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Mātauranga Moana: uplifting Māori and Pacific values of conceptualisation over western co-design constructs
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DRSelects: Paulina Contreras Correa on Exploring the History of Design Research through the DRS Digital Library
No full textCodesign facilitation for workforce satisfaction
No full textIn the current work environment, businesses are expecting more than the workforce can provide. This gap in expectation is leading to higher rates of resignation due to increased burnout. To further understand this issue, strategic design methods were utilized as part of the research process. By studying the historical reasons behind these shifts, and interviewing employees that experienced burnout, paradoxically, strategic design methods were also determined to be the solution. A company will go through a design journey facilitated by a strategic design studio so that the unique differences in each company culture are considered. A workshop that is a part of this process was prototyped, analyzed, and further developed as a key component to this journey
Prototyping Assistive Devices in India using hybrid manufacturing: a case study on developing ankle foot orthosis (afo) for motor neuron disease (mnd) / amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als)
No full textThe demand for Assistive devices (AT) is ever so increasing. Still, many potential AT users with varying needs lack access to appropriate AT device that is bespoke for their requirements. This issue is even more significant for people with a degenerative disease, such as people diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), whose requirements can change even before the device is procured. This is because the design of off-the-shelf AT devices is optimised for mass manufacturing with a one-size-fits-all mentality. Hence conventional manufacturing cannot afford bespoke designs, but hybrid manufacturing has shown the potential to allow bespoke designs in other fields, such as jewellery. Hybrid manufacturing combines different production methods to utilise the pros of individual processes and overcome the con by supporting other methods in unison. In this practice-based design research project, we identified issues faced by people diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (MND)/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), followed by designing a solution for an identified foot drop problem. We used a hybrid manufacturing approach to prototype our designed product by combining 3D printing and Handcrafting. Testing the developed AT device with our users reinforced our belief in the potential of hybrid manufacturing and how the hybrid manufacturing approach could be an alternative to conventional mass manufacturing methods in providing an appropriate AT device to potential AT users catering to their bespoke requirements
To Prototype to Learn Fronting Uncertainties. A Pedagogy Based on Anti-Disciplinarity, Thinkering and Speculation
No full textThis paper aims to present and discuss how teaching visual identity and experience design in Communication Design undergraduate education may be developed within an anti-disciplinary approach, adopting a speculative design framework. By adopting this approach, students become familiar with design as a problem-seeking and problem-finding practice, which encourages the development of concepts, scenarios, and results without any predetermined function. Moreover, they assume an open approach to final results and learn more about a design field intended as an open context with blurred borders. The project’s development is based on the principle of learning by doing, which consists of thinkering, making mistakes, repeatedly trying to improve the results, and acquiring competencies and skills. This method pushes the students to experiment with visual expressions and user experiences between two and three dimensions. They could range among many techniques and technologies, from analog to digital ones. Consequently, each design had to be theoretically discussed and physically verified by making prototypes. The prototyping phase has a double goal: on the one hand, to learn to use new tools, coding, and 3D printing environments; on the other, to test the results and effectiveness of design scenarios and concepts. By defining a design process and discussing the implications of an anti-disciplinary approach, the aim is to inquire how such framing may destabilize conservative methods and consolidate new practices into Communication Design learning
Prototyping of theories
No full textThis paper explores the prospects of prototyping as an aid in understanding theory among students at a higher education. Drawing on research by Buur et.al. (2022) into Design Anthropological Theory Instruments, this research, brings the concept of theory instruments into a teaching setting among social work students. Using research through design (Zimmerman, Stolterman & Forlizzi, 2010), this research explores how working with tangible materials influence students’ understanding of theory. Prototyping theories can help bridge the gap between abstract concepts and concrete application. The research is concerned with the tangibility of abstract theory and explores both the process of making prototypes as well as the impact of more finished theory instruments. Introducing theory instruments or having the students physicalizing a theory does not automatically lead to a deeper or more thorough understanding of theory and does not prevent misconceptions or simplifications. However, the tangible nature of the process opens for a reflexive conversation. The physical models becomes drivers for the discussion about the theory and what is essential or important in the theory, and as such the prototypes can be perceived as “boundary objects” (Star & Griesemer, 1989) or “shared objects of thoughts” (Kirch, 2010). The research also finds that purely visual representations sometimes hinder fully grasping the complexity of a theory and when the theory is physicalized, it opens for further exploration and conversations about the complexity of a theory as it becomes tangible. By physicalizing theory, it becomes clearer to the students that a model has its limitations and cannot capture all aspects of a theory and thus strengthening the student’s metamodeling competencies (Schwartz & White, 2005)