tangible innovations, solutions, and interventions that directly impact people and the planet. As universities increasingly seek to maximise research impact, the applied, action-oriented, epistemology of design is well-positioned to support translational research. Successful translation requires strong communication and collaboration between different disciplines, industry partners, policy, and research end-users. Multi-stakeholder collaborations foster holistic approaches, leading to more effective and contextually relevant solutions. Designers are well-positioned to facilitate complex entanglements, integrating the needs and values of diverse perspectives. However, the emerging role of design as an enabler of translational research needs to be defined. How does the configuration and culture of the research ecosystem shape the translational role of design? Are new methodologies needed? And, how do we move beyond transactional roles to define and lead impactful projects alongside other disciplines? Translational research involves iterative cycles of dialogue, evaluation, refinement, and adaptation to effectively convert research findings into practical outcomes. Through prototype development, visual communication, and visualization, designers excel in translating complex research into compelling, imaginable, tangible, and accessible formats. Design processes guide us towards implementation, but are existing tools and methods fit for research contexts? By bridging the gap between research and application, translational design has the potential to enable innovation in universities; better connecting research to impact. Through reflection on the legacy of practice-based research in design, we invite design researchers to articulate the impact we can make by bringing strategic translational design research methodologies to complex, multidisciplinary, research projects
Is pen-to-paper the buggy whip of design? Assessing the use of ai tools for design sketching
No full textSketching is quick and effective, however with the advent of generative AI, do the current generation of novice designers have an alternative? This paper compares the use of sketching and text-to-image generative AI tools to produce initial concept images (“sketches”) by novice designers. This will identify the viability and potential adoption of AI as a replacement, and gauge the adoption willingness of novice designers, replacing sketching. This study compares conventional sketching and AI image generation using first year product design students to record brainstormed initial concepts using both sketching and generative AI tools, this study compares various attributes of both, including ability to represent designer’s intentions. The findings of this study suggest that at present, novice designers continue to prefer conventional sketching with 75% believing that it is more accurate to designers’ intentions and 59.62% believing that it is easier to use